Why gaps are the whole story.
Rodents are not mysterious. They go where they can fit, and a mouse needs a gap roughly the width of a pencil while a rat needs about half an inch. Every building has more of these than its owner expects, because materials meet at seams and seams shift with heat, damp and settling.
Florida construction adds its own entrances. Attic vents, soffit panels, weep holes, garage thresholds and the sleeves around air conditioning lines all open to the outside by design. Each of them needs the right cover, and a cover that is bent, missing or made of plastic is an invitation.
The survey comes first.
We walk the shell of the building in a set order, from the foundation up to the ridge. At each opening we record the location, the approximate size and the material around it. That list becomes the work order, so nothing depends on memory.
- Foundation: vents, utility sleeves, cracks along slab edges and gaps at the base of siding.
- Walls: penetrations for cable, gas, hose bibs and dryer or bath exhausts.
- Roofline: soffit panels, fascia returns, ridge and gable vents, and flashing seams.
- Garage: threshold gaps, door-side seals and the corners where tracks meet the wall.
Materials and why they win.
| Material. | Where it goes. | Why it holds. |
|---|---|---|
| Galvanized hardware cloth. | Vents, weep holes and large openings. | Rigid mesh that teeth and claws cannot pull through. |
| Metal flashing. | Roof edges, fascia returns and corners. | Sheet metal stays put against gnawing. |
| Masonry-grade sealant. | Small gaps around pipes and cable. | Cures hard instead of staying soft like foam. |
| Door sweep and threshold seal. | Garage and exterior doors. | Closes the gap rats use at ground level. |
Expanding foam is not on the list. Mice and rats chew it, and some foams also trap moisture against framing. We use it only as a backing layer behind metal.
Order of operations.
Sealing follows trapping or exit planning, never the other way around. Closing every hole while animals are still inside only moves the noise into a wall or sends them toward the living space. We close the main entrances after the colony is cleared, and we leave a final check for the last few openings. The trapping page covers that first stage, and damage repair handles anything that was already chewed.
Prefer a conversation to a page of text? Dial, and a live voice responds at any hour.
(888) 686-4821Old houses, new additions and seams.
Casa Feliz was built in 1933 and later moved about 900 feet, and it makes a handy reminder that buildings change. A house that has been re-roofed, added onto or remodeled has seams where old materials meet new ones, and seams are where rodents find their way in. If your home has had work done, tell us what and when. We look hardest at the joints between the original structure and anything added later.
Maintenance after sealing.
Look over vent covers and door sweeps after storms and every few months. Trim limbs that touch the roof, because a branch can bend a cover or give animals a new launch point. Phone the desk if you see fresh gnawing near a sealed spot, since early repair is far cheaper than a new infestation.
Put the broom down before dialing.
Thinking of tidying up before our crew arrives? Work through this list in order and stop at any point that feels unclear.
- Skip the broom and the shop vacuum. Dry droppings crumble, and anything that stirs them sends fine particles into your breathing space.
- Thirty minutes of airing comes before any cleanup in an enclosed area, according to the CDC.
- Hand protection comes first and hand washing comes last, with the cleanup in between.
- Let the liquid soak, because five minutes of contact time is what the CDC page recommends before anything is wiped up.
- A second bag around the first adds insurance if the plastic is thin or the load is heavy.
- Should something feel wrong afterward, visit a doctor and describe the cleanup so they can weigh it.
Read the agencies directly.
Want the full text? The titles and links are below.
- Preventing rodent contact, per the CDC: The source of this page's sealing and tidying suggestions.
- The CDC cleanup walkthrough: Air it out, soak it and bag it, in the order the CDC sets down.