What Kind Of Damage Do Rats Cause In An Attic?

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Rat infestations are easily detectable mostly by the damage they do in and around your homes. If you don’t store much stuff in your attic, it’ll be easy to stop the signs of rats living there. And while signs of rats in your attic might be disturbing, the big issue is when they start doing damage to the stuff in your attic – meaning it’s probably time to call a local wildlife removal professional.



Damage done by rats in attics. First off, we need to consider the biological hazard rats pose to humans. Their droppings and urine can spread diseases like hantavirus pulmonary disease, Lassa fever or hemorrhagic fever, among others. This applies to fresh excrements, and even the ones which have been dried out can easily spread the viruses and bacteria responsible for those conditions through dust rising up from the floor of your attic. Secondly, dead rat carcasses can spread other diseases and attract other vermin as well – and you’ll usually find plenty of carcasses if your home is infested.

The other problem rats can cause when they live in an attic is that they can actually chew threw wiring, including electrical wiring, and destroy insulation. Chewing on wires is bad news in itself, but it can lead to other, even bigger and potentially fatal problems – a short-circuit can lead to a fire, especially in areas where wires are near insulation materials. Other problems related to wires being chewed are your appliances malfunctioning, boilers and air conditioning machines being stopped suddenly. All of these things can damage electrical devices, and end up costing you a pretty penny. This is a clear-cut case where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Last, but certainly not least, if you have rats living in your attic, you can be sure they’ll use insulation or the stuff you store up there to create their own homes. This means your insulating material will be heavily soiled, chewed through, and completely destroyed, which means you’ll need to replace it. If you have valuable stuff or items from your past stored up there, those can also be damaged significantly by the rat population up there. In some cases, people found even chewed pipes in the attic, which led to flooding and, in some extreme cases, even structural damage. This can happen even if rats target the wood in your attic and go unnoticed for a long period of time.

What should you do? If any of these signs are present in your attic, and you’re suspecting rats behind the damage done, make sure you immediately call your local vermin control professionals. They can handle these requests immediately, ensuring that the rat problem is dealt with swiftly and comprehensively, allowing you to enjoy your home once more without having to fear the damage rats can do to your attic anymore. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of rats - my main rat removal info guide.
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Rat job blog - learn from great examples of rat jobs I've done.
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