There's a moose loose in the hoose

I’ve got some mice in the house. I know where they are. Under the kitchen cupboards somewhere. I see them squeezing through the tiny gap between the wall and the cupboard, near the skirting.

Ripping the kitchen out and replacing it is a project way down the road. At this point, I just don’t want them coming inside. I presume there’s a hole in the brickwork somewhere behind the cupboards. Possibly along a hole made for a water pipe or drain.

My plan is to screw a sheet of aluminium (the 3mm strips you get from hardware stores) or a strip of sheet steel onto both ends of the cupboard to close off the gap between the back edge of the cupboards and the wall. The walls are painted bricks. The metal will hopefully remove most of the gap. It will, of course, leave a tiny space where the brickie smoothed off the mortar when the bricks were laid. I’m not sure whether they’d be able to squeeze through that gap, but I know they’re capable of getting through some amazingly tiny gaps. I was thinking of sealing that gap too, but with what?

An ordinary sealer like silicon might be too soft. They may be able to eat through it. I need something that will set hard.

Any ideas?

Don't know if it's correct, but a pest controller once told me that rats won't chew through expanding foam and it's about the only thing they won't chew through. Seems odd as it's so soft. If rats can't get through it then mice should be even less able to.

Would be awkward to use on such small gaps but liberal use of masking tape should make it workable on your side of the holes.

Perhaps it's the taste of the stuff.

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Originally Posted by 419

Don't know if it's correct, but a pest controller once told me that rats won't chew through expanding foam and it's about the only thing they won't chew through. Seems odd as it's so soft. If rats can't get through it then mice should be even less able to.

Would be awkward to use on such small gaps but liberal use of masking tape should make it workable on your side of the holes.

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Sorry, that’s crap Rats will go through foam, we used some expanding foam once too stop the buggers , it didn’t work.
The aluminium idea sounds good.

Cheers Matt.

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

It will, of course, leave a tiny space where the brickie smoothed off the mortar when the bricks were laid. I’m not sure whether they’d be able to squeeze through that gap, but I know they’re capable of getting through some amazingly tiny gaps. I was thinking of sealing that gap too, but with what?

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Why not scribe the aluminium sheet against the brick wall and cut it to fit the mortar gaps? Doesn't have to be millimetre perfect to block the mice.

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

Sorry, that’s crap Rats will go through foam, we used some expanding foam once too stop the buggers , it didn’t work.

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That fits with common sense.

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Originally Posted by 419

Why not scribe the aluminium sheet

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That would be perfect, and I like it, but I doubt my ability to cut it properly. The strip of metal will have to run from the floor, over the skirting and all the way up the side of the cabinet until it's under the bench top. I'd be cutting material from the aluminium where the bricks run to allow the metal to slip into the gaps where to mortar is.

Another idea that occurred to me was to use angle rather than a strip of flat aluminium. Though, it runs the risk of looking messy if the wall and cabinet are not at 90-deg to one another. What the angle could do that the flat would have trouble with, is support more filler material jammed into the gaps between the bricks.

And in terms of filler, I have some grout left over from some tiling work. Grout sets pretty hard. So, long as it doesn't fall out (don't know how well grout sticks to paint or aluminium) I doubt any mouse would be able to chew it with much success.

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

And in terms of filler, I have some grout left over from some tiling work. Grout sets pretty hard. So, long as it doesn't fall out (don't know how well grout sticks to paint or aluminium) I doubt any mouse would be able to chew it with much success.

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Grout should stick to aluminium angle, as it sticks to alumininium and anodised tile trim.

Builder's bog would also work.

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

Perhaps it's the taste of the stuff.

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Ratsak is easier.

Possibly, but there's a preference for them to be discouraged. If we deny access to food and water they'll go somewhere else.

There's also the notion that poisons are cruel. Starving to death can't be pleasant. Some poisons cause internal bleeding. Then there's the possibility they will find a place to die and be eaten by the local wildlife which in turn die.

Sure, it might well come to that, but softer options come first.

Try using steel wool to fill any gaps.

That's not a bad idea. And I could hold it in place by squirting in some Selleys No More Gaps. That could be easy.

