Ocean Beach has some of the oldest beach housing in the city. Many homes are small wood cottages and bungalows from the 1910s through the 1940s, often on raised foundations with crawl spaces underneath. Decades of salt air, patching and add-on rooms leave gaps at the siding, the sill and the foundation vents, and both roof rats and house mice use them.
The north edge of OB borders the San Diego River where it meets the ocean, with Dog Beach, Robb Field and the river channel. Brush, rocks and water along that stretch hold rodents, and the blocks closest to it see steady activity. To the south, the neighborhood climbs toward Sunset Cliffs and the slopes of Point Loma, where yards have more trees and ivy.
Inside the grid, homes sit close together with narrow side yards, shared fences and alley garages. Many have fruit trees, passion fruit vines and overgrown hedges, which roof rats use as both food and ladders to the roof. Rodents in OB often move between three or four properties in a night.
Newport Avenue and the streets around it are packed with restaurants, bars and shops. Back alleys behind them hold trash and grease bins, and older commercial buildings there have the same aging walls and roofs as the cottages. Food businesses fall under county health rules that treat rodents as a major violation.
If you call from OB, mention whether the house has a crawl space, how old it is and whether you hear sounds in the floor or the ceiling. Ask the technician to check the foundation vents and the space under the house, not just the attic. Raised-floor homes often need crawl space cleanup after the rodents are gone, and wall voids in old cottages connect the crawl space to the attic. Neighbors who seal and trim at the same time get better results, since rodents here move between houses.