Rats In The Walls AKA how do I get rid of a dead thing in my wall

[C Reed]

I've lived with cats most of my life, I know what dead mice smell like and I have exactly that smell right now only my cat hasn't killed anything. Its coming from my roommates room and we took all of her stuff away from the walls, there are no mouse holes and we have never had mice. The smell is defiantly coming form the NW corner of her room and it smells worst at the floor. The people in the apt next door said they are smelling it too in the same corner by the floor, and that they don't have any mice bodies or animals that kill mice, They are two girls and hand me look for mouse holes, I didn't find any.

We have never had a rodent of any kind, but we have a rooftop garden and its Manhattan so I'm sure they are around some where.

The unit below mine is unoccupied and the unit below the girls next door was not home. We live on the top floor. I'm fairly sure the dead thing is either under the floor boards or in the wall.

I called the landlord and he said he would send some one if the smell was still around on Monday, only I don't know if having a couple of guys ripping apart my floor is going to be a bigger problem then a faint smell.

So any one know how long it takes the smell of a dead thing to fade? Am I in any danger if I'm not exposed to the flesh, fluid, or insects but just the scent of rot? Any one delt with something like this before?

worst case is the guys rip my house apart, stick me with the bill and I lose my deposit so I don't really want to call them in if the smell will fade away in a few days.

 

[airplanedoc]

worst case is the guys rip my house apart, stick me with the bill and I lose my deposit so I don't really want to call them in if the smell will fade away in a few days.

So convince the girls next door to call on Monday about the smell. Then the guys rip their apartment apart not yours

 

[dpmtherrien]

If its coming from behind the walls one way to get at it might be to just have the molding removed from the area and get at it that way. You won't have to have the floor ripped up, and it can be patched and the molding replaced. That's just a chance thing because the smell could be coming from another location. Don't forget behind the walls its all open so mice or other rodents have free range all over.

The smell will fade with time, but that time varies with conditions. One thing for sure is maggots and other things will eventually dispose of whatever is causing the smell. Since you shouldn't be exposed to anything other than the smell, you're not in any danger. As a retired police officer who was sent on many dead bodies, a good tip is to breath through your mouth, the sense of smell is only in your nose, and there's nothing in the smell that will hurt you. That was a tip I received very early in my career from some undertakers who are always working in those smelly conditions. Good luck.

By the way, the bill for any work needed would fall on the landlord, not you,
its for sure not something you caused.

 

[Sammer]

I don't think you're in any danger if you leave it in the wall/floor, but if you open it up I would imagine that you might be exposed to some potential nastiness. From experience with a friend's place the smell tends to get worse for a while (especially on hot/humid days) then fades away slowly. I don't think it's worth tearing anyone's home apart unless the smell is just unbearable, but it's not likely to go completely away for a while - it would be a good idea to invest in some deodorizors for now.

 

[Uncle Erik]

You might want to pull out the wall sockets (after turning off the power, of course) then stick a mirror on a stick into the hole and use a flashlight to illuminate the space. You should be able to see a bit between the studs and determine if something is in there. If you can find it this way, you can get away with only cutting a small hole to remove it. Smaller holes are easily patched, so you won't have a monstrous bill.

 

[C Reed]

So convince the girls next door to call on Monday about the smell. Then the guys rip their apartment apart not yours

If its under my floor its still my problem...

 

[SiBurning]

You wouldn't happen to live in Exham Priory? If you do, I suggest you pack up and move immediately. Whatever you do, do not go into the cellar.

H. P. Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls

 

[Mr. Imperial]

Find a way to get the cat stuck in the wall too?

Dynamite?

/lessthanhelpfulsuggestions

 

[C Reed]

You wouldn't happen to live in Exham Priory? If you do, I suggest you pack up and move immediately. Whatever you do, do not go into the cellar.

H. P. Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls

Nope I live in a newish building, but I'm glad you got my reference.

 

[dpm802]

You might want to pull out the wall sockets (after turning off the power, of course) then stick a mirror on a stick into the hole and use a flashlight to illuminate the space. You should be able to see a bit between the studs and determine if something is in there. If you can find it this way, you can get away with only cutting a small hole to remove it. Smaller holes are easily patched, so you won't have a monstrous bill.

+1

You might want to start by tracing out the electrical wiring in the area. Rodents like to chew on the insulation, and when they chew all the way through to the bare wire, they get Zzzzzappped. This may or may not have tripped a circuit breaker, but in any case, shut down the power before you do anything else. If this is the case, the wiring will need to be replaced or repaired.

