Mice
- Thread starter stockrex
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Well you need to figure out how they are getting in first. A hole the size of a quarter is all that is needed.
Any pets?
Many people use traps with peanut butter. Mouse poison is another option if you have no cats or dogs.
Cat will hunt them down.
Any pets?
Many people use traps with peanut butter. Mouse poison is another option if you have no cats or dogs.
Cat will hunt them down.
Remove all bedding, rags, leaves, debris, anything that hides them and/or makes them comfortable.
Screen off the foundation 100%. Between the house and the patio, and the patio and the outdoors, seal all edges, cracks, and holes with electrician's putty or concrete. Pay particular attention to plumbing, HVAC, and electrical ins and outs.
Fill larger voids with Great Stuff Window & Door, aka the more expensive Great Stuff. The cheaper version degrades in UV light and moisture. Mice can chew through GS but it is tamper evident. The purpose is to seal off attractive smells and temperatures (warm air exfiltration in Winter, cool air in Summer).
Seal cracks with silicone. Mice can chew through silicone, the purpose is to block the attraction of smells and more temperate air. Also it is evident where they are trying to get in and out if you find the silicone chewed-on. But for larger cracks and accesses, seal off with electrician's putty or concrete.
Use a combination of rat-sized sticky traps with peanut butter, and poisoned bait (pets allowing). Leave traps inside and outside the screen.
Screen off the foundation 100%. Between the house and the patio, and the patio and the outdoors, seal all edges, cracks, and holes with electrician's putty or concrete. Pay particular attention to plumbing, HVAC, and electrical ins and outs.
Fill larger voids with Great Stuff Window & Door, aka the more expensive Great Stuff. The cheaper version degrades in UV light and moisture. Mice can chew through GS but it is tamper evident. The purpose is to seal off attractive smells and temperatures (warm air exfiltration in Winter, cool air in Summer).
Seal cracks with silicone. Mice can chew through silicone, the purpose is to block the attraction of smells and more temperate air. Also it is evident where they are trying to get in and out if you find the silicone chewed-on. But for larger cracks and accesses, seal off with electrician's putty or concrete.
Use a combination of rat-sized sticky traps with peanut butter, and poisoned bait (pets allowing). Leave traps inside and outside the screen.
One of our cats started catching a lot of mice all of a sudden and I knew we had a big problem as she is an indoor cat.
I started to suspect the garage and crept over to the door from the basement very quietly with no lights, then flung it open while flicking the lights on...they were EVERYWHERE.
I should probably be ashamed of myself for what I did to the mice that I could catch that night (I had leather work gloves on and was ready to go).
I figured out that they had chewed a way in through a garage door seal (or maybe chipmunks did that for them to get to birdseed my wife was storing improperly) and then they figured out that they could climb the framing for the door tracks and get into holes in the ceiling drywall that were not sealed properly.
Replaced the door seal and also filled the holes in the drywall with expanding foam that was supposed to be resistant to animal chewing and haven't had a problem in several years.
I'm sure lots of those little buggers died inside the walls of the house, though...at least we never noticed any horrible smells from it.
I also cleaned out the garage well as I found mice living in old boxes full of automotive and construction stuff, way back in the corners...opened one box to find a mouse sitting contentedly in a nest next to one that had clearly died some time ago. I made sure that they were reunited in the afterlife.
We also get them moving into our central air unit outside and I am similarly barbaric there. I actually like little animals, but anything that is trying to destroy my house gets no mercy. Never touch them with my bare hands!
I started to suspect the garage and crept over to the door from the basement very quietly with no lights, then flung it open while flicking the lights on...they were EVERYWHERE.
I should probably be ashamed of myself for what I did to the mice that I could catch that night (I had leather work gloves on and was ready to go).
I figured out that they had chewed a way in through a garage door seal (or maybe chipmunks did that for them to get to birdseed my wife was storing improperly) and then they figured out that they could climb the framing for the door tracks and get into holes in the ceiling drywall that were not sealed properly.
Replaced the door seal and also filled the holes in the drywall with expanding foam that was supposed to be resistant to animal chewing and haven't had a problem in several years.
I'm sure lots of those little buggers died inside the walls of the house, though...at least we never noticed any horrible smells from it.
I also cleaned out the garage well as I found mice living in old boxes full of automotive and construction stuff, way back in the corners...opened one box to find a mouse sitting contentedly in a nest next to one that had clearly died some time ago. I made sure that they were reunited in the afterlife.
We also get them moving into our central air unit outside and I am similarly barbaric there. I actually like little animals, but anything that is trying to destroy my house gets no mercy. Never touch them with my bare hands!
Point of entry - This is next to do when it gets warmer, I can see that the last owner put too much top soil. much around the perimeter, and the soil covers 2 bricks from the bottom, I will dig this up and expose few inches of foundation concrete and patch any holes. It is brick all around.
What should I use to patch hole? the anti-rodent/insect spray foam? poly urethane foam.?
What should I use to patch hole? the anti-rodent/insect spray foam? poly urethane foam.?
Originally Posted by stockrex
Point of entry - This is next to do when it gets warmer, I can see that the last owner put too much top soil. much around the perimeter, and the soil covers 2 bricks from the bottom, I will dig this up and expose few inches of foundation concrete and patch any holes. It is brick all around.
What should I use to patch hole? the anti-rodent/insect spray foam? poly urethane foam.?
My dad always used steel wool to plug gaps he found between his attached garage and the house...although it did seem like he had to do it a lot. Maybe the stuff rusted away over time?
That pest-blocking foam worked great for me for the gaps in the drywall….didn't seem right to me to try to cram steel wool in there. I also wanted to have better insulation between the garage and the room above it.
Point of entry - This is next to do when it gets warmer, I can see that the last owner put too much top soil. much around the perimeter, and the soil covers 2 bricks from the bottom, I will dig this up and expose few inches of foundation concrete and patch any holes. It is brick all around.
What should I use to patch hole? the anti-rodent/insect spray foam? poly urethane foam.?
My dad always used steel wool to plug gaps he found between his attached garage and the house...although it did seem like he had to do it a lot. Maybe the stuff rusted away over time?
That pest-blocking foam worked great for me for the gaps in the drywall….didn't seem right to me to try to cram steel wool in there. I also wanted to have better insulation between the garage and the room above it.
It hit 70F yesterday, the ground should be soft now, I will start digging around the house to expose the concrete and seal any holes.
I will remove mulch and lower the grade and add landscape paper and stone.
I will use Mortar mix to seal holes in the concrete footer/foundation/brick joints,
I will remove mulch and lower the grade and add landscape paper and stone.
I will use Mortar mix to seal holes in the concrete footer/foundation/brick joints,
Originally Posted by redbone3
I opened the trunk of my Miata today and found a mouse house. He industriously built it in one day. I now have a two mousetrap Miata.
Why, just get him an exercise wheel and hook it to the transmission...and he will almost double the horsepower!!!
I opened the trunk of my Miata today and found a mouse house. He industriously built it in one day. I now have a two mousetrap Miata.
Why, just get him an exercise wheel and hook it to the transmission...and he will almost double the horsepower!!!
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