How to Get Rid of Rats: A Step-by-Step Control and Exclusion Plan

The best way to get rid of rats is to combine inspection, food and water reduction, correctly placed rat-sized traps, coordinated exclusion, safe cleanup, and continued monitoring. Trapping alone can remove individual rats, but the problem often returns when entry points, garbage, pet food, vegetation, burrows, roof access, or damaged vents remain unchanged.

The first decision is whether the property has Norway rats, roof rats, mice, another animal, or only old evidence. Norway rats usually favor ground-level routes, burrows, sewers, basements, and crawl spaces. Roof rats are strong climbers that commonly use trees, fences, utility lines,

roof edges, attics, and ceiling voids. Their travel routes affect where traps and exclusion work should be concentrated.

A practical rat-control sequence is:

1. Confirm current rat activity and identify likely species and routes.
2. Remove accessible food, water, garbage, and shelter.
3. Place protected rat-sized snap traps along confirmed travel routes.
4. Coordinate exclusion so active rats are not sealed into walls, attics, or crawl spaces.
5. Clean droppings, urine, nests, and carcasses using CDC-aligned wet-cleanup procedures.
6. Monitor until there are no captures and no new signs, then continue prevention checks.

Use our rodent control guide for the broader mouse-and-rat framework. For cost planning, compare the rat control cost guide. Location-specific problems are covered in our guides to rats in walls and rats in the attic.

Step 1 in the Best Way to Get Rid of Rats: Confirm They Are Active

Do not select a treatment based only on one noise, dropping, or damaged package. Current activity is best confirmed through repeated evidence:

• A rat captured or clearly recorded by a camera
• New droppings appearing after safe cleanup
• Fresh gnawing or damaged food packaging
• Grease or rub marks along a repeated route
• Tracks or tail marks in dust
• Active burrows near foundations, garbage, or vegetation
• Repeated nighttime movement connected to a visible route

Old droppings, old gnaw marks, abandoned nests, and historic entry gaps show that rats were present at some point. They do not prove the infestation is active today. The CDC recommends safely cleaning old evidence and checking whether droppings, urine spots, or gnawing return.

Step 2: Identify Norway Rats, Roof Rats, or Mice

Species identification does not need to be perfect before every trap is placed, but the plan must match the animal’s likely travel zone.

Juvenile rats can overlap with adult mice in size, and damaged droppings can mislead.

Use several clues: body photograph, tail length, droppings, tracks, gnawing, burrows, route height, and professional identification.

Step 3: Remove Food, Water, and Shelter

Sanitation does not eliminate rats by itself, but it removes competing food and makes traps easier to evaluate. It also reduces the reason new rats enter.

Inside the Building

• Store food, pet food, bird seed, and animal feed in tight metal, glass, or thick plastic containers.
• Clean food spills and grease promptly.
• Do not leave pet food or water out overnight.
• Repair dripping faucets, leaking pipes, and condensation problems.
• Use garbage containers with tight lids and clean them regularly.
• Remove cardboard, fabric, paper, and clutter from quiet nesting areas.
• Inspect behind appliances, under sinks, inside utility rooms, and around floor drains.

Outside the Building

• Keep trash and compost containers closed and clean.
• Remove fallen fruit, spilled bird seed, pet food, and animal feed.
• Trim dense vegetation and ground cover near the structure.
• Raise and organize stored materials and woodpiles.
• Repair irrigation leaks and standing-water conditions.
• Prune branches and vines that provide roof access.
• Inspect sheds, garages, outdoor kitchens, feeding areas, and dumpsters.

The CDC seal-up guidance recommends keeping food and garbage in tight containers, cleaning spills, putting pet food away, and reducing brush, weeds, and outdoor shelter.

Step 4: Use Rat-Sized Snap Traps Correctly

The CDC recommends traditional snap traps for controlling rats around the home. Choose traps designed for rats; mouse traps may not deliver enough force or have the correct trigger size.

Place traps where rats already travel:

• Along walls and behind large objects
• Near droppings, tracks, rub marks, and gnawing
• Beside burrow entrances where protected placement is possible
• In basements, garages, crawl spaces, and utility rooms
• On elevated ledges, beams, pipes, shelves, or attic routes for roof rats
• Near confirmed entry points, without blocking exits prematurely

Keep traps inaccessible to children, pets, poultry, and wildlife. Use a protective station or secured placement when the trigger could be reached by a non-target animal.

