Rats and mice are not just unwanted visitors. Their presence in a building causes considerable material damage that can affect the very structure of your home, compromise the safety of the occupants and lead to extremely costly repairs. Understanding the extent of the damage they cause is essential to gauge how urgent professional treatment is.
To understand why rodents cause so much damage, you need to know about a fundamental biological feature: their incisors grow continuously, at a rate of several centimetres a year. To keep these teeth at a functional length, rats and mice have to gnaw hard materials constantly. This compelling physiological need drives them to attack everything in their path, indiscriminately. Wood, plastic, plaster, cardboard, aluminium and even some soft metals cannot withstand the power of their jaws. An adult brown rat can exert a pressure of more than 500 kilograms per square centimetre with its incisors, which enables it to bore through materials you would think indestructible.
One of the most dangerous types of damage caused by rodents involves electrical installations. Rats and mice frequently gnaw through conduits and electrical cables, exposing the conducting wires. This deterioration causes short circuits that can start fires. According to insurance companies, rodents are thought to be responsible for around 25 per cent of fires of unexplained electrical origin in France. Cables in lofts, false ceilings, service ducts and behind walls are particularly vulnerable because they lie along the routes rodents favour. A single bare cable in a confined, dusty space can be enough to start a fire with dramatic consequences.
Rodents also attack PVC plastic piping and waste pipes. By gnawing through seals and fittings, they cause water leaks that can remain invisible for weeks before showing up as seepage, mould or major water damage. Water supply pipes, waste pipes under sinks and washing machine connections are frequent targets. A single hole of a few millimetres in a pressurised pipe can cause considerable damage to the floors, partition walls and ceilings of the storeys below.
Insulation materials are a favourite target for rodents. Glass wool, rock wool, expanded polystyrene and natural insulation are shredded to serve as nesting material. In lofts, mice and rats dig tunnels through the insulation, drastically reducing its thermal performance and increasing your energy bill. Beyond insulation, rodents can weaken the very structure of the building by gnawing wooden beams, joists and timber framing. In the most serious cases, this deterioration can compromise the soundness of the building and require major renovation work.
In homes as in business premises, rodents soil and destroy food stocks. A single rat eats around 25 to 30 grams of food a day, but contaminates a far larger quantity with its droppings, its urine and the hairs it spreads. Rat urine, in particular, carries leptospirosis, a serious disease that can lead to kidney failure. Mice, for their part, leave between 50 and 80 droppings a day along their routes, contaminating every surface they cross. For businesses in catering and the food industry, this contamination can lead to administrative closures and health penalties.
Certain clues reveal the presence of rodents before the damage becomes major. Gnaw marks on skirting boards, furniture or food packaging are a first sign. Scratching noises in the partition walls or ceiling, especially at night, point to regular activity. Droppings along the walls (rodents always follow the same paths), greasy rub marks on surfaces and a persistent musky smell are all warning signs to take seriously. The earlier you act, the more you limit the extent of the damage.
Faced with potential damage, professional rodent control is an investment that protects you from far more costly repairs. At Mr Nuisibles, our technicians carry out a full audit of your building to identify the entry points, assess the extent of the infestation and put in place a suitable treatment plan. We combine mechanical methods (professional traps) and secured baits in locked stations to eliminate the rodent population while guaranteeing the safety of occupants and pets. Contact us on 01 89 70 79 30 for a free assessment and protect the integrity of your home.
