Cavity wall - getting rid of rats

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I had a single storey extension built on the side of my house 6 years ago.

There were 3 manhole covers in a line, the extension covered the middle manhole cover (a T-Junction). We anticipated having to allow access via the extension but the Council Officer inspected the site and said it could be capped off - as it would be possible to 'rod' from either end & the extension built atop. The extension was built on piles due to nearby conifers.

Rats got into the wall and the loft of the extension.

I got the drains surveyed and they were relined as there were a number of cracks & holes but the problem persisted.

The builder confirmed that the manhole had been capped off correctly. He sealed off the top off the wall (i.e. between the wall and the loft) with a concrete/glass mixture.

This stopped the rats getting into the loft.

But the rats are still in the walls. I put a lot of poison down, this stops them for a while but we then have to put up with the stench of decaying rats... it is truly horrible, we've got one at the moment.

The only long term solution I can think of is to pump concrete into the lower part of the wall to stop the rats getting into the wall (there is no other access). Not sure how this would be possible what with the insulation material that is already there etc.

Any ideas or similar experiences out there?
 
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Try something harmless until you find a way to block it off. Try those smelly air freshener bricks and also try an ultra high frequency deterrent thingy.
 
The High frequency deterrents in my experience are useless for rodents. I've also tried the ones that sends frequencies through the house wiring, mice some how get in every few months. We live near a park with rats - thankfully none of those getting in!
 
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core drill a hole in the wall around 4" get a couple of ferrets on harnesses feed them through the hole and let them do there thing also get some of the ferret scat and smear it around where the rats are.
you may think I'm crackers but try it.
 
Update to this thread...

The interim solution has been to fit a Vermend Rat Blocker device (http://www.vermend.co.uk/) on the pipe leading that exits the extension.
These don't come cheap but since fitting one of these (6 months ago) - I have had no rats getting into the cavities or anywhere else for that matter. They are easy to fit.

The long term solution appears to be abandoning the drainage system underneath the house and routing the drains around the house. This is a fair size piece of work & something that I am not looking forward to doing (read paying for...)
 
How does the rat get from the pipe to the cavity. I presumed both inner and outter leaf were built onto a solid ring beam?
 
How does the rat get from the pipe to the cavity. I presumed both inner and outter leaf were built onto a solid ring beam?
The extension is built on piles. The rats are getting out of the drains into the void under the extension.
From there they have chewed holes in the periscope type air vents that sit in the cavity wall to provide circulation to the void.
This sort of vent: http://www.manthorpe.co.uk/Building...erfloor-Vents/Telescopic-Underfloor-Vent.html


I could try and block these air vents but over the years I have tried lots of things and they always find a way. This device is the first thing that has stopped them.
 

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