What the technician checks.
An inspection follows the evidence. The technician begins wherever you noticed a sign and then works in widening circles, because the visible mess is rarely the whole story.
- Roofline, soffits, ridge and gable vents, and any place a pipe or cable passes through.
- Attic or crawl space, with attention to insulation that looks flattened or stained.
- Garage door seals, walls, shelving and stored goods.
- Foundation, slab edge, skirting and vents.
- Yard: burrows, woodpiles, feeders, fruit trees and fences touching the building.
Photographs are taken as the walk proceeds, so the final report can show you exactly where each opening or dropping cluster sits.
Naming the animal.
A mouse and a rat need different traps, different metal and different cleanup. Droppings, rub marks, tooth marks and sound help tell them apart. Mice leave tiny pellets and gnaw small holes. Rats leave larger droppings and gnaw bigger ones, and roof rats climb where Norway rats dig.
If neither animal fits, the report says so. Bats, squirrels and raccoons need different handling, and we would rather tell you than treat the wrong problem.
Mapping the way in.
Every inspection ends with a list of entry points. A short sketch or numbered photographs show which ones are active, which are old and which can wait. That ranking matters when a budget is tight.
| What is found. | What it usually means. | Typical next step. |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh droppings near a wall. | An active route. | Trap along that wall. |
| Old, dry droppings only. | Past activity, possibly finished. | Seal the entry and monitor. |
| Greasy rub marks on a rafter. | A regular travel path. | Place traps on the path. |
| Chewed insulation or ducts. | Nesting or feeding. | Plan cleanup and repair after removal. |
How the estimate is written.
Our written plan splits the job into stages. Findings lead, and trapping, sealing, cleanup and repair follow. A price sits beside each line, so you can see where every dollar goes.
Nothing starts until you agree. If you prefer to deal with sealing yourself, the report still helps because it shows where the gaps are. Many people use the document to compare options.
Share your street and a couple of details, and the search for our earliest opening begins.
Dial (888) 686-4821Booking and preparation.
Call and say where you noticed the sign. The dispatcher offers the soonest opening. Before the visit, clear a path to the attic hatch, move cars from the garage if possible and put pets in a quiet room.
For the work that may follow, see mouse control, rat control and trapping and removal.
Before you call: public health advice, boiled down
Agencies largely agree on the cleaning method, so the shared steps are summarized here.
- Old pellets turn to powder under a bristle, so mist them with disinfectant before a hand or towel gets close.
- Prop the doors wide, let the breeze work and come back after roughly thirty minutes.
- Skin contact with droppings, urine or nesting material is avoidable, and gloves make it so.
- Cover the waste and its surroundings with disinfectant and let it rest before the first wipe.
- Tie the bag, bin it and wash your hands once more.
- Illness after cleaning up waste is a job for a physician, not an exterminator, so describe what you handled.
Agency pages behind this advice
Each link opens the agency's own site, with no sales pitch attached.
- Centers for Disease Control, hantavirus prevention: CDC hantavirus advice on holding down rodent contact around houses, sheds and vehicles.
- Centers for Disease Control, rodent cleanup guide: The air, soak and bag sequence that this page's cleanup advice draws on.