Silverfish Control in Manchester

How do I know it’s silverfish?

Most people first spot them late at night: you switch the bathroom light on and something small and silvery wriggles off, a bit like a fish, under the skirting board or behind the bath panel. They avoid light, so you rarely see them in the day.

What to look for:

• Common silverfish: about a centimetre long, teardrop-shaped, shiny silver-grey, with three bristly tails. They stay where it’s damp, so bathrooms, kitchens, under sinks and in cellars.
• Grey silverfish, sometimes called long-tailed silverfish: bigger, duller and greyer, with long tails and antennae. They cope with drier air, so they also turn up in bedrooms, hallways and living rooms.
• Firebrats: a similar shape but mottled brown, and fond of heat, so boiler cupboards and the space around ovens.
• The marks they leave: tiny shed skins, specks of droppings like ground pepper, yellowish stains on paper, and ragged little holes or scraped patches on wallpaper, book covers, cardboard and old photos.

It’s worth ruling out lookalikes. Booklice are much smaller and pale, and they follow damp too. Springtails jump. If what you’re seeing is brown with a flat, shiny back and no bristly tails, have a look at our cockroach removal page.

Why do Manchester homes get silverfish?

Silverfish follow moisture, and a lot of Manchester housing holds on to it. Victorian terraces, like the two-up two-downs built across Levenshulme in the 1880s and 1890s or the streets off Burton Road, mostly have solid brick walls rather than cavity walls, and cold walls collect condensation. Many have a bathroom that was added later at the back of the house, with a timber floor, a boxed-in bath and pipes running through the kind of voids silverfish love. Cellars, lean-to kitchens and leaky downpipes add to it.

Interwar semis, like the 1930s houses in Burnage, have their own weak spots. Airbricks can end up blocked by later paths, patios or extensions, and the airing cupboard around the hot water cylinder stays warm and close all year.

Flats bring a different problem. In converted houses, like the big Victorian homes in Chorlton that were split into flats and bedsits, a leak from the flat above can keep a ceiling void damp for months. City-centre flats, from new-build blocks to the old Northern Quarter warehouses that were turned into flats, are often sealed tight, so steam from showers and washing dried on radiators has nowhere to go unless the extractor fans and trickle vents are used.

Grey silverfish usually arrive another way: in cardboard. Delivery boxes, flat-pack furniture and storage boxes from a previous home can carry eggs and young ones in with them. Shared houses in student areas such as Fallowfield, where boxes come and go every summer, are a good example.

The season matters too. From October, windows stay shut, the heating goes on and condensation builds, which is often when people first notice them.

What happens when you call us about silverfish?

Tell us where and when you’re seeing them, with a photo next to a coin if you can, because the plan depends on the species. We’ll ask about children, pets and fish tanks, then offer the earliest slot we have, often the same day.

On the visit we look for where they’re hiding and what’s keeping that spot damp: behind bath panels where we can lift them, under the sink and kitchen plinths, along skirting boards and pipe runs, and in airing cupboards and loft boxes. We take moisture readings and point out anything feeding the problem, such as a failed bath seal, a broken extractor fan or a dripping overflow.

Treatment goes where silverfish live, not where you walk: gel bait in cracks and gaps, insecticidal dust in the voids behind bath panels and under units, and, where it suits the job, the gaps along skirting boards. We also leave small insect monitoring cards in out-of-the-way spots so we can see where they’re active and whether numbers drop. They aren’t glue traps for mice and rats, which the Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 made it an offence to use in England without a licence, and we place them where a mouse is unlikely to wander onto one.

Before we leave, we show you every treated spot and what to leave alone for a few weeks, such as the gap behind the bath panel.

Is silverfish treatment safe for children and pets?

Yes, when it’s done properly, starting with asking who lives there. Silverfish don’t bite, sting or spread disease, so there’s no reason to spray a whole room. Baits and dusts go into cracks and enclosed voids, out of reach of crawling babies, curious toddlers, cats and dogs. Nothing goes on worktops, toothbrushes, food cupboards, bedding or pet bowls. If we treat skirting gaps, we’ll ask you to keep children and pets out of the room until it’s dry. Fish are very sensitive to insecticides, so mention any tanks when you book and we’ll tell you what to cover and switch off.

How many visits will it take?

For common silverfish in a damp bathroom or kitchen, one treatment visit and a check-back a few weeks later is usually enough, as long as the damp is sorted at the same time. If it isn’t, they tend to come back.

Grey silverfish are slower work. They grow slowly, live for years and survive long spells without food, so one treatment rarely finishes them. They usually need a planned run of baiting visits over several months, with the monitors telling us how it’s going.

How do I stop silverfish coming back?

With common silverfish, drying the house out does more than any treatment. With grey silverfish, getting rid of cardboard matters most.

• Run the extractor fan during and after a shower, or open the window and keep the bathroom door shut.
• Wipe condensation off windows and tiles each morning from autumn onwards, and use a dehumidifier where washing dries indoors.
• Get bath and shower seals, under-sink leaks and dripping overflows fixed.
• Keep gutters, downpipes and airbricks clear on the outside of the house.
• Seal gaps along skirting boards and around pipes with decorator’s caulk.
• Swap cardboard boxes in the loft, cupboards and under the stairs for lidded plastic crates, and get delivery boxes out of the house quickly.
• Keep cereal, flour and pet food in sealed containers, and vacuum along skirting edges regularly.

When does DIY stop being enough?

A few common silverfish in a steamy bathroom can often be sorted by drying the room out and sealing the gaps. Give it a month. Call us if you’re still seeing them most nights after that, if they’re in bedrooms and living rooms in a home that isn’t damp (a strong sign of grey silverfish), if you’re finding damage to books, documents, photos or wallpaper, or if they’re turning up in more than one flat in the same building.

Is it my landlord’s job or mine?

It depends on what’s causing them. Silverfish are a nuisance rather than a hazard, but the damp behind them often isn’t. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, landlords of most tenancies must keep the structure and exterior in repair, gutters and drains included, along with the installations for water and sanitation. So a leaking roof, a failed damp-proof course or a broken bath waste is normally theirs to fix.

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 lets tenants take action if a home isn’t fit to live in, and freedom from damp and proper ventilation are part of that test. Councils can also assess damp and mould under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. If you rent from a housing association or the council, Awaab’s Law now sets timescales for dealing with reported damp and mould.

Condensation is more of a shared job. You’re expected to use the fans and vents provided, but if a home can’t be kept dry with normal living because of poor ventilation, heating or insulation, the landlord may need to put it right. Who pays for the treatment depends on your tenancy and the cause, so tell your landlord in writing and keep photos. Landlords may find our written report useful to keep on file.

What if silverfish turn up in my café or shop?

Food hygiene law, including the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, expects every food business to have proper procedures for keeping pests away from where food is stored and prepared. So silverfish in a dry store or behind a kitchen plinth need dealing with and writing down. We’ll work around your opening hours and leave a written report for your food safety records. If you’d like regular visits, our commercial pest control page explains how that works.