In short: in Stockport the council treats rats and mice for a charge, and Stockport Homes tenants can get a free rat treatment through their housing officer. Once the rodents have gone, we strip out the soiled insulation damp, disinfect the loft, seal the ways in and refill it. Removal-only clear-outs start from £699, priced from a couple of photos taken at the loft hatch.
Stockport is on our doorstep: we are based just over the border in Cheshire, so it is one of the areas we work in most. Rats and mice get into lofts all over the borough, and once they have been there the insulation is usually soiled through. We strip it out, disinfect the loft and refill it once the pest controller has dealt with them.
Why Rats and Mice Get Into Stockport Lofts
The borough's housing is a real mix: Victorian terraces in Edgeley, Heaton Norris, Reddish and Shaw Heath; large Victorian and Edwardian semis in the Heatons and Davenport; and interwar and post-war semis across Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Hazel Grove and Offerton.
- Rivers. The Tame and the Goyt meet in the town centre to form the Mersey, and rats follow the riverbanks and the drains that run down to them.
- Homes on the edge of the country. Around Marple, Romiley, Bramhall and High Lane, houses back onto fields and woodland, and wood mice move indoors each autumn as well as house mice.
- Big, older lofts. The large semis in the Heatons often have big, partly boarded lofts where rodents can go unnoticed for a long time.
- Old drainage. On older properties, a broken pipe or an old connection left open lets rats into the cavity wall; see rats in the walls.
Which Kind of Stockport Loft Have You Got?
Across the borough, the house you live in says a lot about how the rodents got in, where the droppings will be, and what the clean-up involves. Not sure yet whether it is rats or mice? Start with our guides to rats in the loft and mice in the loft.
A Victorian terrace: Edgeley, Shaw Heath, Heaton Norris, Reddish
Terrace lofts are small, the hatch is often tight, and the insulation has usually been topped up in layers over the years. Where the party wall stops short of the roof, rodents can move along the row, so a neighbour's problem can quickly become yours. It is worth asking the houses either side whether they have noticed anything, and getting the row treated at the same time. Old drains under the back streets are the other usual route in.
A big semi in the Heatons or Davenport
These lofts are large, high enough to stand in, and often partly boarded for storage. That is exactly why rodents go unnoticed: they live in the unboarded corners and under the boards, while the stored boxes get chewed. Droppings and urine soak through to the insulation underneath, so the boards come up where the rodents have been. Tell us about any boarding when you send photos.
A suburban semi: Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Hazel Grove, Offerton
Most inter-war and post-war semis have a straightforward loft, and rats or mice usually get in at the eaves, through broken air bricks or along pipe runs. The droppings tend to be concentrated along the eaves and around the water tank. These are usually the quickest lofts to clear.
A home on the edge of the country: Marple, Romiley, High Lane, Woodford
Houses that back onto fields, woodland and golf courses get wood mice every autumn, and sometimes rats from outbuildings, stables and compost heaps. Sealing the gaps matters more here than anywhere, because the pressure from outside never stops. Older houses next to open country are also where bats roost, and bats are protected by law: if the droppings crumble to dust when pressed, stop and get advice before anything is disturbed. Our guide to droppings in the loft shows the difference.
Near the rivers and canals
The Tame and the Goyt meet in the town centre to form the Mersey, and the Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals meet at Marple. Brown rats live along all of them. If you are near the water and keep getting rats back after treatment, the drains are the first thing to check.
Council Pest Control in Stockport
Stockport Council treats rats and mice in homes for a charge, which includes return visits within a set period. If you are a Stockport Homes tenant, speak to your housing officer, who can arrange a free treatment for rats. You can book and check current prices on the council's pest control pages, or use a private pest controller, ideally a BPCA or NPTA member.
The council treats the rodents; it doesn't clear or replace soiled insulation. That is the job we come in for once the treatment has finished.
| If you are... | Do this first |
|---|---|
| A homeowner | Book Stockport Council or a private pest controller, and send us photos while the treatment is under way so the clean-up is priced and ready. |
| A Stockport Homes tenant | Tell your housing officer. They arrange the treatment and any work on the loft. |
| Renting privately | Tell your landlord or letting agent in writing. The loft clean-up is normally theirs to arrange, and they can book us directly. |
| A landlord | Get the treatment booked, then send us photos from your tenant or agent. We supply photos of the finished loft and an itemised invoice. |
| Still hearing them after treatment | Hold off on the clean-up and ask your pest controller to come back. If they keep returning, have the drains checked. |
What Happens on the Day
Everything is misted before it is touched, so the dust stays down. The soiled insulation is bagged damp, double-bagged and carried down through the house, the loft is vacuumed back to the joists with an industrial extractor and misted with Virkon S at a 1% solution, and once it is dry the entry holes are sealed with mesh and new insulation goes in to 270mm or deeper. The full step-by-step is on our main rodent-damaged loft insulation removal page. Most Stockport lofts are done in a day, and you pay the balance at the end once you have checked the loft.
