Gaps around pipes - under stair cupboard

[ChilliBob]

Hello everyone,

We have mice in our house and one of their entry points is the under the stairs cupboard. I know this because we had some conkers in there (for spiders!) and they nibbled them like crazy.

See pictures for what I'm trying to solve... As you can see quite a few pipes, and some quite close together.

Original plan - hard board screwed down, cut to shape with stanley.
^ Won't work really - would need to be stupidly accurate and hard to screw down between the pipes. Would likely result in fustration and gaps which they'd get through.

New Thoughts...

1. Expanding Foam - (then hard board over some bits) - lazy choice, however, discounted because foam + copper = bad idea I believe. Also, mice can eat through it I've read.

2. Boxing in - my current favorite idea, I've got quite a bit of 5mm ply knocking around.

Any other ideas?

Boxing in wise...How much would you box? - over the gas meter too (with a cut out in plastic to take readings perhaps, or less? - Less looks tricky because of the silver pipe at an angle.

Input much appreciated - gotta get rid of these criters!

 

[Keithmac]

We had them on the loft, a real pain!.

Traps and bait/ rat poison sorted it out eventually.

Unfortunately your going to have to kill a few off if you want to eradicate them..

 

[ChilliBob]

Yeah, that's another line of defense, however, there's a few food places near by so there's a plentiful supply I'm guessing. So, combining this with plugging any gaps seems the best idea to me!

 

[Hot&Cold]

As well said by Keithmac.you need to kill off as many as possible then cover the floor with 5mm ply.

Start killing them off Before sealing the floor.

Cut the ply neatly around the many pipes and cables. See how the electric incoming cable has 2 pieces of what looks like tin sheet,you can do the same with ply around the rear pipes/cable.

glue and pin the ply down.

seal the wall/ply junction with silicone.

If the first attempt at ply boarding the floor was not snug around the pipes,then put another layer of ply down,you will be good at in now.

Consider getting a chippie in if you do not have tools.

check for any access voids from outside,fill if necessary.

Steel wool is also a well known plugging agent around the pipes.

Looks like the mice have been chewing the yellow label on the gas pipe,so its urgent to kill them off now as the label is pvc same as the electric cable insulation.

Good luck.

 

[ChilliBob]

Thanks for the reply, really detailed and helpful, there's a lose floorboard, I'm thinking I should drop some bait down there first then. My theory is they were chewing through that as I stuffed it with newspaper so they needed to sort of chew/push the newspaper out before getting to the conkers they could smell.

 

[ChilliBob]

As this picture shows, before I tidied up this morning - chewing to get through the paper really. And yeah, the short work they made of the conkers!

 

[Tigercubrider]

If you can poke a pencil into a hole, a mouse can get in

I would get some stiff paper and make as accurate a template as possible . It is only a cupboard so overall looks aren't important - you can always cover the patchwork of material with flooring afterwards
Steel wool is good, as is expanded mesh- the kind that was used to provide ventilation on old valve amps. It has diamond shaped holes and is chuffing hard. I had to cut some and resorted to using a bending action to snap it
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Perf...VQecbCh1TlAuwEAQYAiABEgIm9fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[lostinthelight]

I use stainless steel scourers which don't rust for blocking mouse holes
litl

http://www.wilko.com/cloths+rubber-gloves/wilko-stainless-steel-scourers-6pk/invt/0178483

 

[HERTS P&D]

Use the slipper to whack them as they go by.

Andy

 

[Keithmac]

Plenty of traps down quick, apparently mice wee constantly this forms a scent trail which the rest follow.

Get on it quick before they become a real problem.

Not nice killing them but they will find another way in..

 

[stealthwolf]

Having had mice problems in our old house, I can attest to some of the above recommendations. Mice will reproduce quickly (about 10 babies every 21 days and they're not picky about who they reproduce with!), so you need to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible.

We found that mice could snatch solid food off the trap before the trap was triggered. In some cases, the trap didn't trigger at all. We switched to "sticky" bait like peanut butter that the mice would have to work at. We also didn't set the traps for the first few days to encourage mice to accept the traps - they are often weary of changes to the environment.

Echo the above about pencils and gaps. If a pencil can fit through it, so can a mouse. We used expanding foam and brillo pads to plug gaps. Mice can't chew through steel (though rats can). Go around the house and scrutinise everything.

Keep your house scrupulously clean. Don't leave food out. Anything in cardboard boxes will be nibbled at so cereal etc should be in plastic or metal containers.

 

[Hot&Cold]

Also consider a professional pest control company,they will sort it and give advice to stop Mickey and Milly enjoying your property.

 

[Keithmac]

Ours were coming up throught the cavity in the wall between ours and next door, was a nightmare to sort out.

They take bait back to nest and pass it round, killing more of them off.

Luckily next door was council owned so they managed to get pest control in for free.

Apparently rats run up the gutter fall pipes and grt into the loft that way so worth bearing in mind..