Dining rows and old homes on the same streets
Cherry Street and Wealthy Street carry a steady line of restaurants, bars and bakeries, with houses directly behind them. Kitchens run late, trash goes out at night, and the alleys stay warm from exhaust vents. Rats that settle near those service areas do not respect property lines, so the house behind a dining room can end up with burrows along its back fence even when the homeowner does everything right.
For the businesses themselves, we run regular service through our commercial program. When a restaurant and its residential neighbors both bring us in, we can work the whole block at once, which is how these problems actually get solved.
Restaurants are not the whole story, either. Coffee shops, small markets and the occasional food truck parked on a side street all leave a little behind. Add the shady, overgrown corners that older lots tend to have, and rats find enough cover and food to stay put for years if nobody steps in.
Brick, clapboard and converted flats
Parts of East Hills fall within protected historic districts, and much of the housing is late 1800s to early 1900s. A lot of the larger homes were divided into apartments decades ago. Each conversion added plumbing runs, new wiring and extra doors, and every one of those changes left openings inside the walls.
Mice use those chases to move between units. A tenant on the third floor may hear them first, even though the colony is nesting near a water heater in the basement.
Converted houses also tend to have several exterior doors, a couple of basement entrances and a patchwork of storm windows from different decades. We have found mice coming in through a missing brick behind a back stair, through the gap around an abandoned clothes-dryer vent, and through a hole in the floor of a closet that once held a gas meter. None of those show up from the sidewalk, which is why we insist on seeing every unit and every basement room before sealing anything.
Owners of these buildings sometimes ask whether sealing will interfere with old ventilation or chimney flues. It should not. We keep required vents open behind metal screening and leave flues alone, closing only the gaps that serve no purpose except letting animals in.
How a visit goes
Look before we set anything
We start outside along the foundation and alley side, then go through the basement, utility areas and any unit where noise was reported.
Identify the animal
Rat droppings, gnaw marks and runway grease look different from mouse sign. Knowing which one you have changes trap size and placement.
Trap indoors, monitor outside
Inside, we use snap traps in covered stations. Outside, locked bait or trap stations may go along the fence line where rats are traveling.
Close the building
Once captures slow down, we seal foundation cracks, pipe holes and door gaps with materials rodents cannot chew through.
Rats versus mice in this part of town
Most of our East Hills calls in late fall are house mice. Spring and summer bring more Norway rat work, usually tied to burrows in alley soil, under garage slabs or beneath porches. Our rat control approach focuses on finding those burrows and the food that supports them, rather than just setting traps in a basement and hoping.
One East Hills pattern is worth calling out. Rats living near a restaurant's trash area will often run a regular nightly route along a fence or garage wall to reach a backyard with a compost bin or a vegetable garden. Cutting that route at both ends, at the trash area and at the yard, works far better than treating either property alone.
Clues along the alley side of your lot
- Smooth, dark rub marks along the bottom of a fence board or garage wall
- Round burrow openings, roughly the width of a tennis ball, with loose dirt fanned out
- Chewed corners on plastic trash or recycling carts
- Tomatoes or squash with bites taken out, low to the ground
- Droppings tucked under a pallet, woodpile or stacked pavers
If you spot any of these, take a photo and mention it when you call. It helps us bring the right equipment on the first trip.
Keeping it fixed through the next winter
Sealing is only part of the follow-through. In older East Hills homes, mortar keeps aging and new gaps appear, especially where frost heaves porch steps or a downspout dumps water against the wall. We point out the spots worth watching and suggest a quick look each fall before cold weather sets in.
If you live near Cherry or Wealthy and you are hearing scratching in the walls, call Grand Rapids Rodent Control and we will walk the property with you, alley side included. You can also reach us directly at (616) 441-5601.
East Hills rodent questions
Can you work with my neighbor at the same time?
Yes, and we encourage it. Rats cross between yards all the time, so sealing two or three adjoining properties together gets better results.
What if I live above a business?
Mixed-use buildings need both sides handled. We can talk with the building owner about the storefront and your unit as one job.
Do you handle squirrels or raccoons?
No. We work only on rats and mice, which lets us focus on doing that well.