Why Rats May Avoid New Traps

Rats can be cautious around unfamiliar objects. Poor results may also come from:

• Placing traps away from the actual route
• Using too few traps
• Using mouse traps instead of rat traps
• Leaving abundant competing food
• Moving traps repeatedly
• Using unstable or exposed placements
• Disturbing the route too frequently

CDC trapping guidance notes that pre-baiting can help cautious rats accept traps as non-threatening objects before the traps are set. Follow the trap manufacturer’s instructions and check devices daily.

Rat Trap Options Compared

Step 5: Coordinate Trapping and Exclusion

Exclusion is the durable part of rat control, but sealing every opening immediately can trap active rats inside walls, ceilings, attics, or crawl spaces. The removal and repair schedule should be coordinated.

Inspect:

• Foundations and crawl-space vents
• Doors, garage doors, thresholds, and weather stripping
• Plumbing, sewer, gas, cable, and electrical penetrations
• Floor drains and damaged drain covers
• Roof edges, rafters, gables, eaves, soffits, and fascia
• Attic and gable vents
• Chimneys, flashing, roof intersections, and attached additions
• Shared utility chases in multi-unit properties
• Sheds, garages, porches, decks, and outbuildings

Use durable repair materials that fit the building assembly. Metal screening, flashing, hardware cloth, masonry, door components, and permanent construction repairs are generally more durable than soft foam used alone. Preserve ventilation, drainage, utility access, fire resistance, and roof performance.

Do not cut walls, roofs, or ceilings blindly. Hidden wiring, plumbing, gas lines, structural framing, insulation, and fire stops may be present.

Step 6: Handle Burrows and Outdoor Rat Routes

Norway rats commonly use burrows near foundations, landscaping, garbage areas, animal enclosures, woodpiles, and debris. A burrow may have one main entrance and one or more escape openings.

Before closing a suspected burrow:

• Confirm that it is being used by rats rather than protected wildlife.
• Check for fresh soil, tracks, droppings, runways, and repeated camera activity.
• Coordinate population control so rats are not forced into the building.
• Correct nearby food, water, garbage, vegetation, and shelter.
• Follow local rules for burrow treatment or closure.

Roof rats require a different exterior inspection. Focus on branches, vines, fences, utility lines, roof edges, attics, soffits, and upper vents. The UC Statewide IPM Program recommends pruning limbs near the roof and placing roof-rat traps along elevated travel routes.

Step 7: Clean Rat Droppings and Nests Safely

Do not sweep, blow, or vacuum dry rodent droppings, urine, or nesting material. Disturbing contaminated material while dry can put small particles into the air.

For limited household contamination, the CDC cleanup procedure includes:

1. Ventilate an enclosed space when applicable.
2. Wear rubber or plastic gloves.
3. Wet urine, droppings, nests, and surrounding surfaces with a disinfectant.
4. Allow the disinfectant to remain for the label contact time.
5. Wipe up the material with paper towels.
6. Place waste in a covered trash container.
7. Disinfect the surrounding hard surface.
8. Wash gloved hands, remove gloves, and wash bare hands.

Heavy infestations, contaminated insulation, air ducts, confined spaces, vacant buildings, and occupational cleanup require additional precautions. Professional remediation may be appropriate.

Step 8: Dispose of Dead Rats Safely

Check traps daily. For an accessible carcass, CDC guidance includes wearing gloves, wetting the carcass and surrounding area with disinfectant, allowing the required contact time, double-bagging the animal, placing it in covered trash, and washing hands.

A dead rat inside an inaccessible wall, ceiling, duct, or crawl space can cause odor and attract flies or beetles. Deodorizer may reduce what occupants smell, but it does not remove the carcass, contamination, insects, or entry point.

This is one reason indoor poison may create a difficult secondary problem: no product can guarantee that a poisoned rat will leave the building before dying.

Should You Use Rat Poison?

Rodenticides can be useful in specific professional or label-compliant programs, but they are not a substitute for inspection, trapping, sanitation, exclusion, and monitoring.

Important risks include:

• Children or pets reaching bait
• Wildlife eating bait or poisoned rats
• Rats dying in inaccessible spaces
• Odor and carcass insects
• Continued entry because openings remain unsealed
• Incorrect product or site selection

Use only EPA-registered products for the site and follow the label exactly. Bait stations must match label requirements and prevent access by children, pets, and non-target animals. Promptly remove accessible carcasses.

Do Peppermint Oil, Ultrasonic Devices, or Mothballs Get Rid of Rats?

Odor and sound repellents may change behavior temporarily, but they do not provide reliable structural control when food, water, shelter, and entry routes remain available.

How Long Does It Take to Get Rid of Rats?

