What the walk-through covers.
An inspection follows the same order on every property, so nothing gets skipped because the attic was awkward or the weather was bad. We start outside, move to the roofline, then work through the garage, cellar or crawl space, the kitchen and any outbuildings.
- Exterior: foundation, siding, utility penetrations, vent covers, door seals, grade and nearby cover.
- Roofline: soffits, ridge vents, fascia boards, chimney flashing and branches that touch the roof.
- Interior: attic, cellar or crawl space, garage, kitchen, laundry area and the closets along outside walls.
- Stored goods, firewood, compost and anything else that offers shelter or food.
We carry a flashlight, a mirror and a moisture reading tool, and we ask permission before opening any panel or hatch. Nothing gets cut or removed during an inspection.
Reading the evidence.
Droppings, rub marks, nest material, gnaw patterns and smell each say something. Pellets with blunt ends and a larger size lean toward rats, while small, pointed ones lean toward mice. New pellets are dark and soft. Old ones go gray and fall apart when touched.
Older houses can take longer to read. A stone or block foundation, a cellar with an earthen corner or an addition built decades after the house can each hide a gap that a newer building would not have. We do not assume any of that applies to you. We look.
How the written scope is built.
After the walk, you get a written list of what we found and what we propose. Each stage is priced as its own line, so you can accept trapping and sealing today and wait on cleanup or repair.
| Stage. | What it covers. | When it happens. |
|---|---|---|
| Trapping. | Placement, checks and removal of the animals. | First, once the routes are known. |
| Sealing. | Metal and sealant at every opening. | After catches show which routes are live. |
| Cleanup. | Removing and treating soiled material. | After the animals are gone and entries are closed. |
| Repair. | Replacing insulation, ducts or screens that were bitten. | Last, so new materials are not damaged again. |
Getting the house ready.
Make sure we can walk straight to the attic hatch and the cellar door. Move parked cars if the garage needs a look. Put pets in a room where they will not follow the technician, and note any spot where your dog or cat keeps sniffing.
If you can, jot down when the noises start and what they sound like. That detail helps us separate mice in a wall from a larger animal on the roof, and it takes only a few minutes to write.
Pass along your street plus a few details, and the dispatcher hunts for the soonest slot.
Dial (888) 686-4821What an inspection cannot do.
It cannot see inside a sealed wall, and it cannot promise that no animal will ever come back. It can name the likely routes, rank the work and give you numbers to compare. If something unexpected shows up later, we say so and update the plan.
When the findings point elsewhere, the scope names the next service. Common ones are trapping and removal, plus pages on mice and on rats.
Before you call: small steps that protect a household
Think of this as a checklist for the hour after you spot droppings.
- Fast, hard scrubbing lifts dust, so go gently and keep everything wet.
- Prop the door, feel the breeze move through and come back in about thirty minutes.
- You can avoid skin contact with droppings, urine and nesting scraps if you glove up first.
- Cover the waste and the area around it with disinfectant, and give it a rest before the first pass of the towel.
- Knot the bag, bin it, then wash your hands again.
- If illness follows contact with droppings, a physician is the right person to ask, and you should describe what you touched.
Agency pages that back this up
Links lead straight to agency sites, with no ads in between.
- CDC steps for lowering hantavirus risk: CDC guidance on limiting contact with rodents in and around houses, sheds and vehicles.
- CDC walkthrough for cleaning up after rodents: The source for the airing, soaking and bagging stages above.