[i74js]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Our building had a severe rat problem. Very severe.
At first I tried poisons and stuff. Nothing worked.

Now there are 10-12 cats in our apartment building. They take care of the flying rats(pigeons) as well as the non flying one.

Thanks, my society is dog friendly one and it is serving us well. The dogs have never done any harm to the residents, the only issue is that they jump and sleep on top of cars parked under trees. Thus when you get inside the car, a punch is required from inside to bring the roof back in shape (mostly with small cars / thin roofed ones).

All is well otherwise !

[GTO]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm eventually going to go the fencing or cricket net way. Some great tips on this thread .

Originally Posted by roy_libran

How about making a 6 inch tall brickwork surrounding your car with smoothened ramp on one side for entry and exit of the car, and filling it with 2-3 inch Water?

Open water = unhygienic. Among other things, it can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Originally Posted by NPV

Since you own the building, is it possible to fix a large garage door so that physical access is limited for the rats unlike an open car porch/parking space ?

The driveway on either side of the building is open.

Originally Posted by vinair

If space permits, how about checking out a used shipping container (that comes in a dimension that suits your need). On net, I could find quite a few costing any thing between 40K to 1lac.

Won't be possible due to BMC permissions, and the fact that multiple cars are parked one behind the other. I need a solution for all my cars, not just one.

Originally Posted by theexperthand

My choice will be the Honda Accord type box, but instead of the white metal sheet, I will go for smooth Tin or Aluminium sheets and will fence it at about 3-4 feet high.

Will it be possible for you to post 1 or 2 actual photos of your garage? It may help to understand the problem better.

It's a regular building with a driveway on both sides.

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

the only fool-proof way is to make a "box" around the car. If money is not a constraint, this is what i would do

Originally Posted by thoma

I would suggest to install a skeleton (as in a cricket net, pic 1) using rectangular sections to fix meshes as bellow (pic 2, 3), covering the car in fully, i.e, you cannot afford the space of a shuttered garage. Twin door gate using the same mesh can be used as entrance, to save space.

Thank you! This is a terrific idea.

Originally Posted by low_rider

Another idea, although a costly one is to install a car parking lift. This is used to stack one car upon another. You can just use the upper deck for staying out of reach of rats. I have seen these installed in few buildings in Mumbai, but its primary purpose is to increase the parking space.

Thanks! Might need this one day as the cars increase.

Originally Posted by sharkashwa

A wire steel mesh attached to some mounting points and covering the underside of the engine bay was a last resort if nothing would work.

Did you eventually get this? Pictures?

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

We can make poles from good quality 1" PVC pipes. 3 feet high poles with 5 feet high net shall be adequate. To prevent the poles from deflecting, connect them by same pipe size at the top, using elbow fittings. Do the same at the bottom to avoid need for drilling holes for the poles.

With standard pipes and fittings, this is a cost effectice and DIY job. Rats do not chew PVC or HDPE pipes.

Thanks Rahul!

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

How about a metal sheet boundary of just 1 feet tall but rounded and bent outside.

I'm told that big rats can jump 2 - 3 feet.

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Will post pics if anyone would like to see how is it installed.

Please do! It'll greatly help others.

Originally Posted by smartcat

I have anecdotal evidence to suggest that changing your car might help! On our portico, we had an Optra, Santro and the Alto - and the rats always used to gnaw the internals of the Optra. The Santro and the Alto were left untouched. Now, we have a Civic, Santro and City in our driveway and no rat problems so far.

Well, they do love my Civic! Among other things, I've gotten the wire for the Autocop, Air-con & horn changed.

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

If you have trees etc in the compound which have loose soil maybe having potted plants would be better instead of having loose earth around where rats breed.

Originally Posted by hserus

Big bandicoots burrowing underground actually caused subsidence of tiles in my previous building's parking lot, and we had to spend around 40K to get the ground resurfaced and new RCC cement block tiles relaid. When we relaid the ground we mixed broken beer bottles and old nails into the mud before we did - and the rats seem to have kept away.

Good tips, appreciated!

[sharkashwa]

GTO, I didn't get the mesh work done in the engine bay as the other options worked out. But IIRC, the local Maruti dealer was suggesting that he could do it himself. Sorry, no pics.

[SmartCat]

Another physical barrier is a not often recommended (I'm not sure why) RING OF FIRE -

[NPV]

Originally Posted by GTO

The driveway on either side of the building is open.

The retractable type of garage doors is what I had in mind, there are several types of these available that I've seen mostly in the USA/UK. Here is one

sample

Would it possible to install 2 of these on either sides of your driveway ?

