Recognizing Cleaning Challenges

If you get a rat infestation in your attic, your attic can be turned into a contaminated mess. You may need to call in a professional restoration company to clean out the nests, droppings, and insulation contaminated with urine. Rats can transmit several diseases, so cleaning up after them requires great care. If rats got into your ducts too, you'll probably want them cleaned.

You may even want to leave your HVAC unit off if possible so the rat hairs and germs from their droppings and urine don't float through the air in your living space until the ducts are clean. Here's how air duct cleaning might be done after the ducts have been infested with rats.

Vacuum Out Nests And Debris

Your ducts could be full of dust mats, nesting material, and waste debris. All of that needs to be removed with a vacuum system. The vacuum used to clean out air ducts often has a brush or whip on the end to knock dust off the walls, floor, and ceiling of the ducts. Then all the debris is sucked out to the truck.

A negative pressure system may also be used, and the ends of the ducts are covered to ensure no dust or contaminated debris can waft into your living space. This is the type of basic air duct cleaning you may have done if you're only removing dust buildup. A rat infestation has additional concerns such as germs and odors, so the air duct cleaning company may also sanitize the ducts and deodorize them.

Disinfect The Ducts

Vacuuming won't sanitize the ducts, so this has to be done afterward. The air duct cleaning company might use a fogger and fill the ducts with a sanitizing agent that kills bacteria, viruses, and mold. This gets rid of contaminants the rodents left behind so you no longer have to worry about the air quality in your home. Rodents can also leave a foul odor in the ducts from all their droppings and body odor.

The fogging agent can also double as an odor neutralizer since it kills bacteria that are often the source of odors. If necessary, the air duct cleaning company can also apply odor neutralizers to ensure no foul odors are left to waft into your living space.

Part of the process of reclaiming your attic from the rats is to seal up their entry holes into your attic and your ducts. This is an important step so the rats don't come back and repeat the mess. Plus, if a duct is torn open, warm or cool air will escape and that makes your power bill go higher if your HVAC needs to run longer. 

For more info, contact a local company like Hall's Clean Air Solutions.