Rodent Prevention Tips

What Attracts Mice?

Mice can be found in any environment inhabited by humans. They are attracted by food and shelter and will actively seek these out. It's important to realize how agile mice and rodents are.

Rodents can climb just about anything. From pipes, brick, chimneys, downspouts to wires, pvc, if it's connected to your house they can climb it. Rodents use trees and bushes to access your home. Keep trees and brush trimmed off of buildings. Keeping a cleaned up yard is a great way to keep rodents away by not providing them a place to hide.

Signs of Rodents

Fortunately it can be easy to spot visible signs of activity. The oils from the rodents wear off over time and build up dark trails along their path. Long periods of use will have darker trails and much more obvious to see, but as soon as you see signs you should be highly motivated to deal with the issue. If you are seeing any signs of activity that means there has been regular intrusion and is a sign that pest prevention and exclusion is necessary.

Access Prevention is Top Priority

Mice can fit into areas as small as 1/4 inch, and rats 1/2 inch space. This can be about the diameter of a pen! All homes have some kind of access somewhere. To stop pests from entering the home, you must thoroughly examine the entire home for entry points and block them. Areas around the roof and siding, and anywhere there are pipes and vents entering the home are some of the most common places that need attention.

The following are some of the first places to look for access points. These are areas around the home exterior where transitions in materials often create gaps which are often overlooked. Checking and sealing these spaces is the first priority to prevent mice and rodents from entering.

• Roof joints, where there are transitions from one roof line to another are one area that are often overlooked because of the difficulty in reaching them.
• Around almost all corners of the home underneath the siding you'll find gaps, between the siding and the mudsill where mice can enter.
• Vents into the crawlspace or basement, and holes in the crawlspace vents due to wires or pipes/plumbing are another of the most common entry points.
• Gaps around garage doors and other doors and thresholds need to be checked. Mice can get through a small, 1/4 inch hole, this is about the diameter of a normal-sized pen.
• The vent pipes popping out of the roof that are not screened, attic vents, pillars (mostly the top where they join the overhang), and chimney gaps between roof or building are all the main points of entry.

When we come in and do an exclusion service, these are all the things we thoroughly check. For us to have the most success there are a few things we will look for in your home and areas where we focus on covering and sealing access off. It differs from one place to the next about what is necessary. Some buildings need a lot of work, others much less, with an inspection we are able to provide an estimate on what is needed.

• To exclude a home it must be stick built and on a solid, full foundation with attached mudsill from foundation to building,
• We must have full access to the mudsill around the exterior of the home.
• We cover all the vents on the roof and anywhere else that may provide access, check and repair all crawlspace vents, check all transition points on the roof and around the home for any gaps 1/4 inch or bigger (including entire mudsill around home inside basement/crawlspace and exterior), replace crawl space entrance doors, door seals, garage door seals, and many other things that we may find.

Avoid More Serious Damage

The cost of ignoring the signs can be high. My top piece of advice for homeowners is to address the issue as soon as you see any signs or have suspicions that there is a problem, this will allow you to get ahead of it and avoid more extensive damages.

We've had numerous customers have to spend $10,000's to repair pipes, floors, insulation, walls, etc., because they allowed the problem to go on for some time not knowing how serious rodents can damage many areas around the home.

When it comes to rodents, based on my experience, I can emphasize that you want to deal with them as soon as you know something is happening. If you allow rodents time they can do so much costly damage. Don't wait or hesitate. Rodent proof your home and have the problem dealt with immediately