Bucks County, Quakertown Rat Control Situation:
Hi David, First of all, thank you for your beautiful website, absolutely great! My wife and I are looking into renting an older single family house in a rural area near Quakertown PA, actually closer to Pennsburg. However, the house has been empty for 3 years, and the attic, crawl space, and older wooden garage show a lot of rat poop and urine traces, particularly visible in the garage. The previous renters also confirmed that they had a rat problem. The house interior walls and ceilings will be re-painted and it well get new floor coverings. Pending painting and new floor coverings, the landlord had the garage power washed and, although we have not seen it yet after the power wash, this seems to have washed away (washed to where?) the rat poop, etc. The landlord is also willing to hire a professional to help get rid of the rats and seal the access holes; since the house may need to be tented for termites, the thought is that this may also kill most of the rats. My questions are: 1.Will the termite tenting in deed also kill the rats? 2.Even if most rats are caught, and/or killed during tenting, and the access holes are sealed, what are the health dangers of rat cadavers that may be under the attic insulation, or inside the walls? 3.What is the health danger of remaining rat urine and poop traces in the attic (insulation), crawl space (dirt), walls, garage wood work, yard, etc.? 4.Aside from health danger issues, how long will the smell of rat urine and poop be around, and can this smell still penetrate through newly painted walls, ceiling, and new tile/wood floor coverings into the living spaces? 5.Last, but not least, do you know anyone in the Ventura County area who has experience with the humanly removal of rats? (Catch alive and release somewhere else?). 6.Alternatively, is there anyone you could recommend in the Ventura County area to help us with this?
So last December had Taurus fuel pump replaced and yes, a nice nest to sleep when not chewing wires discovered upon dropping fuel tank. As 2001 older car and with USAA for 36 years, talked them into homeboy rewire with junk yard wire harness vs. salvage car. With rat feeders ten feet from outside condo parking,they really love my car's wires! (actually worse as 4-5 years ago spent a small fortune on recurring shorts and wires-mechanic loved me but of course would not bust the rats- $1200 later) Heck only have 100k miles on the 2001 Ford and about to retire and need some help to keep the vermints elsewhere-maybe another older Taurus 2 chew on-trained cats-stuffed giant rats nearby!!! Attice boys we have-no prob-they come in sometimes in winter-car is prob 1.
Quakertown Rat Control Tip of The Week
The Proper Way To Clean Rat Feces Out Of Your Attic
If you already know the dangers of having rat feces in your attic and coming in contact with it, you are most likely going to get scared and confused about how to clean it. When it comes to cleaning rat feces, you can't afford to do it the wrong way. Refusal to follow the due process might cost you more of what you are trying to prevent.
Since rat feces is a major carrier of bacteria and other disease-causing organisms, the first thing you need to do when planning to clean out the feces from your attic is to protect yourself appropriately. To do this, you need to start by ventilating your attic for as long as possible before entering. By doing this, you are simply expelling the contaminated air and allowing fresh air to go in. This protects you from breathing air that is contaminated with rat feces while in the attic. Also, you need to have equipment such as a facial mask, gloves, plastic bags, and a strong disinfectant in place before going ahead to clean your attic.
Just like every other part of your home, cleaning your attic is not that difficult. Provided you have all the supplies listed above, you will find it quite easy to do. To start, wear your facial mask and gloves properly and carefully pack the feces into the plastic bag. After that, dispose of the plastic bag safely.
When you are done with that, you need to soak the floor of your attic with a disinfectant and then scrub the floor until all the remaining feces are removed. Leave the disinfectant on the floor for 10 minutes to allow it to kill all the pathogens and bacteria deposited by the rat. After doing all this, your attic will be completely pathogen and bacteria-free.
If you find any of these is difficult to do, you can hire a professional to help you out with the cleaning.
