Rat Exterminator in Dallas, TX
Pest control for rats in Dallas–Fort Worth homes, from the attic down to the foundation.
- Roof rats and Norway rats
- Snap traps inside, locked stations outside
- Entry gaps sealed with metal
- A person answers, 24/7
Rat Exterminator Service for Dallas Homes
Our rat control starts with an inspection of the attic, the roofline, the garage and the foundation. Roof rats and Norway rats get into a house at opposite ends, so the technician checks both.
For rat removal inside the house, the technician sets snap traps on the rafters and along the walls where the rats run. Bait stays outside in locked stations. Every way in is then sealed with hardware cloth, metal flashing or copper mesh, and the droppings and soiled insulation come out of the attic.
You hear the price after the inspection, and no trap is set and no gap is sealed until you say yes. The findings come to you in writing: what was found, what was used and where it went. We answer the phone 24/7.
We carry the liability insurance the state requires.
LicensedIn the state
of Texas
InspectBefore any
treatment
WrittenReport after
the visit
How Our Rat Control Works, Step by Step
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1
Call us, day or night
Say what you have noticed and where: running overhead after dark, droppings on a garage shelf, a fresh hole beside the slab. We book the inspection from there.
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2
Check the roof and the ground
In the attic, the technician looks for the nest, the droppings and greasy marks on the rafters. Outside, the search covers the roof returns, soffits and vents, then the garage door and the foundation line. Every opening a rat could use gets marked.
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3
Roof rat or Norway rat, and the price
The signs show which rat it is. A roof rat job centers on the attic and the roofline, a Norway rat job on the garage, the crawl space and the yard. You hear the price here, and nothing goes down before your yes.
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4
Set out the traps and stations
The snap traps go down on the runs the technician found, and the locked bait stations go outside. For the first several days, the traps stay unset.
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5
Seal the house, clean the attic
When the traps come up empty, the technician closes every marked opening and cleans up the attic.
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6
A written record to keep
The record lists each trap and station by its spot and each opening that was closed. It also names what keeps drawing rats to the house, such as firewood stacked against an outside wall.
To book the inspection, call (972) 573-9907. Calling at night is fine, since that is when rats are most active.
Roof Rats and Norway Rats in DFW Homes
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension names the roof rat as the rat most often found in Texas homes. It is a climber. In older Dallas neighborhoods, roof rats run the power lines and fence tops to reach a house.
Most DFW houses sit on a concrete slab, and on a slab house rats usually get in at the roofline: gable vents, soffit gaps and the holes around pipes and cables. A rat can climb the outside of a pipe up to 3 inches across and jump 3 feet straight up.
Norway rats, also called brown rats, stay on the ground. They dig burrows along foundations, under sheds and garage floors and in alleys. Under an older pier-and-beam house, the crawl space is a runway to the floors and walls above.
The two kinds rarely share a house. Roof rats breed most in winter and spring, Norway rats in spring and fall. A roof rat litter runs five to eight young, and the young breed at about three months.
Traps Inside, Stations Outside, the Gaps Sealed
DFW Pest Guard does rat extermination with snap traps inside the house, never poison indoors.
- Snap traps, inside. For roof rats they go on the rafters and along the attic walls, for Norway rats along the garage walls and in the crawl space. They sit baited but unset for several days to a week, so the rats get used to them. Then they are all set at once, many of them.
- Bait stations, outside. Rat bait goes only into locked, tamper-resistant stations anchored outside the house. Under EPA rules, the label on bait sold to professionals calls for that kind of station wherever children under six, pets or wildlife could get to it.
- Exclusion, in metal. Rat exclusion, also called rat-proofing, closes every opening a little wider than half an inch, which is all a rat needs. Hardware cloth goes over the vents, metal flashing over soffit and roofline gaps, and copper mesh around pipes and cables.
- Attic cleanup. The droppings come out, and the insulation the rats soiled is replaced.
Signs of Rats in Your Home
The first sign is often a sound, not a sighting:
- Running, scratching or squealing in the attic or the ceiling after dark.
- Droppings on the attic insulation, on storage shelves or along a wall.
- Dark, greasy smears on rafters and low on walls, where rats brush past on the same route each night.
- Paths worn into the insulation, and gnawed wood, wiring or plastic.
- A burrow beside the foundation, under a shed or at the edge of the garage slab. That one points to Norway rats.
Smaller droppings and scratching low in a kitchen wall are more often mice, which our mouse exterminator service handles.
Leave what you find in place: it shows the technician where the traps belong. Keep children and pets away from it, and call (972) 573-9907 to tell us what you found.
Rats spread disease through their droppings, urine and saliva, and the CDC's list includes leptospirosis and rat-bite fever. Leptospirosis lasts for weeks in damp soil or puddles, and dogs catch it the same way people do.
Once the technician has seen them, clean up any droppings in the house wet, as the CDC advises. Soak them with a bleach solution or a disinfectant and wipe them up with gloves on. Never sweep or vacuum them.
Pest and Rat Control Across Dallas–Fort Worth
Our pest control for rats covers Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and Denton counties, which take in both cities and the suburbs between them. A house in Garland gets the same visit as one in Keller. We work in homes only: houses, townhomes and apartments people live in.
Every town we cover is on the service areas page. For rat removal in Dallas or anywhere on that list, call (972) 573-9907.
Questions About Rats
How much is this going to cost?
That depends on the house, so the number comes after the inspection. What you pay a rat exterminator comes down to which rat it is, how many there are and how many openings need sealing, the roofline above all.
How long does it take to get rid of them?
More than one visit. The first, with the inspection, usually takes 30 minutes to two hours. Then the traps work until the rats are gone, and the sealing and the cleanup come last.
Can you get them out of the walls?
Yes. Rats that nest in a wall leave it each night to feed, along the same runs. The traps go on those runs, in the attic or along the garage walls. Their holes stay open until the catches stop, since sealing sooner would shut rats inside.
What about my kids and my dog?
The traps go where children and pets cannot reach them, which with roof rats is mostly the attic, and no bait is used indoors. A dog that sleeps in the garage changes where traps can go, so we ask about pets when you call.
Why not just buy traps at the hardware store?
A store trap can catch a rat or two, but the gap they came through stays open, and more rats use it. Professional pest control for rats adds the inspection that finds each opening, enough traps set at once for the whole group, and metal over the openings once the catches stop.
Does rain change anything?
Not indoors, and the stations outside are closed boxes. A heavy rain can push the roofline sealing to a dry day, since that part is done on a ladder at the eaves.
How do I get ready for the visit?
Clear a path to the attic hatch or pull-down ladder, and clear a strip along the garage walls if boxes are stacked there. Bring in any pet food kept outside, since it feeds the rats.
Roof rats come in up top, Norway rats down low. We check both ends of the house.
Call any time and tell us where you hear them. The inspection comes first, then the price, then the traps.