How to Inspect Your Potential Home for Rats and Mice

In this day and age, the idea of living in a nifty rental is especially appealing to a lot of millennials in Australia. If you’re one of them, and if you’re one of the lucky people who have found a potential new home, don’t sign the lease just yet.

Your new abode can already be the home of tiny critters gnawing through kitchen cabinets at 4 am and hanging out behind appliance in broad daylight. That’s right—rodents. Tick everything off in this checklist before signing a lease to save yourself from moving in with rats and mice.

1. Check for Any Droppings in Corners

Rodents will either defecate or urinate in areas where they feel safe and corners are one of these.

2. Identify Flag Holes, Gaps, and Cracks as Small as a Quarter of an Inch

Gaps in the moulding, jagged crevices under the sink and around the pipes are rodent entryways. Look for these and see to it that maintenance fixes cracks, fills holes and nails down any loose baseboards before rodents start emerging from the woodwork.

3. Look for Rodent Nests Behind Large Appliances

Rat and mice nests are commonly under stoves and refrigerators as these appliances both produce moisture and heat. Food debris can also gather near them. For these reasons, it’s essential to inspect these areas thoroughly.