[Shiwik]

Originally Posted by riturajsharma19

I place naphthalene balls on top of my car and on the hood. I also throw a few around the parking area. Apparently, these rodents can't stand the odour and keep away. At least, that's what I have found.

I use naphthalene balls too. Take a few of those and tie it in a cloth and keep it inside the bonnet. I have also crushed a couple of packs of beedis and kept it inside the bonnet. Both have worked well for me. Rodent control is probably the most effective way to keep these creatures away.

One other thing i ensure is no food item whatsoever inside the car. The rats come here smelling these and then the damage happens. I have been a victim of rat chew twice costing me 28000 and 23000 respectively.

I stay in an apartment, so fencing of any kind is not feasible for me. Anyone else tried other different ways to keep these rats away.

[kaushik_ak]

I was facing similar problem of rodent attacks on my car. Touch wood, there have been no major damages done, save for some AC duct padding being eaten up.

+1 for the lack of effectiveness of any powders (Tobacco, chilli, pepper, et al.).

What about the following two options?
1. Ultrasonic Rat Repellents. Link to one such device.
2. A more feasible solution which surprisingly works, keep the area where the car is parked very well lit.

[adarsh76]

Originally Posted by psispace

I guess I'm with the cat theory too.

This one particular cat has found a fancy to sleep either under my Volvo or the Merc parked next to it. I used to earlier shoo it away out of fear of running over it.

But ever since it has made these cars its bedroom, there have been no rat issues yet.

GO CATS

Now I only hope they don't use our cars for their manicuring

Well you might not believe this. Had a big cat and a few kittens in my house (not pets though). One kitten climbed to the engine bay from beneath and chewed out one cable connected to the engine. This happened to my earlier car (Accent), 2nd day after taking delivery. This prompted me to install a rolling shutter in my car porch.

Cats can do mischief as well.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thank you! This is a terrific idea.

I knew you won't settle for anything less than a fool proof system (provided the floor is concreted/tiled).

But for this many cars to be netted, just make sure you have enough space to open the doors. Doors can be made aluminium as it will get heavy and sag in the middle otherwise. Maybe the whole thing aluminium as it is easy to be fabricated; of course if no kids or pets are allowed to lean on it.

And make individual nets for each car else a rat hiding in one sparingly used car can chew on the others once the net is closed.

[Tanveer_2558]

Here are the pics,








Also this is was fixed more than a year back and since then i have no rat issues, what this does is it hurts the skin of the rat really badly, but does not kill them but its soo painfull for the rats that they just dont ever come back!

Also i had spent more than 50k in repairing the wiring of the my cars at times even had to replace the total wiring and trying different things to prevent rat issues and finally this was it which works!

Please spread the word among your friends so they can save on time and money both.

Regards,
Tanveer.

[CarNerd]

How about this:















I found these on Amazon, Don't know how effective they are.

[Prash22]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Here are the pics,

The bristles looks like its iron but the handle and the base is wood. Isn't that a cause of concern with the engine bay heating up?
The question is assuming you are driving with the brushes in the engine bay.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by Prash22

The bristles looks like its iron but the handle and the base is wood. Isn't that a cause of concern with the engine bay heating up?
The question is assuming you are driving with the brushes in the engine bay.

Nope, drove for more than a year covered nearly 20k kms without any issue.

@carnerd, Doesnt work another friend had tried it.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by GTO

...the rat menace...

Rats, moles and bandicoots have been a problem for us at home for some years, quite some time ago. What we tried:

1. Traps, poisons, sticky pads, ultrasonic repellents, fumigation (formaldehyde). Nothing worked on a long-term basis.

2. Blocking entry. The animals came up through the drains - in the toilets, and in my clinic through the drainage system. We noticed that they usually did not enter through the doors, but escaped through doors when chased. Placing drain covers was no use - they dug away at the grouting and removed the covers. Never expected that.

3. We refixed the covers, and placed steel wool mesh (the type that is used for scrubbing pots and pans) around them on the entry side (outside). The attacks stopped.

Check the entry points i.e. drain openings, and secure them this way. Then make wooden frames that fit around the tyres. Fix steel wool (or steel scrubbing brushes as has been shown by Tanveer_2558) on these frames, and place them around the tyres of your long-term parked cars. No more rat entry.

Will try to post a diagram of the frame design at end of week - am travelling without laptop. Please bear with me till then.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Also this is was fixed more than a year back and since ...
Tanveer.

Tanveer,

Do the brushes rattle when the car goes on top of pot holes etc. Also how are they fixed inside the engine bay ? Are the glued to the sides or just stuck inside. If they are stuck don't they fall off ?

thanks