No one wants rats running around in their attic, walls, or especially the house. There are many methods you can use to chase them away, trap them, or even kill them. You must also close up any holes they had been using to get inside, so no more ratties find their way in after you have worked hard to eliminate them.
There are two types of rats, black rats and Norway rats, which live in very different parts of the United States. Black rats are coastal and southwestern, while Norway rats live in the rest of the country. They do not have much crossover in territories.
You may use traps to either catch and release the rats, or kill them outright. There are also many methods, natural and chemical, that you can use to repel or drive them away. Some of these are: citronella, peppermint, or castor oils; peppermint plants; onions, sliced or diced; used cat or snake litter; ammonia (which is also good to use when cleaning up after the rats have been eliminated); bay leaf; a 1:1:1 mixture of flour, sugar, and baking soda (which makes them bloat and run outside to die); human or cat hair; steel wool at the entry points; black pepper; fake owls and snakes; toilet cakes (which are caustic, yet smell not-too-bad); baking soda; and cow dung cakes. You can also use baby powder to intoxicate the rats, in order to more easily trap them.
How long it takes to get rid of the rats depends on how many there are, what method you use, and how long they take to react to that method. Regardless of which method you use, you must always seal off any holes they used for entry into the building, and you must sanitize after they are gone. Rats are well-known to carry diseases, so using ammonia or a 1:1 mix of bleach and water is a necessity to keep yourself safe.



As for sealing off the entry points, you must remember that rats can get into a crack, crevice, or hole that is ¼”- ½”, depending upon which type of rat it is. That means crawling along foundations, in basements, along baseboards, and in attics, as well as any areas that have cable entries. The rat only needs to find a small hole, chew it wide enough to squeeze through, and voila! they have instant entry and a chance at your valuables.
If your rat problem ends up to be too big of a problem for any of the abovementioned methods of getting rid of them, you may want to contact a professional pest control company for advice.

Read the How to get rid of rats page for helpful information and to learn more about How long does it take to remove rats from a building?

How long does it take to remove rats from a building?