How rodent control works — the process step by step

At a glance

Service

How rodent control works — the process step by step

Area covered

Riga and the surrounding region

Price

From €40 — the figure quoted is the final price

Availability

24/7, weekends and nights included

Reply time

Within 5 minutes of the form being submitted

How to book

Through the enquiry form only

The result of rodent control depends on how precisely the first steps are carried out. The inspection and the identification of entry points determine everything else.

1. 1

   Inspection

   We inspect the property and establish where the rodents shelter, travel and feed. Without an inspection, treatment is guesswork.

2. 2

   Finding entry points

   We locate gaps, pipe entries, ventilation openings and other places through which rodents get inside.

3. 3

   Assessing the scale

   We assess how large the population is and how long it has been there — this determines the method and the intensity of treatment.

4. 4

   Choosing the method

   We choose the solution for the specific situation: lockable bait stations, mechanical traps, or a combination of the two.

5. 5

   Placement

   We place bait stations and traps where the rodents actually move — not where it is most convenient.

6. 6

   Removing the cause

   We give specific recommendations for sealing gaps, pipe entries and ventilation openings so the problem does not return.

7. 7

   Control and monitoring

   We return to check the result, replace what has been used up and monitor whether the activity has stopped.

What happens between filling in the form and the first visit

The rodent control process starts earlier than the moment a specialist comes down the stairs. Once you have filled in the form we reply within 5 minutes, and the first step is a few clarifying questions: where exactly the signs were noticed, how long they have been observed, whether droppings, gnawed packaging or scratching sounds at night have been seen or heard. We also ask about the type of building — a Soviet-era apartment block, a renovated building in the centre, or a private house with a basement. This information is not bureaucracy: it determines what equipment the specialist puts in the van and how much time is set aside for the site. If rats rather than mice are suspected, larger tamper-resistant stations have to be prepared for the visit. After that we agree a time. We work around the clock in Riga, so an inspection can be scheduled late in the evening or at a weekend if nobody is at home during the day.

The first twenty minutes on site, and why the order matters

On arrival, the specialist does not start by putting out bait — at first they simply walk around and look. The room where the signs have been noticed most often is inspected first, then the adjoining rooms, and only after that the technical areas: the basement, the ventilation shaft, the recess around the sewer stack, the space under the sink and behind the cooker. This order is not accidental. If bait is placed straight away in the first visible spot, there is a real risk it will sit outside the rodents' actual runs and go untouched for weeks. During the inspection we look for three things: fresh droppings, greasy rub marks along the base of the walls, and entry points — gaps around pipes, the damaged edge of a ventilation grille, a crack in the foundations. Only once this map is clear is it decided how many points are needed and where they will go.

What the client is asked to do after the treatment

After the treatment the client's role is small but important. The first request — do not move or open the bait stations, even if it seems they would look better somewhere else. The points are placed according to the runs we found, and a station that has been shifted effectively means a week lost. Second — write down any new activity: the date, the place, exactly what you noticed. At the follow-up visit these notes are more valuable than anything else. Third, and the most counter-intuitive — do not seal the gaps we have found straight away. While the treatment is under way the entry points must be left open, so that rodents keep moving along the routes they know and visit the control points. Sealing is the last step, not the first. We also ask you not to do a deep clean in the areas where points have been placed, and to move food into airtight containers for the time being.

How the follow-up check differs from the first visit

The follow-up check usually takes place after seven to ten days and looks quite different. It is shorter and more focused: the specialist does not survey the site afresh but goes straight to the points that were placed and reads the data. They assess how much bait has been taken at each station and whether new droppings have appeared outside the known runs. If one point has been emptied completely while the rest are untouched, that means the centre of the activity is closer to it, and the points are rearranged. If the whole system is untouched and there are no new traces, that is already a good sign. It is often at this visit that an entry point comes to light that was not visible the first time, because a week of animal movement leaves clearer traces than a single evening.

How the process adapts to a home with children and pets

In an occupied flat with small children or a dog and a cat the approach changes, and we agree on that in correspondence before the visit. The main principle is mechanical inaccessibility: the product sits in a lockable station that cannot be opened by hand, and the station itself is placed where a child or an animal physically cannot get to it — behind fitted kitchen units, in a ventilation recess, under the bath panel. Where there is nowhere to place a tamper-resistant point, preference goes to mechanical traps, which work without any product at all. We explain to the client where each station is so it can be worked around when cleaning the floor. If there is a hamster or a rabbit in the house, you must tell us — the plan is then drawn up differently.

What the process looks like on commercial premises

On commercial premises rodent control work is more formalised. Each control point is given a number, marked on the site plan and physically labelled on the spot, so that any member of staff or inspector understands what it is. In a shop, a café or a warehouse the points are placed around the whole perimeter, by the entrance doors, in the bin area and in the technical rooms, not only where traces have been noticed. At each visit we record what was found at each number, and these entries build up the site's history. That shows whether the activity is concentrated in one and the same place — which often points to a specific structural problem. On sites that operate at night or without days off, we schedule the work outside visitor hours. For commercial premises the price starts from €70 and is calculated from the floor area and the number of points.

When the process ends and what a resolved situation looks like

The process does not end with a mouse no longer being seen. Visibility is a weak indicator — rodents are active at night and stay unnoticed most of the time even when the problem is serious. We consider a situation resolved at the point when there has been no consumption at the control points for several weeks running, no new droppings have appeared, there is no fresh gnaw damage on packaging or wiring, and traces of activity have stopped in the area that was previously the busiest. Only then does it make sense to seal the gaps found around pipes and ventilation openings, because at that moment sealing becomes a way of keeping rodents out rather than shutting them in. After that it is worth keeping at least a couple of control points as monitoring — they do nothing while all is well, but they show a return far earlier than the eye does.