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Originally Posted by Handyjack

Try using steel wool to fill any gaps.

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This is the answer. They hate the stuff, gets stuck and cuts between their teeth. 100%

I believe the only material known to stop mice / rats is steel wool. Foam will not stop them or even slow them down.
calabrese55

from a google search
Mice have unbelievably sharp teeth, but they're no match for the power of steel wool. Its texture and weave are too difficult for them to gnaw through, and it's also abrasive to their mouth and gums. When these unwanted house guests encounter a space blocked with steel wool, they'll go the other way.

https://kapturepest.com/how-to-use-steel-wool-to-keep-mice-out-of-your-house/#:~:text=Mice%20have%20unbelievably%20sharp%20teeth,ll%20go%20the%20other%20way.

How to Use Steel Wool for Pest Control - YouTube

Preventing Mice with Caulking & Steel Wool - YouTube

KEEP MICE OUT! The CORRECT way to use STEEL WOOL to eliminate mouse problems inside your house. - YouTube

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

Possibly, but there's a preference for them to be discouraged. If we deny access to food and water they'll go somewhere else.

There's also the notion that poisons are cruel. Starving to death can't be pleasant. Some poisons cause internal bleeding. Then there's the possibility they will find a place to die and be eaten by the local wildlife which in turn die.

Sure, it might well come to that, but softer options come first.

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You won't be saying that when they chew through water pipes/wires like I have seen, not to mention the damage a slow, not able to be seen, water leak causes.
Like a complete floating floor that was, well, floating. Very expensive replacement.
We get rats at this time of year, but we leave one bait in the garage where we can see it all year round, and a week ago it disappeared so since then we have been placing 2 rat sak baits a night and every night they are either gone or have been chewed, with rat krap left behind.
What scares me is they can get into the engines of the cars and start chewing wires etc and that would be way more expensive than the rat sak.
In fact that is how I first noticed the rat droppings on the plenum on the engine

Many years ago I placed a 60mm dia ball of lead over a hole in the concrete which rats had made, and 3 weeks later when I removed the ball, the rats had been chewing it, so in reality they will chew anything in their way.

I had a car in storage. I didn't notice anything when getting it ready to be registered, but when I turned the heater on the rubbish and stink that blew from the vents was amazing. Shocking. I didn't have time to do anything about it as I had to use the car. An interstate drive in the middle of winter with the heater off and the windows open (to prevent the windscreen from misting up) was one of the worst driving experiences I've ever had.

I’d like to provide a follow-up. I’m sold on stainless steel wool.

This was a unit in a block of units. There were two areas of concern.

There was evidence of them found adjacent to a gap between the (brick) wall and kitchen cabinets. Mostly dark stains/smudges on the skirting and wall. Either they had set up home under the kitchen cabinets or there was access to that area as a transport corridor for them to the outside (maybe via a gap in the floor by the drain). Not sure as I didn’t pull any kitchen cupboards apart.

They could have walked under the front door as the gap was wide enough at one time. They might have also entered through a damaged window that is now fixed. No idea. Maybe both. Maybe neither.

However, they managed to get inside they had been there for some time.

The fix:
I plugged the gap between the kitchen cabinets and wall, from floor to bench top with a good amount of stainless steel wool (rammed it in), then applied liberal amounts of sealant to keep it in place. The sealant could be smoothed off quite well with a trowel. It was white and matched the cupboards.

If they had been using the space under the kitchen cabinets as a walk-through, they no longer had access to the interior of the house and may have gone elsewhere. If it was their home, they starved to death. Either way, the sealant kept the smell away. It’ll be an interesting sight when the kitchen goes through a reno to see what’s under there.

There was a stink in one of the bedrooms. There’s a built-in wardrobe there. I cut a good-sized hole in the floor of the wardrobe (about 300mm sq) at one end and found a dead mouse. I cleaned and vacuumed the area, refitted the section I’d cut out, sealed and painted it. The type of material and amount of stuff they drag in to make a nest is quite amazing.

Every time I went into the unit last year the smell was there. Sometimes strong. Sometimes not so much. Well, there is now no smell at all.