A temporary fix will be to spray the area with an odor neutralizer like Ozium or Fabreeze. Repeat as necessary.

Any expenses involved will fall on the landlord.

 

[The Nid Hog]

You wouldn't happen to live in Exham Priory? If you do, I suggest you pack up and move immediately. Whatever you do, do not go into the cellar.

H. P. Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls

That's the first thing that I thought when I saw the title too.

In my experience, the smell goes away faster than you would expect but slower than you might like. It's going to depend on the climate where you are and the size of whatever it is in the wall--obviously you're better off with a dead mouse than, let's say, a capybara.

I used to live in a very old building that had an ongoing problem with mice. We could manage things with traps and plugging holes until fall when every mouse for miles around would take shelter in our walls. That still wasn't too bad. But after everybody complained about the explosive growth in the autumn mouse population, the exterminator would get called in. He would bait traps, close up holes and generally spread poison everywhere. That had an immediate and noticeable effect on the mice.

To make a long story short, the mice would disappear, but we might get the lingering bouquet of dead mouse. The exterminator told me that, in his experience, the combination of decay and dessication would get rid of the mouse in ten days to two weeks There just isn't all that much meat to worry about. In the meantime, we'd plug in a couple of nice lavender room deoderizers and wait. There were a couple of bad days in there, but it went away fast.

I think that what's in the wall is only part of the problem. You also have to make sure that critters that are alive and running around now don't climb up there to die too. It's a good time to encourage your landlord to get the exterminator to drop by and do some hole plugging. You don't want to be dealing with this over and over again.

 

[Topgumby]

Rats in the wall.
Pants on the ground.

It's all the same.

+1 to the Nid. You gotta control the food sources and access points if you want to have a lasting solution.

 

[shamus]

The truth is the truth. Where there is one rat....there are bound to be a lot more that you haven't seen yet. Romex wiring is not allowed in building in NYC for the reason cited above. The wiring must be encased in metal so the rodents can't chew through and start a fire in the building. The rat may have died of old age or eaten poison and died in the wall or rafters. Just be thankful that you know you have a problem and can do something about it before it becomes an epidemic in your building. Rats multipy fast and can do a lot of damage if not kept under control. Unfortunately, NYC, like a lot of older cities with old infrastructure, have major rodent problems. When renovation takes place in some of these older buildings it stirs up the population and sometimes gives the critters new entrances into existing buildings. The recommendation of the exterminator by the landlord is great advice to keep on top of the problem.

Cheers.

 

[C Reed]

Up date: so the land lord is sending in a crew to clean up the roof garden and pug holes. I have a cat, so I've never seen a mouse, but its the LES, I know they are all around.

I also don't really eat at home and nither does the roomate so there is not much food to control.

I've done electrical work, so I'm going to go pull the box near the smell center and take a look. see if I can get at a rat/ mouse.

 

[proxymoron]

If I were down LES-way, I'd be a lot more worried about bedbugs. The rats you can have for free.

 

[C Reed]

If I were down LES-way, I'd be a lot more worried about bedbugs. The rats you can have for free.

BED BUGS ARE MY NUMBER ONE FEAR.

I would much rather be killed. But you only have to worry about them if you hook up dirty hipsters/ hang out in brooklyn/ don't cross the street when you see homeless people

 

[Luc]

Don't forget to have your camera ready for the stinky package!

 

[proxymoron]

I would much rather be killed. But you only have to worry about them if you hook up dirty hipsters/ hang out in brooklyn/ cross the street when you see homeless people

I see your hipster irony and raise you a citywide neurosis.

 

[The Nid Hog]

If I were down LES-way, I'd be a lot more worried about bedbugs. The rats you can have for free.

There's no limit is there? You could have both!

 

[shamus]

BED BUGS ARE MY NUMBER ONE FEAR.

I would much rather be killed. But you only have to worry about them if you hook up dirty hipsters/ hang out in brooklyn/ don't cross the street when you see homeless people

Vermin and rodents, rats in particular, carry all kinds of vermin and critters in their fur. Some rats actually live in old mattresses and old abandoned sofa's etc and pick up bed bugs, lice, ticks and other nastiness. Rats will transport this hitchhiking filth to wherever they travel. Whether it be a house, apartment, restaurant or bodega/supermarket. This is how Black Death and the bubonic plague spread across Europe in the middle ages. I'm sure the super will comfort any fears and concerns you and your roommate may have and take the necessary steps to stop an infestation or epidemic from occurring. Today, people are on top of those situations.

Cheers.