B
Bazzzy
Hi All,
I was advised by a member of another tech forum to ask for help over here. We have had an influx of Rats & Mice at our home over the last six months.
We got very badly screwed over by a Pest Controller that was recommended to us - he told us that he had checked the drains & that was not their entry point (which it actually was). He then said he had properly filled in all the entry points in the house so was 99.99% certain they would not come back.
He then stopped coming round for check ups when we were still getting a large number of rodents. One of the entry points was in the cupboard under the stairs where the Circuit Breaker Boxes are & all the cables that lead from under it into the floorboards.
It was found that the rats had begun to chew into one/some of the cables leaving a part of it/them exposed of the copper inside.
The view I was told was that it was not that bad & covering up the damaged part with insulation tape would be good enough.
After this pest controller would not respond to our calls to deal with more rats coming in, I got another one round to inspect things. He found that not any of the entry points round the house had been sealed as promised & that the cupboard under stairs had massive entry points as the floorboards were just left unsecured & partly open so the rats were able to easily get in & out.
Because the first pest controller totally lied about sealing the entry points & even made things much worse by leaving the floorboards unsecured, I am really now a little concerned at how bad the damage to the electrical cables might have been & if it was just a bodge job putting electrical tape over the damaged part however small. I was under so much stress at the time, I trusted what I was told.
I have no way to know if that was the only damage done by rats or of there might be more under the floorboards & elsewhere in the property as the rats were pretty much in/under the floor & inside walls in all the rooms on the ground floor.
I have been told that I need to get something called a EICR Test to be done on a circuit by circuit(?) basis & not a couple of simple tests at the CU.
May I ask, is this something that all electricians can carry out & will they be able to check for any damage/issues that cannot be seen due to the cables being inaccessible as they are under floors, inside walls etc?
I cannot see how they would be visually able to check as there are places that will not even allow cameras to access - does that mean many exposed/damaged cables might just stay that way & pose a potential risk for the future?
Is this EICR test done a circuit by circuit basis enough & how much would it reasonably cost? Is there anything else that can also de done along side it to get a bigger/more accurate assessment of any further damage the rats might have caused?
Sadly, a couple of days ago, my very elderly & disabled mother got bit twice by rats whilst she was sleeping & I thought if they have no issue biting humans then they might and had a real go at the cables. They have already bitten through a large amount of concrete under a room to make a channel into the house & chewed on interior hard wood doors to make ports etc they can travel through.]
Apologies for my novice level & lack of knowledge about these sort of things,
Many Kind Thanks,
Bazzzie.
I was advised by a member of another tech forum to ask for help over here. We have had an influx of Rats & Mice at our home over the last six months.
We got very badly screwed over by a Pest Controller that was recommended to us - he told us that he had checked the drains & that was not their entry point (which it actually was). He then said he had properly filled in all the entry points in the house so was 99.99% certain they would not come back.
He then stopped coming round for check ups when we were still getting a large number of rodents. One of the entry points was in the cupboard under the stairs where the Circuit Breaker Boxes are & all the cables that lead from under it into the floorboards.
It was found that the rats had begun to chew into one/some of the cables leaving a part of it/them exposed of the copper inside.
The view I was told was that it was not that bad & covering up the damaged part with insulation tape would be good enough.
After this pest controller would not respond to our calls to deal with more rats coming in, I got another one round to inspect things. He found that not any of the entry points round the house had been sealed as promised & that the cupboard under stairs had massive entry points as the floorboards were just left unsecured & partly open so the rats were able to easily get in & out.
Because the first pest controller totally lied about sealing the entry points & even made things much worse by leaving the floorboards unsecured, I am really now a little concerned at how bad the damage to the electrical cables might have been & if it was just a bodge job putting electrical tape over the damaged part however small. I was under so much stress at the time, I trusted what I was told.
I have no way to know if that was the only damage done by rats or of there might be more under the floorboards & elsewhere in the property as the rats were pretty much in/under the floor & inside walls in all the rooms on the ground floor.
I have been told that I need to get something called a EICR Test to be done on a circuit by circuit(?) basis & not a couple of simple tests at the CU.
May I ask, is this something that all electricians can carry out & will they be able to check for any damage/issues that cannot be seen due to the cables being inaccessible as they are under floors, inside walls etc?
I cannot see how they would be visually able to check as there are places that will not even allow cameras to access - does that mean many exposed/damaged cables might just stay that way & pose a potential risk for the future?
Is this EICR test done a circuit by circuit basis enough & how much would it reasonably cost? Is there anything else that can also de done along side it to get a bigger/more accurate assessment of any further damage the rats might have caused?
Sadly, a couple of days ago, my very elderly & disabled mother got bit twice by rats whilst she was sleeping & I thought if they have no issue biting humans then they might and had a real go at the cables. They have already bitten through a large amount of concrete under a room to make a channel into the house & chewed on interior hard wood doors to make ports etc they can travel through.]
Apologies for my novice level & lack of knowledge about these sort of things,
Many Kind Thanks,
Bazzzie.
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