Mice are a serious issue when they get into your home. They can bring fleas and ticks into your home as well as defecate on your food. If you don’t know you have mice this can end up causing severe bowel distress that could lead to hospitalization. That is why it is important to always go around your home and inspect for issues like mice feces. Knowing you have them may mean getting rid of them faster. If you do have them you can also look around outside of the house for possible entryways. These can be almost any opening in your home and a mouse can fit through a hole as small as a quarter. Cable and plumbing vents are common entryways as well as weep vents which are mortarless spaces between bricks to allow the insulation in the walls to breathe. They often enter through a back door that has been left open. Foundation gaps are a common entryway that mice can use to get inside a house and because they have incisors that never stop growing they can chew at existing foundation damage and create an entryway themselves. Getting these areas filled will help limit their access. Another common way for them to enter is through gaps in aluminum siding. These gaps can be large enough for a mouse to climb up through and enter the house by chewing through the plywood underneath.
Filling these types of openings can be complicated and if you do not use the correct tools and materials they will be able to get through the openings still. Using SOS pads to seal an opening is not a good idea. Just like stuffing a rag in a hole will not do anything to stop them from getting through. To fill gaps like foundation gaps you need concrete. You can buy a bucket of quick dry cement and seal the holes up yourself and you can also call a company to redo the foundation of your house. Whatever it takes to keep the mice out. Cable and plumbing vents can be sealed with silicone cocking but it’s better to add some galvanized steel mesh to the mix or they could still chew through it. Weep vents can be sealed off with stainless steel inserts you can get from a hardware store and for aluminum siding, you can seal that area off with silicone or spray foam in combination with steel mesh-like with the plumbing vents. A professional exterminator can do all of this for you in a way that will ensure the entryway is never penetrated so if you already have mice in your house it’s not a bad idea to go forward with any inspection the company may offer to seal these entryways off. If you do not do this either on your own or with a professional the mice will continue to get into the house and will eventually destroy it. Houses with ongoing pest infestations are not safe to live in and a government agent may have to force you out and condemn the property. So act now and call an exterminator for your and your family’s safety, as well as your house.
