How to keep rats away

No one wants rats in their home—they can cause serious damage by chewing through wires and walls and leave you with expensive repairs. Even worse, they carry diseases like salmonella and hantavirus that can put your health at risk. Learn how to keep rats out of your house with rat prevention, DIY tips, and expert rat control. 

What attracts rats to your home?

If you’ve noticed signs of rats, such as droppings or gnaw marks, it’s important to understand what might be drawing them to your home. Rats are resourceful and look for easy access to food, water, and shelter. Here’s what could be attracting them:

• An easy way to get in: Rats can squeeze through holes as small as a nickel. Gaps around doors, broken foundation vents, cracked siding, and openings around pipes or utility lines are common entry points.

• Water sources: Rats need water to survive. Water sources in your home that can attract rats include leaky pipes, dripping faucets, standing water in basements, pet water bowls, and clogged gutters.

• Food: Improperly stored food, open trash cans, and compost piles can attract rats because of their strong odors. Also, morsels like spilled pet food or leftover crumbs can draw in rodents.

• Shelter: Rats seek indoor shelter to escape cold weather in the fall and winter. Make sure your home is secure, especially around rat season in August to November.

• Bounty in your backyard: Your yard can be just as appealing as your home. Standing water, fallen fruit, birdseed, vegetable gardens, woodpiles, overgrown shrubs, sheds, and leaf piles offer rats meals, water, and places to hide.

Rat prevention checklist

Figuring out how to prevent rats is all about removing what they need to survive and sealing up their way in. Want to learn how to keep rats away? Use this simple checklist to help keep rats away for good.

Remove food sources

Rats will eat just about anything they can find, from leftovers to trash and even crumbs on the floor. They’re great at chewing through things like cardboard, plastic, and soft metals to get to food. Here’s how to keep your food safe and stop rats in their tracks:

• Store food securely: Use glass jars, metal tins, or airtight containers in place of materials rats can chew through.

• Clean up right away: Put away leftovers, and don’t leave crumbs or spills sitting out.

• Secure your trash: Use garbage cans with tight-fitting lids and pick up any spilled trash quickly.

• Take out the trash daily: If you can, move all your trash to an outside bin or dumpster at the end of the day.

Eliminate shelter/hiding places

Don’t let your home become a habitat for rats. Rats look for safe, hidden places to shelter both indoors and outdoors, especially during colder months when they move inside for warmth and food. Here’s where rats like to hide inside and outside of homes.

Inside your home:

• Basements and attics: Rats can nest in hidden-away spaces in your home. Seal up cracks, holes, and gaps in walls, vents, or foundations.

• Garages and storage rooms: Sealed boxes that are rarely disturbed are an ideal place for rats to hide. Use sturdy plastic or metal bins instead of cardboard boxes to prevent rats.

• Behind appliances: Behind appliances rats can hide away undetected. Clean up crumbs and fix any leaks that could attract rats.

Outside your home:

• Woodpiles and leaf piles: Stack wood neatly and keep it away from your house. Rake up leaves regularly to discourage rats.

• Overgrown bushes and gardens:< Trim plants and keep your yard tidy to eliminate hiding spots.

Seal entry points

Rats are really good at sneaking into homes through small gaps and cracks. To keep them out, you’ll need to seal up these entry points. Here’s where to look and how to keep rats away in the first place: 

• Holes around plumbing: Inspect areas where pipes enter walls or floors and seal any gaps with caulk or expanding foam.

• Doors and windows: Check for missing weather stripping and make sure gaps between doors and sills are no larger than a quarter inch.

• Walls and foundations: Look for cracks, holes, or gaps in walls, siding, and foundations and repair them promptly.

• Rooflines and eaves: Trim back trees, bushes, and overhanging branches to prevent rats from accessing your roof or attic.

• Garages and vents: Install tight-fitting covers on foundation vents and check for gaps in garage doors.

Rat repellent and rat deterrents

Along with a good defense against rats, some people will go on the offense by using rat repellents and deterrents as rat prevention. Here are the most common options, how they work to keep rats away, and how effective they really are.

Ultrasonic rat repellents

Ultrasonic rat repellents are devices that emit high-frequency sound waves meant to irritate and drive rats away. While ultrasonic devices might seem like a quick fix, there is not much scientific data proving their effectiveness, and rats can adapt to the noise over time.

Natural rat repellents

Using scents as a natural rat repellent can be an attractive option for homeowners who want to avoid more conventional treatments in their homes. What scents will keep rats away? Some people will use strong smells like peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, or cedar oil to try to deter rats. While these may temporarily discourage rodents, the effects can wear off quickly, and they may not do enough against a larger rat infestation.

Rat deterrent sprays

Store-bought rat deterrent sprays claim to create a barrier with odors or tastes rats dislike. These can work for short-term protection but need to be continually applied and won’t stop determined rats.

Traps and baits

Traps and baits can reduce rat numbers when placed correctly, but they’re only a partial solution. Without sealing entry points or addressing what attracts rats, new ones will keep coming back.

Why professional service is the most effective rat prevention

How can you get rid of rats permanently? DIY methods may offer temporary relief but professional rat control services, like those from Terminix, are the most reliable solution. Terminix experts can provide a free rat inspection to identify the source of the problem, locate entry points, and assess the extent of the infestation. From there, they’ll eliminate rats, seal off access points, and offer long-term solutions to keep rodents out for good. With professional help, you can ensure your home stays protected.