I had Eco4 done in July and now I have rats
I had the ECo4 done, and the house (own house) has been warm that side of it is great.
However that dont seem to have put the pipe through the walls in a way that stops rats getting in. A rat has eaten the pipe lagging and gained access. I could smell it (musky) and it was eating a packet of seeds.
The ECO4 company have been useless saying its "unfortunate" butthey have done nothing wrong and its my problem. I emailed loads of people yesterday but nobody got back to me.
Tonight I disturbed an absolutely massive rat in my bathroom (its now locked in the bathroom).
Im having one panic attack after another. I took some diazepan but its not helping much- I feel out of it but still cant stop thinking about the rat. I have a phone phobia so cant get advice from my mental health service as its just a phone number.
Comments
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Hi,
It sounds like you need a pest controller first. They should be able to get rid of the rat problem and seal up any gaps using a more suitable material.
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I agree a pest controller is needed.
Ask them to write a report as well as getting a receipt, if this indicates something wrong with your installation you can look to recover your costs.
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Hi @Slonvinton
I'm so sorry to hear this has happened. This sounds so, so stressful.
As Kimi and OverlyAnxious has already suggested, it really sounds like a pest controller is needed to safely remove the rat and inspect the area where the pipes were installed to seal any gaps.0 -
Its really expensive though, rentokil quotes me £270 to take away a rat locked in bathroom… a one visit thing. Then I discovered rat had escaped and now they are in process of quoting me for a " 4 part riddance programme" so god only knows what that will cost.
The issue with the pipes is that I dont know how modifying what the installer did will affect the guarantee and pretty much just replacing what the installer did will just result in more rats (because pipe lagging doesnt stop rats).
Because they are refusing to accept a design that lets rats in is faulty they wont advise me on how to remedy things either- so thee is no chance of agreement here. Im trying to get legal advice on how to stay rat free without voiding my guarantee.
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I thought that but the only one Ive managed to get hold of says they dont seal up the holes that let the rats in!
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I thought that for rat problems in the UK, you should first contact your local council's environmental health department? These often provides subsidised or free pest control services??
Or check GOV.UK to find your local authority.
You don't need to live in a council home to get help from the council.
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Its good advice because a lot do, but not mine unfortunately. They do give a list of pest control services though; sadly I picked a bad time to get an infestation as two of them are away and one is in hospital- just leaving me with rentokil.
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Are you able to do any DIY yourself?
That hole could be easily blocked up by cutting a small piece of wood to cover it, then just screwing it to the wall. As long as it doesn't touch the pipe it'll be perfectly safe to do.
I'm also wondering whether chicken wire would be safe to stuff in the hole as an extra layer of protection. Normal steel wire would not be recommended as it could react with the copper, but I don't know whether galvanized chicken wire would be ok.
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Im not really well enough. My CPN thinks I have ME/CFS so Im supposed to be learning "pacing", intially I did temporarily block it up by wedging in some slates with bits of wood (rang my friend said Im doing this thing if I dont ring back in ten minutes Ive collapsed- as we do…I was ok though).
Im getting very mixed advice about when you block the access hole up when trying to get rid of rats. I was of the opinion that the ones I have wont be leaving of their own free will so will need to be captured or killed here- so no reason not to block it up (as it will stop more getting in). But other people seem to think I should leave it open, I dont know what the reasoning behind that is though…
Oh and the latest Rentokil quote is over a grand!1 -
Wow! I was expecting a few hundred but not £1000!
If you don't mind dealing with dead rats then block up the hole straight away and leave rat poison inside and outside your property. That way the ones already inside will just die and no more will be able to get in. The only reason to leave the hole open would be to let them out if you don't want to kill them.
Do take care when handling the poison and dead rats.
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That sounds incredibly stressful. Anyone would feel shaken finding a rat in their bathroom.
The installer’s reply you shared states TrustMark will “advise the same”, but I don’t agree with that. TrustMark will not just repeat what the installer says. They look at the actual evidence. If a hole has been left unsealed through an outside wall, they assess that against the PAS standards and make their own judgement based on your photos and paperwork.
For the pest side of things, a local independent pest controller is usually much more affordable than the big national firms.
The key is getting the gap sealed properly so nothing can get back in. Keep all receipts, because if TrustMark confirm the wall was not sealed correctly, you may be able to claim back reasonable costs to rectify their poor workmanship.
See link to TrustMark’s complaints procedure.
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