A Rodent-Free Home: How to Seal and Protect Your House
Rodents don’t need an invitation. Mice and rats can squeeze through gaps as small as a dime, and once inside, they can chew wires, contaminate food, and spread disease. If you’ve ever heard scratching in the walls or found droppings in the kitchen, this guide is for you.
Here’s how to keep rodents out — for good.
Why Rodents Enter Homes
We seek warmth inside our heated homes. Likewise, so do rats, mice, and other animals, such as raccoons, opossums, squirrels, etc. They say in sports that defense wins games. No matter the size of the animal trying to get into your home, your best defense is to seal off all entry points that would allow an animal as small as a mouse into your home.
Rodents are opportunists. They look for:
Food
Shelter
Warmth
And your home checks all three boxes. That’s why rodent-proofing isn’t just smart — it’s necessary.
Step-by-Step Rodent Proofing Checklist
“A baby mouse can fit through an opening as small as 1/7 of an inch (the size of an American dime coin).”
Here’s what to do right now:
✅ Inspect Exterior Walls Look for cracks, holes, or warped siding. Even a pencil-width gap can be an entrance.
✅ Install Door Sweeps If light shows under exterior doors, rodents can get in. Install metal door sweeps that seal all the way to the threshold.
✅ Seal Utility Openings Use steel wool and caulk around:
AC lines
Cable entries
Gas lines
✅ Secure Vents and Chimneys Install hardware cloth over openings — make sure mesh is no larger than ¼ inch.
✅ Trim Trees and Shrubs Remove any vegetation that touches the house. It’s a rodent bridge.
✅ Declutter the Perimeter Move firewood, mulch, and debris at least 18″ away from the home’s foundation.
Doors, Windows & Garages
Special attention should be given to areas where pipes, cable, phone, and electrical wires enter your home. You can use any type of exterior sealant, such as foam, caulk, silicone, weather-stripping or poly-fiber mesh to seal openings you find. If you find any gaps under your doors, then consider installing a door saddle or door sweep to prevent rodents from running under the doors and into your home. For openings that cannot be sealed, such as an attic or dryer vents, consider installing heavy duty fine screens over the vents. This will allow air flow to continue, but will not allow rodent entry to your home. If you are the type that likes to leave your windows open, make sure you have screens that fit securely and that the screens do not have any holes in them. Likewise, if you have any in-window air conditioners you leave in year-round, we recommend you ensure that there is a complete seal around the sleeve of the air conditioner and if not, then make one.
Seal all extcableserior entry points.
Keep debris far away from your home (preferably completely off your property) in addition to keeping your entire landscape neat, trim and at least 24″ from making contact with your home will aid in preventing rodents. Taking these measures will not only eliminate rodent harborage areas (places rodents like to hide and nest), they allow a clear path to inspect for rodent activity and rodent entry points that lead directly into your home regularly.
So,, what do you do if your efforts fail?
A rodent bothered by extreme hot or cold temperatures will stop at nothing to seek safety and be comfortable. If your home is invaded, the first thing you should do is identify the pest. Once you have established that you have a mouse, a rat, or some larger animal in your home, you can now determine whether you want to continue to perform the work on your own or call a professional who deals with these issues regularly.
From a professional point of view, if you have rats or larger animals in your home, then you should always contact a professional immediately! Avoid being injured or even attacked!
Okay, back to business…
Let’s say it is a mouse in your home, a quick trip to the hardware store for some rodent glue traps or traditional spring traps to trap the mouse will do the trick. Place your traps carefully and thoughtfully in the area where you either saw the mouse, noticed their droppings, or found their chew marks. Have a little bit of patience, and the mouse will be trapped. As a safety precaution, we highly recommend that all mouse traps be placed safely and responsibly at all times. Your placements should always be completely out of the reach of both children and pets. Some of the best places to place mouse traps are under or behind large appliances, inside of locked closets, locked cabinets, locked crawl spaces, and locked attics. We know, we say locked a lot, but always think safety first!
Once you have successfully trapped the mouse…
perform another evaluation of the exterior of your home immediately! Thoroughly search for any rodent entry points to seal and prevent recurring invasions. Additionally, seal all entry points on the inside of your home, such as those that will allow rodents to enter from the walls and directly into your living space. Be wary, once the interior appears to be mouse-free, you should still leave mouse traps in place. This additional precaution will help you in the event a mouse is trapped inside your home after your sealing efforts, and as an added security measure to guard against future invasions.
If small, unwanted animals scampering around your beautiful house is not enough to gross you out, imagine someone in your home, such as a baby or someone elderly, getting sick (or worse), because a rodent bit them. In case you were not aware, rodents carry diseases. Pest Control Professionals are trained to provide the most responsible rodent control approaches available.
Know when to call on a professional, because do-it-yourself pest control is not for everybody.