Please don't lay a new roll straight over soiled insulation. The droppings, urine and any dead rodents stay underneath, the smell comes back on warm days, and it gives the next lot a ready-made nest. If rodents have died up there after treatment, see dead rat smell in the loft.
What It Costs
Removal-only clear-outs start from £699, with disinfection and new insulation priced on top. A suburban semi with droppings along one eave costs less than a big boarded loft in the Heatons where the rodents have been everywhere, so every price is written up from photos rather than a flat rate. If you are claiming on home insurance, check the policy first, as many exclude vermin damage; we can supply before and after photos and an itemised invoice.
A Recent Job Nearby
Over in Oldham, five dead rats came out of one loft along with all of the old insulation, before the loft was decontaminated and the two ways in were filled.
Get a Price
Send a couple of photos from the loft hatch and we will come back with a written price.
Or email info@loftrestore.co.uk. Covering the whole Stockport borough, just over the border from our Cheshire base.
What We Do
- Strip out soiled insulation, damp
- Disinfect the loft with Virkon S
- Seal entry holes with mesh
- Refill to 270mm or deeper
- Photos of the finished loft
What We Don't Do
- Pest control (poison and traps): a pest controller's job
- Drain repairs: a drainage firm's job
- Asbestos or vermiculite removal
Areas We Cover in Stockport
- Stockport town centre
- Edgeley and Shaw Heath
- Davenport
- Heaton Moor and Heaton Chapel
- Heaton Mersey and Heaton Norris
- Reddish
- Brinnington
- Bredbury and Romiley
- Marple
- Offerton
- Hazel Grove
- High Lane
- Bramhall
- Woodford
- Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme
- Gatley and Heald Green
Next door, we cover Manchester and the rest of Cheshire. For loft insulation without the rodents, see our Stockport loft insulation page.
Rodent Guides
Not sure what you are dealing with yet? Start here.
Other Areas We Cover
We work across the whole of the UK. These are the areas where most of our rodent jobs are.
Stockport Rodent Clean-Up FAQs
Do you cover Bramhall, Cheadle and Marple?
Yes, the whole borough, from the Heatons and Reddish in the north to Bramhall, Woodford and High Lane in the south. Stockport is one of the closest areas to our Cheshire base.
Does Stockport Council clear lofts after rats?
No. The council treats rats and mice, but clearing and replacing soiled loft insulation isn't part of the service. We do that once the treatment has finished.
I am a Stockport Homes tenant. What should I do?
Report rats to your housing officer, who can arrange a free treatment. Work on the loft in a Stockport Homes property is for them to arrange, so speak to them before booking anything yourself.
How soon can you come out?
It depends on the diary, but Stockport is close to our base. Send a couple of photos from the hatch and we will give you a date along with the written price.
How much does a rodent loft clean-up cost in Stockport?
Removal-only clear-outs start from £699, with disinfection and new insulation priced on top. The price depends on the size of the loft, how far the droppings have spread, the depth of the old insulation and whether any boarding needs lifting, so we price every job from a couple of photos taken at the hatch.
My loft in the Heatons is boarded. Does the boarding have to come up?
Where the rodents have been, yes. Droppings and urine soak through to the insulation under the boards, so those boards are lifted, the insulation underneath is cleared and the joists disinfected. Boarding elsewhere in the loft can often stay. Tell us about it when you send photos, as it affects the price.
We back onto fields and get mice every autumn. Will sealing stop them?
It makes a big difference. Mice need only a pencil-width gap, so we mesh the holes we find around pipe runs, air bricks and soffits. No insulation keeps them out on its own, and new gaps can open up over time, so it is worth checking the outside of the house each autumn.
I am a Stockport Homes leaseholder, not a tenant. Who sorts the loft?
Check your lease first. In a house you own, the loft is usually yours to sort out; in a flat, the loft is normally a shared part of the building, so speak to Stockport Homes before booking anything.