Domestic Pest Control

Which signs mean it’s time to call someone?

Most people call after a moment they can’t unsee: a mouse darting along the skirting at teatime, wasps flying in and out under the eaves, or little rust-coloured spots on the bedsheet. The signs usually come first, though.

• Mice: small dark droppings like grains of rice in cupboards and behind the cooker, nibbled packets, and scratching in the walls once the house goes quiet.
• Rats: bigger, blunt-ended droppings, gnawed holes in a shed door, burrows by a wall or under the compost bin, and heavier thumping under the floor.
• Wasps: a steady stream going in and out of the same spot in the roofline, an airbrick or a hedge.
• Bed bugs: itchy bites in lines or clusters, and small dark spots along mattress seams and the headboard.
• Fleas: bites round the ankles and a pet scratching more than usual.
• Cockroaches: droppings like ground pepper, and night-time sightings behind fridges, boilers and kitchen units.

We see squirrels, ants, moths and silverfish too. Not sure what you’ve got? Send us a photo.

Why do Manchester homes get pests?

A lot of it comes down to the houses. More than a quarter of homes in the city are terraces, and in Levenshulme most of them went up around the 1880s as two-up two-downs backing onto shared entries. Terraces share roof spaces, under-floor voids and old cavity walls, so a mouse that gets into one house can work its way along the row. Old clay drains under the back yards can crack at the joints with age, which is how rats end up under kitchen floors.

The 1930s semis in Burnage have their own weak spots: broken airbrick grilles, gaps where newer pipes were pushed through old brickwork, and the joint where an extension meets the original house. Purpose-built flats, another quarter of the city’s homes, bring communal bin stores and service risers that mice and cockroaches use as corridors between floors.

Outside, the Mersey runs past Didsbury and Chorlton, the Rochdale and Ashton canals run through the city and the Bridgewater ends at Castlefield; waterside banks suit rats nicely. When an old site is cleared or a drain is dug up, the rats living there often move to the nearest houses. Bags left beside a full bin before bin day are an easy meal.

Then there’s the season. As the nights draw in, mice move indoors for warmth, and one national pest firm’s own figures showed Manchester with the biggest rise in rodent enquiries of the UK cities it covered between 2024 and 2025. Wasps peak in late summer. Bed bugs don’t care what month it is, but student lets in Fallowfield and Withington change hands every summer, and second-hand mattresses and sofas move with them.

What happens when you call us?

Tell us what you’ve seen and where, and we’ll offer the earliest slot we have, often the same day.

We start by looking, not spraying. We confirm the pest, then work out where it’s living and how it’s getting in: under the kitchen kickboards, behind the boiler, in the loft, round the outside walls and the drains. We’ll ask who lives in the house, including children, pets and anyone pregnant or asthmatic, because that shapes everything that follows.

Before anything goes down, we explain the plan in plain English, including how many visits it’s likely to take and the full cost. For mice and rats that usually means traps in covered boxes or bait in locked stations. For wasps it’s an insecticide dust puffed into the nest entrance. For bed bugs, fleas and cockroaches it’s sprays, gels or dusts, plus a few jobs for you, such as hot-washing bedding. Where we can, we seal gaps around pipes and airbricks on the same visit. If it needs a bigger repair, like a broken drain, we’ll tell you exactly what’s needed and who should do it.

Is it safe with children and pets in the house?

Yes, when it’s done properly. Rodent bait is never left loose. It goes in locked, tamper-resistant boxes or into voids that little hands and paws can’t reach, and professional rodent baits can only be bought with proof of training under the UK’s rodenticide stewardship scheme. With a crawling baby, a dog that noses into everything or a cat that hunts, we’ll often use traps in covered boxes instead, so there’s nothing toxic in the home.

After insect treatments, keep children and pets out of the treated rooms until surfaces are dry, which is usually a few hours; we’ll give you the exact time. Cover fish tanks, switch off their pumps, and move caged birds and reptiles to another room. If a pet ever eats bait, ring your vet straight away.

We won’t use glue traps. Since April 2024 it’s been an offence in England to use one on rodents without a licence from Natural England, and those licences are kept for exceptional cases.

How many visits will it take?

A wasp nest is usually one visit: the wasps carry the dust inside, and the nest normally dies off within a day or two. Mice and rats usually need two or three visits about a week apart, so we can see what’s been taken and finish the proofing. Bed bugs need at least two treatments, the second timed to catch any that hatch after the first. Fleas often clear with one, though a second is sometimes needed. Cockroaches can take several visits over a few weeks, because their eggs sit in a protective case that most treatments don’t reach.

How do you stop pests coming back?

Most repeat problems come down to a way in that never got closed, or food that’s still on offer. A mouse can squeeze through a gap the width of a pencil, so the small things matter:

• fill gaps round pipes under the sink and behind the washing machine, and fit fine mesh behind broken airbricks;
• keep food in sealed tubs, and don’t leave pet food down overnight;
• keep bin lids shut, and never leave bags in the back entry;
• use a bird feeder rather than scattering seed on the ground, because rats like it as much as robins do;
• check second-hand beds, sofas and suitcases before they come in.

Having a kitchen fitted or an extension built? That’s the moment to get gaps and old drain runs sealed while everything’s open.

When does DIY stop being enough?

A single mouse in a snap trap or a few ants by the back door don’t always need us. Call when the signs keep coming back after a couple of weeks, when you can hear movement in the walls or under the floor, or when it’s rats indoors. Wasp nests in the roof or near a door you use every day are best left to someone with the right kit, especially if anyone at home has reacted badly to a sting. Bed bugs and cockroaches rarely give in to shop-bought sprays, which can push them further round the house.

If it turns out to be bees, we’ll talk you through the options first; we’d rather not destroy them. Squirrels in the loft come with a legal catch: a trapped grey squirrel can’t lawfully be released into the wild, so catch-and-let-go isn’t an option.

Running a small shop or café? We help there too; see our commercial pest control page.

Is it my landlord’s job, or mine?

About a third of Manchester households rent privately, and nearly as many rent from the council or a housing association. It depends on the cause and your tenancy, but some rules apply generally.

Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords of most homes let for under seven years must keep the structure and exterior, including drains, in repair, and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 means a rented home has to be fit to live in throughout the tenancy. Councils can also assess pests as a hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. So mice coming through a broken airbrick, rats from a damaged drain, or a problem that was there when you moved in will usually fall to the landlord. If it came in with something of yours, like fleas from a pet or bed bugs in a second-hand sofa, the tenancy may put it on you.

If you rent from a housing association, as many Wythenshawe households do, or from the council, report it to them first. Communal areas in flats and shared houses are normally the landlord’s or managing agent’s job. Report problems in writing and keep photos. If you’re a landlord, keep our visit reports with your property records; we’re happy to speak to your letting agent directly.