Under a suspended timber floor, sound carries better than almost anywhere in a house — which is why this is so often how an older property's rat problem is first noticed.
Rats or mice, and the weight tells you which. Heavier scurrying with gnawing is rats; light fast scratching is mice.
A suspended timber floor sits over a ventilated void, and floorboards transmit sound well. That is why you hear it so clearly — not because the animal is unusually close.
A concrete floor hides a rat problem for months. A suspended timber floor announces it on the first night — which, on balance, is a favour.
| Rats | Mice | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | Clearly audible, heavier | Light, easy to miss |
| Sound | Scurrying bursts, gnawing, dragging | Fast light scratching |
| Pace | Slower, more deliberate | Quick and skittering |
| Gnawing | Common and loud | Present but quieter |
| Droppings | 12–18mm, tapered | 3–6mm, rice-sized |
| Price | £240 house | £240 house |
Same price either way, so a wrong guess costs nothing — but the approach and the entry points differ, so it is worth knowing.
See our full rat control service, published prices and what treatment involves in an older property.
View Rat Control Pinner →That last one is worth checking before you call anyone. Expansion ticking in pipework under a floor is a common false alarm and it follows the heating schedule exactly.
Common in Pinner, and it changes the picture.
Pipework expansion when the heating runs is the common false alarm. Squirrels are overhead and in daylight. Birds are at the eaves in spring.
Usually not. We work through existing access — a hatch, a cellar, or the airbricks.
Fewer than it sounds. A timber floor exaggerates considerably.
Buzzing rather than scratching? A wasp nest is £90 fixed cost in Pinner, guaranteed for 30 days.
Rats or mice, and the weight tells you which. Heavier scurrying with gnawing is rats; light fast scratching is mice.
A suspended timber floor is effectively a drum — boards on joists over an empty void. Sound transmits up through the boards, so a single rat can sound like several.
Usually a cracked, broken or missing airbrick, or a failed drainage run. Both are common in older property.
Yes. Pipework expansion when the heating runs is a common false alarm, and it follows the heating schedule exactly.
Yes. Ground-floor cabling and pipework run through the void, insulation gets shredded and fouled, and the smell comes up through the boards.
No. It is a confined space and not worth it. We work through existing access.
Usually not. We work through a hatch, a cellar, or the airbricks.
The void may run under more than one property. Ask whether neighbours are hearing it too — a coordinated approach resolves it properly.
Tell us how heavy it sounds and what time. And check the airbricks while you are outside.
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