A limited problem in an accessible area may resolve within days, while an established infestation can require several weeks or longer. Timing depends on species, trap acceptance, route accuracy, competing food, burrows, attached structures, inaccessible voids, exclusion work, neighboring properties, and follow-up.

CDC guidance treats one week with no captures and no new signs as encouraging evidence that rats are gone. Continue monitoring beyond that point in high-risk properties, because outdoor pressure and missed entry routes can lead to renewed activity.

How to Know the Rat Problem Is Resolved

Do not rely on silence alone. A quiet attic or wall may still contain inactive or cautious rats.

Look for a combined pattern:

• No captures for at least one week
• No new droppings after safe cleanup
• No fresh gnawing or food damage
• No new tracks, rub marks, or burrow activity
• No repeated camera sightings
• No recurring nighttime route-specific sounds
• Entry points repaired and remaining repairs documented
• Food, water, garbage, vegetation, and shelter corrected

When DIY Rat Control Is Not Enough

Professional rat control is appropriate when:

• Rats are inside walls, ceilings, attics, ducts, or crawl spaces
• Several rooms, units, or buildings are affected
• There is heavy droppings, urine, nesting, or insulation contamination
• Burrows, drains, sewer routes, rooflines, or shared utility chases are involved
• Trapping produces no improvement after a week
• Children, pets, poultry, or wildlife make trap placement difficult
• Electrical, gas, plumbing, vehicle, roof, or structural damage is suspected
• Dead-rat odor is strong but the source is inaccessible
• The property is commercial, food-service, healthcare, childcare, or multi-unit

Ask a provider to separate inspection, trapping, bait stations, exclusion, sanitation, cleanup, repairs, follow-up visits, and warranty terms. A low-priced bait-placement visit may not include structural prevention or contaminated-material removal.

Common Rat-Control Mistakes

• Using mouse traps for rats
• Placing traps away from confirmed routes
• Using too few traps
• Leaving competing food and pet food available
• Sealing every opening before active rats are removed
• Placing poison where carcasses cannot be recovered
• Relying on ultrasonic or odor repellents as the main treatment
• Ignoring roof access when roof rats are present
• Ignoring burrows and ground routes when Norway rats are present
• Sweeping or vacuuming dry droppings
• Closing one visible hole without inspecting the full building
• Stopping monitoring immediately after one capture

14-Day Rat Control Tracker

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to get rid of rats?

The fastest reliable approach is to confirm active routes, remove competing food, place rat-sized snap traps correctly, coordinate exclusion, and check traps daily.

What is the best way to get rid of rats permanently?

Long-term control requires removal plus durable exclusion, food and water management, sanitation, and continued monitoring. No single trap or repellent provides permanent protection.

Where should rat traps be placed?

Place traps along confirmed travel routes. Norway-rat traps are commonly placed near ground-level walls, burrows, and foundations; roof-rat traps may need protected elevated placement.

Why are rats avoiding my traps?

Rats may avoid new objects. Poor placement, too few traps, competing food, incorrect trap size, unstable placement, or activity on a different route can also reduce captures.

Should I pre-bait rat traps?

CDC notes that pre-baiting can help cautious rats accept new traps before they are set. Follow the trap manufacturer’s instructions.

Should rat holes be sealed immediately?

Seal entry points as part of control, but coordinate repairs with removal so active rats are not trapped inside inaccessible spaces.

Does expanding foam stop rats?

Soft foam used alone may be gnawed. Durable construction materials appropriate for the opening generally provide better exclusion.

Do ultrasonic rat repellents work?

They should not replace inspection, trapping, exclusion, sanitation, and monitoring. Sound can be blocked by building materials and rats may adapt.

Does peppermint oil get rid of rats?

It may create temporary odor avoidance, but it does not remove an established infestation or close entry routes.

Should I use poison inside the house?

Indoor poison can create child, pet, wildlife, carcass, and odor risks. Traps often provide better confirmation and carcass recovery. Follow the label or use a licensed professional.

Can I vacuum rat droppings?

No. CDC advises against sweeping or vacuuming dry rodent urine, droppings, or nesting material. Wet contaminated material with disinfectant first.

How long does rat control take?

A limited problem may resolve within days, while established infestations can take several weeks or longer depending on routes, burrows, trap acceptance, exclusion, and neighboring pressure.

When should I call a rat-control professional?

Call for inaccessible walls or attics, heavy contamination, repeated trapping failure, roof or sewer routes, multifamily buildings, structural exclusion, or electrical and mechanical damage.