Hi,
the upstairs lights recently started blowing their fuse (old style fuse wire), on investigating in the loft (fully boarded but with a hatch for wiring access) it seems some rats have taken a liking to the insulation on the wires around the central lighting connection centre.
Some of the wires are so badly chewed that a large amount of copper is showing and in one case touching (hence the blown fuses).
I have been told that once Rats get into a row of terraced houses like mine it can be very hard to get rid of them. The circuit is now off (fuse removed) and I am trying to contact an electrician and an exterminator..
Obviously I will be talking through my options with the electrician, but I have had trouble getting hold of him.. (holiday season I guess) What can I expect? It seems to me that if there is one badly chewed area then there could be others that I can't see.. am I looking at having all of the boards up and all the wiring replaced or can the wiring be otherwise tested/inspected? The upheaval required to remove all of the loft boarding will be immense.. Also once this is done, what is to stop the Rats 'attacking' again, will the wiring all have to be in trunking or something?
fortunately at this time of year upstairs lights are not crucial but it would be good to get this sorted fairly quickly..
thanks for any thoughts
Trev
the upstairs lights recently started blowing their fuse (old style fuse wire), on investigating in the loft (fully boarded but with a hatch for wiring access) it seems some rats have taken a liking to the insulation on the wires around the central lighting connection centre.
Some of the wires are so badly chewed that a large amount of copper is showing and in one case touching (hence the blown fuses).
I have been told that once Rats get into a row of terraced houses like mine it can be very hard to get rid of them. The circuit is now off (fuse removed) and I am trying to contact an electrician and an exterminator..
Obviously I will be talking through my options with the electrician, but I have had trouble getting hold of him.. (holiday season I guess) What can I expect? It seems to me that if there is one badly chewed area then there could be others that I can't see.. am I looking at having all of the boards up and all the wiring replaced or can the wiring be otherwise tested/inspected? The upheaval required to remove all of the loft boarding will be immense.. Also once this is done, what is to stop the Rats 'attacking' again, will the wiring all have to be in trunking or something?
fortunately at this time of year upstairs lights are not crucial but it would be good to get this sorted fairly quickly..
thanks for any thoughts
Trev