trying to get between floors?

[aliUK]

Hi

I wondered if someone here could offer me some advice.

I stay in a mid-terraced that was built in 1970's. My house is double storeyed. Lately I've been hearing some scratching noises from my ceiling in my lounge. I cannot hear the scratching from upstairs but the sound does travel up my stairs.

As soon as I heard the scratching I thought possibly rats/mouse as it sounds like something bitting through wood. Anyway, I called in a Pest Control firm who sent a guy over and he did not have a clue what it could be. So he placed some bait in my boiler cupbroad, heating cupboard and loft. 4 weeks on an nothing has taken it.

If it is a mice or rat I dont know how they could have got in between my floors. Other than perhaps if it was linked with my neighbour who uplifted her whole bathroom due to flooding in the summer and this may have disturbed it? Last night I heard the noise again this time I heard it as it went across my ceiling.

So my next plan of attack is to maybe pull up the carpets from upstairs and see if I cannot lay some bait there. My upstairs is completely wall to wall carpetted (of course different carpet for each room). Lucky the room that I'm thinking of lifting up the carpet is a spare room.

How easy is it to lift up the carpet and to remove the floor boards and and replace with minial cost. Would I be able to get the right to the bottom of the floor. Or do I need to tear down the cealing?

I just hope what ever it is its not causing structure damage.

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post but I'm really at lost with this problem.

Thanks for your support.

 

[mattysupra]

start to pull the carpet up from a corner and pull one wall of the carpet up in the same direction of the floorboards. Do the same with the underlay. Pick a floorboard to pull up, next run a circular saw along the length of the gap between the two boards to cut the tongue off if its tongue and grove floorbords, next leaver the board up slowly and then press back down to leave the nails proud. You can now pull the nails out and then pull the floor board up.

Be carfull of any pipes underneath.

 

[aliUK]

start to pull the carpet up from a corner and pull one wall of the carpet up in the same direction of the floorboards. Do the same with the underlay. Pick a floorboard to pull up, next run a circular saw along the length of the gap between the two boards to cut the tongue off if its tongue and grove floorbords, next leaver the board up slowly and then press back down to leave the nails proud. You can now pull the nails out and then pull the floor board up.

Be carfull of any pipes underneath.

Thanks for your advice. I think I should perhaps get a professional out who would do this kind of work? Would they also lay the bait. should the Pest control firm be able to do this for me?

 

[mattysupra]

get a local chippy in to remove the floorboard for you and put it back down with screws so you can lift it up when you like. This way you can lay the bait and put the board back down easy. The hard bit is taken it up the first time!

 

[JohnD]

a carpenter or joiner would be best skilled at lifting a floorboard neatly. Other tradesmen often do a rough job of it.

You can put down rat bait yourself. I use those plastic saucers sold for flower pots.

If you ask him to refix the board with countersunk screws so you can undo then and lift it yourself in future, you can replenish the bait withouyt having to pay someone.

If you ask him to take up a board adjacent to the party wall, you may see gaps and cracks in the brickwork where vermin get in from next door. Clean these out and fill them up with sand and cement mortar.

edit: too late

 

[aliUK]

I bought the house just over a year ago and have not replaced the carpet. Maybe there is already a priece that has been cut out. How easy is it to uplift carpet and the underlayer. I do hear the floor board creak a bit on certain parts of the floor. Could this be a sign that there is already an opening for me to try and open?

 

[JohnD]

probably not. But you are going to have to lift the carpet and have a look. None of us can do it.