Mice and rats may enter your home, shed, or business building by squeezing through minuscule gaps and holes. They build nests in vacant spaces and can even get by on a few leftover breadcrumbs or seeds.
If you do nothing, you will soon experience a true mouse plague even if you may not even be aware that there are a few mice in your home. In this situation, prevention is always preferable.
Exclusion, sometimes known as “blocking them out,” is the finest and most effective method of keeping mice out of your house by closing off any holes they may possibly use to get in.
It’s crucial to mouse-proof any spaces where you keep, prepare, or utilise food. You may block these tunnels with steel wool if you know where the mice or rats are coming from.
Cleaning up the areas where mice like to build their nests and taking away their food supplies are vital.
Why Use Steel Wool to Prevent Rodents?
The little openings that pests utilise to enter your house may be effectively blocked with steel wool.
First off, steel wool can be forced into cracks and crevices of various sizes and shapes since it is strong but flexible. Rats and mice, two pests, detest chewing through steel wool because the sharp edges cause pain the more they try to eat.
In contrast to many pest control methods, steel wool is non-toxic, so you may use it everywhere in your home without fearing that one of your pets or kids would ingest it.
Search for ‘Mice removal brisbane’ or ‘rat control specialist near me’ if rats are already inside your property. But if that’s not the case, consider installing steel wool for rodent prevention.
Let’s cover the procedures you should follow to get rid of mice and prevent them from returning…
Step 1: Get Rid Of Mice
The most effective strategy for getting rid of mice is one that gets rid of the rodents as fast and securely as feasible. The best sign that you have a problem is mouse droppings. There are several excellent methods to get rid of mice in our post, The Top 8 DIY Ways to Get Rid of Mice.
If you have a large infestation, DIY techniques might not be sufficient to get rid of all the mice. Integrity Pest Management will assist you in ridding your house and yard of rodents. Our qualified experts can evaluate your specific situation and create a strategy to get rid of the mice from your house safely.
Step 2: Know Your Points of Entry
The second stage is to take measures to keep mice out of your house. Mice may fit through very small openings, therefore it’s crucial to find any openings or gaps in your home that need to be sealed. Rats and mice can fit through openings the size of a silver dollar and nickel, respectively.
Search your house from the inside and the outside.
Look Inside Near:
- Crawl spaces, basements, garages, and attics
- Basements, pantries, and closets
- Stoves, refrigerators, and cabinets in the kitchen
- Pipes, sinks, washers, furnaces, and water heaters
- Doorways and fireplaces
- Vents for dryers and floors
Look Outside Near:
- Doors and windows
- Crawl space and attic vents
- Roof, rafters, gables, and eaves from the outside
- All around the base
- Holes for cable, gas, electricity, and plumbing lines
As you move from area to area or room to room, it could be useful to establish a list. This guarantees that nothing gets overlooked.
Step 3: Gather Supplies
The next step is to acquire enough items to fill in all of the gaps and holes you’ve found.
You’ll Require:
Iron wool (Grade Medium)
Silicone Caulking silicone caulk mouse hole keep out steel wool to keep mice out of the house
Local hardware or home improvement businesses have caulking and steel wool. Typically, a box costs less than $5. The best stainless steel wool is medium grade.
Without the danger of igniting or catching fire, it may be utilised around heating pipes. In cases when a seam or crack must be made but must be sealed to keep out rats, steel wool also continues to breathe, which can be vital.
Step 4: Fill Holes
You can start working after you have your supplies. With steel wool, fill the hole firmly. To keep and seal the wool in place, caulk should then be applied around the hole. Some of the steel wool may attract mice, but if they eat it, it may also kill them.
By plugging the hole, you can stop mice from getting inside your house and even dying inside your walls. To stop mice from consuming the steel wool, you may also completely cover the exposed areas with caulking.
Stainless Steel Wool to Patch up Holes and Fissures
To prevent mice, rats, and other rodents from making them larger, use stainless steel wool grade MEDIUM. Make careful to examine your walls for holes as well as the doors, gutters, vents, chimneys, and electrical and plumbing openings for rodent access.
Any aperture greater than 6 millimeters should be sealed (one-quarter inch). Sealing holes smaller than this may also be a good idea, even though mice can’t go through them. That little hole could eventually become large enough for a mouse to pass through because mice have a reputation for eating their way through objects.
The perfect material to seal these openings is stainless steel wool. The pipes and heating pipes can also be protected with this steel wool. The heat from the tube prevents stainless steel wool from burning. Normal tube temperatures are insufficient for this.
The steel wool’s ability to continue to breathe is an added benefit. This may be crucial in steel buildings when it is vital to have a seam or crack but wants to seal it off from pests. Take notice of the little airflow.
The best way to find the possible entrance of rodents is to ask pest control specialists. They will do a proper inspection of your property and find those gaps and cracks from which rats can enter. So you need to search for ‘rat control Brisbane’ or ‘rat specialist near me’ for one reason or another.
Step 5: Remove Food Sources and Do Routine Home Inspections
When all of your gaps and holes are filled, you need to be prepared. The number of food sources that might attract rats should still be kept to a minimum. Food should be stored in sturdy plastic, metal, or ceramic containers with tight-fitting lids.
As the season changes and food becomes more limited, mice often look for refuge.
Remember to examine your home each autumn, and set a phone or calendar reminder. Check your home’s interior and exterior for any new holes or holes that require more steel wool.
Preventing mice from entering your home is the easiest approach to getting rid of them permanently. Unwanted rodents may be kept out of your house safely, easily, and affordably using steel wool.
FAQs
How much does it cost for rodent control?
That depends on the severity of the problem and on the space of your home.
What is the most effective rodent control?
The most effective rodent control is sanitization and maintaining the cleanliness of your space.
What are the methods of controlling rodents?
The methods are simple- maintaining hygiene, storing food away, and blocking all the entryways of rodents.