By Integrity Rodent Proofing, Dixon, California. Updated November 2, 2026
Key takeaways
- Permanently means the building is closed, not just that the rats inside it are dead.
- Traps and poison leave the route open, so the next rats use the same way in.
- The work runs in order: seal, clean and sanitize, trap, then a final clean if anything remains.
- Food, water, and shelter habits decide how much pressure stays on a sealed house.
Why traps and poison do not last on their own
A trap catches a rat that is already in the house. It says nothing about the way in, and it does nothing to the next one. Catch a dozen this month and the count can start over next month, because the building never changed. Poison has the same hole in it, plus one of its own. A poisoned rat dies where it stops, often inside a wall or in attic insulation, until the smell works through the house. The entry point is still open behind it. We do not use poison. It kills rats without closing anything, and closing things is the whole job. Trapping still matters, just later in the order. Once the house is sealed, traps are how the rats still inside get taken out. Before sealing, they are a scoreboard.
What 'permanently' actually requires
The building has to be closed. Not the one hole you found, all of them: every gap a rat can work through, shut with construction grade materials. It is closer to a walk around a house with a ladder and a flashlight, attic time, then ground level, writing everything down first. One missed opening can keep the whole problem alive. A small gap behind a vent pipe is enough. Food, water, and shelter still matter, but they are pressure, not access. A hungry rat outside a closed house is a yard problem. Outside an open one, it is next month's attic noise.
Hearing scratching? Finding droppings?
Let's find out how they're getting in.
An entry-point inspection checks the common ways rats and mice get in, shows you what we find, and tells you what needs to be sealed.
How rats get in
Start with size. If an opening is about a quarter inch, treat it as a door. An adult rat will widen a soft edge by gnawing until it fits. Most entries sit up high, because roof rats climb: fence lines, tree limbs, utility lines, then the roofline itself. Look at the eaves and roof returns, damaged vent covers, gaps where pipes and cables pass through, the open ends and lifted edges of tile. Then walk the ground line. Garage doors leak rats at the bottom corners, where the seal does not meet. So do thresholds with daylight under them, foundation vents with broken covers, crawlspace doors that do not latch, and the holes cut for plumbing and air conditioning lines. Inside, follow those same pipes: the gap around one is a hallway once a rat is in the wall.
The order the work runs in
Seal first. Every entry point gets closed, because sealing stops the flow. As long as the house is open, rats move in and out freely, and no work inside catches up. Clean and sanitize next, and most of that happens at the same visit as the sealing. Droppings, nesting, and contaminated material come out while the crew is already in those spaces. Trapping comes third. The rats still inside are in a closed building with their routes cut. Traps set on the runs they already use do the rest, with checks until they stay empty and the attic stays quiet. If anything is left after trapping, a final clean-up pass closes it out. Run it backwards and you are trapping in an open house.
What you can do yourself, and where it stops
Plenty of the pressure work is yours to do. Pick up fallen fruit the day it drops, and feed pets only what they finish, then bring the bowl in. Pet food and birdseed belong in sealed containers, not the bag they came in. A dripping hose bib is worth fixing. The woodpile does better off the house wall, and limbs cut back so nothing bridges to the roof. Run the daylight test on exterior doors and garage door corners. Light under a closed door means rats get in too. It stops being a home project in a few places. Roofline work at height. Attic contamination you would be breathing. Wiring that has been chewed, which is a fire question. And the common one: you sealed everything you could find, and the noises kept going. An opening is hiding. That is the point to bring in a licensed and insured company.
Keeping them out
After the house is closed and quiet, the habits decide how hard the yard pushes back. Start with the trash: lids that actually shut. Compost goes in a container with a lid, not an open pile, and nothing edible stays outside overnight, the water bowl included. In the garage, store things in bins with lids, up off the floor, so the runs along the walls stay visible. Once or twice a year, walk the outside slowly. Look for new gaps where weather has worked an edge loose, vent covers that took damage, door corners that have opened up. Best time is the fall, before cold pushes rats toward shelter. If you would rather have the whole thing checked top to bottom, Integrity Rodent Proofing offers free inspections, with same-week inspections across the Sacramento region. Call (707) 754-2408 and we will leave you a written estimate.
Common questions
Will traps alone get rid of rats permanently?+
No. Traps remove the rats that are already inside. But the openings stay open, and new rats follow the same routes in. Trapping belongs after the house is sealed, when the rats left inside have nowhere to go.
Why not just use poison?+
Because it does not close anything, and it leaves dead rats in walls where they cannot be reached. We do not use poison. A rat that dies in a wall is a smell that lasts for weeks, and the hole it came through is still there either way.
How long does it take to get rid of rats for good?+
Sealing and most of the clean-up happen at the first working visit. Trapping runs after that, with checks until the traps stay empty. Days on a small problem, longer when the activity has been going a while.
Will rats come back after the house is sealed?+
They cannot use an opening that is closed, but houses change. A vent cover breaks, a door seal wears, a remodel cuts a new hole for a pipe. Fresh droppings or new gnaw marks after a quiet stretch mean something opened up.
How do I know if every entry point was found?+
By what happens after. Quiet traps, no fresh droppings, and no new gnawing mean the routes are closed. Continued activity almost always traces back to one missed opening, usually a small one.
Written by
The Integrity Rodent Proofing team
Dixon, California. Rodent-proofing specialists serving Dixon, Davis, Woodland, Winters, Vacaville, West Sacramento, Sacramento, Roseville, and Folsom. We find how rats and mice are getting in, explain what we find, and seal the openings.