Pests We Treat - Mice exclusion in Belmar, NJ

Recently, I was sent to a home in Belmar, NJ, to resolve a mouse infestation. With rodent infestations, a thorough inspection is essential to determine how access is being gained into the home. Often, mice will look for gaps, cracks, and openings around the home's foundation to enter the crawl space or basement. Once inside, they travel through wall voids for foraging. Mice infestations are more prevalent when outdoor temperatures drop, and the rodents seek refuge from the harsh outdoor elements. 

Locating mice entry points can be a challenge because these small rodents don’t need much of an opening to squeeze through. Even a gap the size of a dime is enough. A good rule of thumb is that if you can see daylight coming in through an opening, a mouse could probably fit through it. In this particular case, there was a visible entry point around a pipe entering the home. These are common entry points because the sealant around the pipe can deteriorate over time. 

In this case, the entry point was so large that you could actually see the basement’s interior from outside! Once mice find a suitable entry point, they leave behind a scent trail for other mice to follow. Mice are not solitary creatures. If you find one mouse scurrying about in your home (they usually find their way to the kitchen to forage for food), there is a high likelihood that numerous mice are nesting in or about your home. 

For any rodent infestation, these access points must be located and sealed. This video shows how to seal these openings and exclude any mice from re-entry. It is important to fill gaps with a chew-proof steel mesh. Then, I hold everything in place by covering the mesh with silicone caulking. Homeowners sometimes make the mistake of using just caulking. Mice, with their powerful and sharp incisors, can easily gnaw through silicone to reopen the gap. You need some type of chew-proof material to block them.  Here, I used silicone caulking over the mesh to form a complete sealed surface and hold the mesh in place. 

Now, with this piping gap permanently sealed, any mouse attempting to get back in the home will be in for a rude surprise!