Rat & Mouse Problems in South Norfolk Homes
Rat and mouse problems in South Norfolk homes are shaped by the age of the houses. Its ZIP code area has the oldest housing in Chesapeake’s Census figures, and a century-old frame house gives rodents different ways in than a 1990s subdivision home.
American Community Survey estimates from the Census Bureau show how far 23324, the ZIP code area that covers much of South Norfolk, departs from the rest of the city:
| Share of housing units | 23324 ZIP area | Chesapeake overall |
|---|---|---|
| Built 1939 or earlier | 12.7% | 2.5% |
| Built before 1960 | 32.7% | 10.1% |
| Built before 1980 | 59.3% | 31.7% |
| In buildings with 2 to 4 units | 14.3% | 5.3% |
These describe the ZIP area, not South Norfolk itself, and an old house is not the same as a house with rats. The age shows up in what we inspect.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources records that South Norfolk began as part of Berkley, an 1880s streetcar suburb, and that most of the houses in today’s historic district were in place by the late 1920s. The district is closely spaced free-standing houses on a grid of streets, mostly simple builders’ versions of early-20th-century styles, “nearly all of wood-frame construction, and nearly all with a front porch.” It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The City-owned Portlock at South Norfolk, on Bainbridge Boulevard, was built in 1908.
South Norfolk was also one of the two places consolidated to create the city of Chesapeake, whose name took effect on January 1, 1963. The City still runs a South Norfolk satellite office on 20th Street, and the South Norfolk Memorial Library is on Poindexter Street.
Our rat control and mouse control services work the same way here as across the city; the inspection just spends more time low in the house.
Rodents in Crawl Spaces & Foundations
Rodents get into older South Norfolk houses through the foundation and the space under the floor, so that is where we start. We inspect the crawl space on every job where the house has one; Census data doesn’t record foundation type, so we confirm it on site.
In an older wood-frame house we check:
- Foundation walls and piers: cracks, breaks and mortar gaps at the sill
- Crawl space vents: missing, rusted or torn screens
- The front porch: the void under the porch floor and the joint where the porch meets the house
- Old and new penetrations: pipes, wires and ducts rerouted over a century
- The ground along the foundation: Norway rat burrows, which UC IPM says are dug along building foundations
Norway rats usually dwell in basements and ground floors, according to University of California IPM. The City’s Property Maintenance Code requires foundation walls to be kept “plumb and free from open cracks and breaks” so they prevent the entry of rodents. The work under the floor is set out on our crawl space rodent control page and quoted after we have seen it.
Mice & Rats in Walls
Mice and rats in the walls of a South Norfolk house use the hollow spaces inside them to move between the crawl space, the attic and your rooms. Roof rats in particular favor attic spaces, walls and false ceilings, according to UC IPM.
In a building with two to four units, which is 14.3% of housing in the 23324 area, the wall you hear it in may also be shared with a neighbor. We trace the activity to where it enters the wall, low at a sill or high at the roofline, and treat and seal there. Our scratching in walls at night guide helps you read the sounds.
Entry-Point Sealing
Entry-point sealing in an older South Norfolk house means closing every gap larger than 1/4 inch, the size UC IPM says keeps out both rats and mice. A house that has stood for a century has had longer to open them.
On these houses, exclusion carpentry and foundation repair are often part of the job: replacing a chewed sill board, closing the gap under the porch, filling a hole in a foundation wall. Patches use hardened materials fitted to each opening rather than foam or steel wool alone, which rodents gnaw through. Our rodent proofing service covers the rest of the exterior seal.
Rodent Cleanup
Rodent cleanup in a South Norfolk house deals with what the rodents left behind: droppings, urine, nesting material and sometimes a dead rodent in a crawl space or wall. The CDC says people get hantavirus from contact with rodents, especially their urine, droppings and saliva, and advises ventilating for 30 minutes, wearing gloves, soaking droppings with 1.5 cups of household bleach per gallon of water for 5 minutes, and never sweeping or vacuuming them.
The City of Chesapeake’s Public Works collects dead animals in the City’s right-of-way but will not enter private property to remove them, so a dead rodent under your house is yours to deal with. For crawl spaces and larger areas, our rodent cleanup service is priced after inspection.
What a Visit Costs
In an older South Norfolk house, the visits that matter most are usually a treatment visit followed by exclusion and proofing, published at $180 to $250, because closing the gaps at an old foundation and porch is what keeps rodents out. The full published list:
- Mouse inspection and treatment: $99 to $149
- Rat treatment: $150 to $220
- Follow-up visit: $99 to $120
Cleanup and crawl space work have no published price and are quoted after the inspection, confirmed on the callback before anything is booked.