Rat Sealing — Café Unit, Kota Kemuning

Rat Sealing — Café Unit, Kota Kemuning

The café owner contacted Mr Pest Control Shah Alam after discovering a trail of rat droppings along the back wall of the storeroom and scattered across the kitchen floor near the sink cabinet. Staff had also been hearing scratching sounds from the ceiling void in the early hours of the morning, well before opening time.

The café operates out of a ground-floor shophouse unit in Kota Kemuning — a common property type in Shah Alam where shared party walls, exposed drainage channels, and ageing utility ducting give rats multiple concealed routes into a building.

The Problem

When our technician arrived for the free inspection, the signs of active rat infestation were clear. Fresh droppings — dark, moist, and roughly 10–15mm in length consistent with the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) — were concentrated near the kitchen's under-sink cabinet, along the base of the storeroom shelving, and at the rear wall where the grease trap drain exits the building.

A thorough sweep of the premises identified the following entry points and conditions:

• A 40mm gap where the grease trap drain pipe passes through the rear wall — sealed only with crumbling mastic that rats had gnawed through
• An open duct chase running above the false ceiling, connected to the neighbouring unit's ceiling void through an unsealed partition junction
• Two gaps beneath the rear fire door — the rubber door sweep had deteriorated and left a gap of roughly 15mm, more than enough for a juvenile rat
• An unscreened ventilation opening above the storeroom window, approximately 50mm wide
• Gnaw marks on a PVC water pipe under the sink, indicating the rats had been active in this area for at least several weeks

The café had attempted to address the issue on their own by placing glue traps near the storeroom entrance. Glue traps alone do not eliminate a colony — they catch individual rats while the rest of the population continues to breed and forage. The underlying entry points remained wide open.

Our Approach

For commercial food service premises, our standard approach combines two complementary methods: physical exclusion (sealing every entry point) and bait station deployment (eliminating rats already inside the building).

Sealing without baiting leaves any rats already inside with no way out — they will eventually die in the walls, creating odour problems, or they will gnaw new holes to escape. Baiting without sealing is equally incomplete — new rats from outside will simply replace those that are eliminated.

We always carry out both steps in the same visit. The rat control programme for this café was planned as follows:

1. Full perimeter inspection — mapping every gap, crack, and penetration point above and below the floor level, including roof soffit and ceiling void access
2. Entry point sealing — all identified gaps sealed with appropriate materials: steel wool packed into cavities, followed by wire mesh cut-to-size and mortared in place for pipe penetrations; heavy-duty door sweeps fitted to the fire door
3. Bait station deployment — tamper-resistant, locked bait stations placed in non-food-contact zones along confirmed rat runs
4. Follow-up inspection at 14 days — to assess bait consumption, confirm no new entry points, and replace bait blocks as needed

The Treatment

Our technician completed the full sealing and baiting programme in a single morning visit, working before the café's lunch service commenced. This minimised disruption to the business.

The rear drain pipe penetration — identified as the primary entry point — was treated with a dense pack of stainless steel wool, covered with a galvanised wire mesh panel cut to overlap the surrounding brickwork, and finished with mortar. Rats cannot gnaw through steel wool or mesh, and the mortar provides a clean, hygienic finish appropriate for a food premises.

The deteriorated door sweep on the fire door was replaced with a heavy-duty aluminium and brush-seal unit. The unscreened ventilation opening above the storeroom was fitted with a stainless steel mesh screen fixed with rustproof screws. The ceiling void duct junction was sealed with expanding foam backed by wire mesh on both accessible faces.

Six tamper-resistant bait stations were deployed along the identified rat runs: two in the storeroom, two along the kitchen rear wall behind fixed equipment, and two at the external rear of the premises beside the grease trap. Each station was locked, labelled with our contact details and the deployment date, and positioned according to pest management best practice guidelines for food service environments.

All work was completed within three hours. The café opened for lunch service the same day with no disruption.

Results

At the 14-day follow-up inspection, three of the six bait stations showed significant consumption — confirming rats had been active in those zones and had taken the bait. No fresh droppings were found anywhere in the premises. The staff reported no further scratching sounds from the ceiling void after the second night following treatment.

All sealing points were checked and found intact. No new entry points had appeared. Bait blocks in the three active stations were replaced; the remaining three were left in position as monitoring stations.

A final clearance inspection was carried out four weeks after the initial treatment. All stations were empty of fresh activity, no droppings were found, and the café was confirmed clear of rats. The owner was advised to maintain the grease trap area clean and dry, as accumulated grease and food residue near external drains is one of the primary attractants for rats in shophouse units.

"We had been dealing with this problem for almost two months before calling Mr Pest Control. Within two weeks of their visit everything was quiet. The team was professional, they explained everything clearly, and they worked around our business hours. Highly recommended."
— Café Owner, Kota Kemuning