Rodent investigations
Find out how rats are getting into your property.
DrainAid provides professional rodent investigations for homes and businesses across Sussex, Surrey and the surrounding areas.
Rats can use damaged drains, redundant pipework and other defects within a drainage system to gain access to a property. We can investigate your drains to identify potential entry points and help establish where the problem is coming from.
Once we understand what’s happening, we’ll explain what we find and recommend the appropriate next step to help prevent further access.
Are rats getting into your property?
If you’re seeing or hearing rats inside your home or business, finding out how they’re getting in is an important step towards dealing with the problem properly.
Rats can travel through drainage systems and may gain access through damaged pipework, broken connections or other defects that aren’t visible from above ground.
DrainAid can investigate your drainage system to help identify potential entry points and understand whether your drains are providing a route into the property.
Signs that rats may be accessing your property through the drains
It isn’t always obvious how rats are getting into a property, particularly when the access point is below ground. Signs that the drainage system could be providing a route include:
Scratching or movement noises beneath floors, behind walls or around pipework
Rats or droppings appearing near toilets, kitchens, utility rooms or other areas connected to drainage
Persistent rodent activity even after pest control treatment
Unexplained smells coming from drains or concealed areas
Visible damage or gaps around drainage connections and pipework
Recurring rat problems with no obvious entry point above ground
These signs don’t necessarily mean your drains are the source of the problem; but a drainage investigation can help establish whether there is an access route below ground.
How we investigate rodent access through your drains
We’ll inspect your drainage system to look for defects or potential access points that could allow rats to enter your property.
Using CCTV drain inspection equipment, we can examine the pipework from within and identify issues such as damage, broken connections or redundant sections of drainage that may be providing a route into the building.
Where needed, we can use sonde tracing to help locate the position of a potential entry point from above ground.
Once we’ve identified what’s happening, we’ll explain what we’ve found and recommend the appropriate next steps to help prevent further access.
What happens if we find a potential entry point?
If our investigation identifies a defect or opening that could be allowing rats to access your property, we’ll explain what we’ve found and the options for dealing with it.
Depending on the location and condition of the drainage system, the appropriate solution may involve repairing damaged pipework, addressing a redundant connection or carrying out other work to prevent the access route from being used.
We’ll recommend the most appropriate solution based on what we find, with no unnecessary work.
Why choose DrainAid?
When rats are getting into your property, simply dealing with the rodents may not solve the problem if the access route is still there. We focus on finding out what’s happening within your drainage system and what can be done about it.
Thorough drainage investigations – we inspect the system to identify potential access routes and hidden defects
CCTV inspection equipment – allowing us to investigate pipework that can’t be seen from above ground
Sonde tracing where needed – helping locate potential entry points and drainage defects from above ground
Solutions as well as investigation – if we find a drainage problem, we can advise on the appropriate repair
Honest, practical advice – we’ll explain what we find and only recommend work that’s genuinely needed
Think rats could be getting in through your drains? Call DrainAid on 07563 242501 to arrange an investigation.
Rodent investigations across Sussex and Surrey
Based in Horsham, DrainAid provides professional rodent investigations for homes and businesses across West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey and the surrounding areas.
We cover Horsham, Crawley, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Brighton and Hove, Worthing, Chichester, Bognor Regis, East Grinstead, Guildford, Reigate, Redhill and many surrounding towns and villages.
View all areas we cover →
Frequently asked questions
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The time needed depends on the size and complexity of the drainage system, the number of access points and how straightforward the potential entry route is to identify.
Once we understand the property and the problem, we’ll give you a clearer idea of what the investigation is likely to involve.
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The cost of a rodent investigation depends on the property, the drainage system and the work needed to investigate potential access points. Once we understand what’s happening, we’ll explain what’s required and the likely cost before work goes ahead.
Call DrainAid on 07563 242501 to discuss the problem and get a clearer idea of what may be involved.
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Yes. Rats can travel through drainage and sewer systems and may be able to enter a property where there is damaged pipework, broken connections, redundant drainage or another potential access point.
An investigation can help establish whether the drainage system is providing a route into your property.
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We can inspect the drainage system using CCTV equipment to look for defects and potential access routes that aren’t visible from above ground.
Where needed, sonde tracing can also help us locate the position of a potential entry point.
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A CCTV inspection can identify damage, openings and other defects within the drainage system that could provide an access route for rats.
It may not always be possible to confirm that the drains are the source, as rats can enter properties in other ways, but the investigation can help identify or rule out potential drainage-related entry points.
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Pest control can deal with rats already present, but if an access route into the property remains open, further activity may occur.
If the drainage system is suspected, investigating and addressing the underlying entry point can help prevent the same route from continuing to be used.
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If we identify damaged pipework, a redundant connection or another drainage defect that could be providing an access route, we’ll explain what we’ve found and recommend the appropriate next step.
Depending on the problem, this could involve a targeted repair, drain lining or other drainage work. We’ll only recommend work that’s genuinely needed.
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If a drainage defect is identified as an access route, repairing or sealing it can help prevent rats from using the same route to enter your property again.
Rats can also enter properties in other ways, so a drainage repair cannot guarantee that all rodent activity will stop. We’ll explain what we find during the investigation and whether the drainage system appears to be contributing to the problem.