The scratching in the ceiling is not the house settling
In Jacksonville, that noise is usually roof rats. They travel the oak canopy and power lines straight onto roofs, squeeze through gaps the size of a quarter, and set up in attics where it is warm and dry. Mice do the same thing at ground level — through weep holes, pipe gaps, and garage door corners. Once inside, they chew wiring, shred insulation for nesting, and leave droppings everywhere they travel.
Rodents are not a spray-and-pray problem. You cannot treat your way out of rats. You have to remove what is inside and close what let them in — in that order. Skip the second step and new rodents just move into the same openings.
How it works: removal, then exclusion
First we inspect: attic, roofline, garage, exterior — finding droppings, rub marks, gnaw marks, and every entry point. Then we remove the rodents inside using traps placed where they travel. We do not start with poisons scattered around your home; placement and strategy matter more than chemistry, and dead rodents inside walls are a problem nobody wants.
Then comes the part that actually solves it: exclusion. We seal the entry points with materials rodents cannot chew through — steel mesh, metal flashing, concrete repair — not foam or caulk alone, which they chew through in a night. Roofline gaps, soffit returns, pipe penetrations, garage corners, and vents all get closed properly.
Jacksonville's roof rat problem is a tree problem
The beautiful oak canopy over neighborhoods like Riverside, San Marco, and Mandarin is also a rodent highway system. Branches touching the roof are an invitation. As part of our plan, we will point out which limbs to trim back — usually the single highest-impact thing a homeowner can do against roof rats.
Hearing things at night?
Send the form below or call (301) 679-9193. Free inspection — we will find how they are getting in and lay out the removal and sealing plan.
Where Jacksonville's rats and mice actually come from
Roof rats do not start in your attic — they start in the trees. Jacksonville's live oak canopy is beautiful and it is a rodent highway: branches touching roofs, power lines sagging near eaves, and vines climbing walls all give rats a path they use nightly. They are excellent climbers and they only need a gap the size of a quarter. Mice work the ground floor instead: weep holes in brick, gaps under garage doors, pipe penetrations, and the space around AC lines.
The other source people underestimate is the yard itself. Fruit trees, bird feeders, pet food left out, open trash, and dense ground cover all feed and shelter rodents within feet of the house. Part of every rodent job is the yard audit — we will point out what is inviting them, because sealing the house while feeding them in the yard is half a job.
What removal and exclusion day looks like
Day one is inspection and trapping: we map droppings, rub marks, and entry points, then place traps along the rodents' travel routes — in the attic, along the roofline, in the garage. We check and reset traps until activity stops. Then comes exclusion: steel mesh over vent openings, metal flashing at roofline gaps, concrete repair at foundation penetrations, new seals on garage doors. Every opening gets closed with something teeth cannot beat.
We do not seal animals inside — trapping and one-way exits come first, sealing second. And we are honest about the trees: if limbs touch your roof, trimming them back is the single highest-impact thing you can do, and no amount of sealing fully replaces it.