Rat control in Centurion

If you're hearing rats in the roof or finding droppings in the kitchen, the fix is a proper inspection, secure baiting and closing the gaps they use, not just putting down poison. Centurion gets a lot of rat activity, and most of it comes from the same few sources: the Hennops River and its tributaries, open veld on the edges of estates, restaurant and shopping-centre bins, and compost heaps and bird feeders in established gardens.

Why rats do well in Centurion

Centurion is a mix of older suburbs with big gardens, like Eldoraigne and Wierdapark, tightly packed townhouse complexes, large estates and office parks. Each gives rats something different. Older homes have roof gaps, loose fascia boards and gardens with plenty of cover. Complexes share walls and roof voids, so a rat problem in one unit often turns up in the next. Office parks and food outlets around the Centurion CBD and the mall produce exactly the kind of waste rats live on.

Then there's the cold. When Highveld nights drop towards freezing from May onwards, rats that spent summer outside move into roofs, garages and wall cavities. Most of our Centurion rat calls come between late autumn and the end of winter.

Roof rat or brown rat?

The roof rat (black rat) is a climber. It runs along walls, trees, vine-covered walls and cables and gets into the roof void, which is why you hear it overhead at night. The brown rat is heavier and digs. It lives in burrows under paving, sheds and compost, and comes in at ground level through drains, gaps under doors and holes around pipes. Knowing which one you have tells us where to bait and which entry points to look for first.

Signs to look for

• Scratching or running in the ceiling, mostly after dark
• Droppings about the size of a raisin along walls, in cupboards or in the roof
• Gnaw marks on wiring, irrigation pipes, plastic bins or wood
• Greasy smudge marks along regular routes
• Burrows under paving, at the base of walls or under the compost heap
• Dogs barking or staring at the same corner at night

How we deal with rats

We start by walking the property, inside and out, to find out where the rats are living and how they're getting in. Then we place lockable, tamper-resistant bait stations where the rats travel and where children, pets and wildlife can't get at the bait. Inside the roof and in places where bait isn't suitable, we use traps. Once activity drops, we show you the gaps to close: broken air bricks, holes where pipes and cables enter, gaps under garage doors, and tree branches touching the roof.

For complexes and estates, we can service the whole site rather than one unit at a time. That's the only approach that really works when roof voids are shared. Offices, restaurants and warehouses can have a scheduled monitoring contract with regular visits and a record of every station.

The mistake that keeps rats coming back

Throwing loose poison into the roof is the one we see most often. Rats carry it off, some die where you can't reach them and you live with the smell for weeks, and nothing has been done about the hole they came in through. A few months later, a new family moves in through the same gap. Baiting without proofing is only half the job.

A Centurion-specific tip

If your property backs onto the river, a stormwater channel or open veld, keep a clear strip along that boundary wall. Rats don't like crossing open ground. Move compost, wood piles and dense creepers away from that wall, and you take away the cover they use to get from the veld to your house.

What does rat control cost?

The price depends on the size of the property, how many bait stations are needed, whether we're working in the roof, and how many follow-up visits it takes to clear the activity. A single house with a few rats in the roof is a straightforward job. A complex, an estate section or a food business on a monitoring contract is quoted to fit the site. If you've seen one mouse once, a couple of snap traps from the hardware store might be all you need, and we'll tell you so.

Rats rarely stay in one place. If you're also seeing mice, see our mouse control in Centurion, and for cockroaches in the kitchen, Centurion cockroach treatments. You'll find every pest we treat locally on our Centurion pest control page. We also handle rat problems in Garsfontein and right across the city through rat control in Pretoria. For what you can do yourself, read our guide on how to get rid of rats.

We're SAPCA registered and every treatment comes with a 3-month guarantee, so if the rats return within three months, we come back at no extra cost. Hearing something in the roof tonight? Call 012 012 5526, or WhatsApp us a photo of the droppings and we'll tell you what you're dealing with.