Rat Control in Pittsburgh

In Pittsburgh, a rat is a Norway rat. Big, brown, lives low and digs. It burrows under porches, retaining walls and sheds, and it runs the fence lines and foundations at night looking for food. Alley trash, bird seed, dog food left on the back porch. It isn't picky.

The part people don't expect is the basement. Older city houses have floor drains and a basement toilet tied into old clay sewer laterals. A cracked lateral or a drain with no cover is a straight shot into the house. If you're hearing splashing by the drain at night, that's probably what's going on. Our page on basement rodents gets into it.

Give us a call and tell us what you're seeing. The tech who comes out looks at the lot, the alley side and the basement, then tells you the plan and the price before anything goes down.

Rat or mouse? How you know it's rats

Rats are loud and messy. Mice are small and quiet. If you're on the fence, these are the signs that point to rats. If you're finding rice-sized droppings in the kitchen instead, you're probably looking at mice, or both.

• Round burrows 2 to 4 inches wide by walls, fences or sheds
• Dark, capsule-shaped droppings about three-quarters of an inch long
• Chewed trash can lids or garden produce with bites out of it
• Greasy dark smudges along foundation stones and basement beams
• Thumping or dragging in the basement at night
• Splashing or movement by a basement drain

What the tech looks at on a Pittsburgh lot

Most first visits start outside. The tech walks the property line, the alley and any retaining walls, following the trail from the food back to the burrow. On a steep Polish Hill lot, that can mean climbing down to the lower yard or crawling under a deck that hangs out over the slope.

Then it's the basement. Floor drain, basement toilet, cleanout, and the top of the foundation where the sill sits on stone. In a Lawrenceville row house they'll check the party wall too, since rats and mice pass between basements. Gaps around the gas line and the old coal chute get a look on every house.

After that you hear what they found and what it'll cost. Our guide on what moves the price explains why one job runs bigger than another.

Traps inside, locked stations outside, then seal it

Rat jobs go in stages. Snap traps inside. Locked, tamper-resistant bait stations outside where kids and dogs can't get at the bait. Then the gaps get closed with metal, mortar or hardware cloth so the next rat can't follow the old trail in. Skip the sealing work and you'll be back here next spring.

If they're living in burrows under a wall or shed, the plan usually covers yard burrows and sewer runs too. Expect follow-up visits. Rats are cautious and it takes a few weeks to clear them out.

Never spread loose rat poison around a yard or basement. It hits pets, kids and wildlife, and a poisoned rat can die inside a wall where you'll smell it for weeks.

Cut off the food before the tech shows up

Get trash into cans with tight lids and stick to the city set-out times. Take the bird feeder down for a while. Dog food and bird seed go in metal cans. Pull woodpiles and scrap lumber up off the ground and away from the house. None of that fixes it on its own, but it makes the traps work faster. If it's a neighbor's lot feeding them, the alley guide covers when to call 311.

Related: Sewer and Yard Burrow Rats, Rodent Proofing, Basement and Crawl Space Rodents

Serving Lawrenceville, South Side Flats and Slopes, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Mount Washington, Polish Hill, Brookline, Mt. Lebanon, Millvale.