Trapping removes the animals you have. Sealing stops the ones you do not have yet. Houses have many more gaps than owners expect, and a few hours of checking before winter can head off a long season of noise. This guide sets out what to look at and what to use.
A walk-around list.
- Foundation cracks and gaps at the sill.
- Vent covers on the dryer, bath and kitchen.
- Pipe, wire and gas line entries.
- Garage door corners and the bottom seal.
- Crawl space door and vent screens.
- Roof edges, soffits and chimney flashing.
- Siding joints and the places where porches meet walls.
Materials that hold.
| Material. | Good for. | Note. |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet metal flashing. | Door bases, roof edges. | Teeth cannot bite through it. |
| Hardware cloth. | Vents and crawl space openings. | Use heavy gauge, fasten well. |
| Copper mesh with sealant. | Small gaps around pipes. | Pack tight, then seal. |
| Mortar or concrete patch. | Foundation cracks. | Permanent. |
| Spray foam alone. | Nothing, on its own. | Rodents chew it away. |
Steel wool by itself is pulled out by mice. Foam is chewed. Use metal or mesh first, and sealant over it.
The safe order of work.
If you hear noise or see fresh sign, do not seal first. An animal shut inside a wall can die there or chew a new way out. Call, so trapping can clear the animals and the technician can time the sealing. If you see no sign at all, sealing small ground-level gaps is a sensible step.
Houses with unusual roofs and joins.
New Canaan is known for mid-century modern architecture. If your house has a flat or low-slope roof, wide overhangs or large glass areas, the joins between materials deserve extra attention. We cannot say what any house has, so a walk-through checks them without assumptions. Tell us the style when you call.
After the work.
Spend a week or two listening. Quiet means the work held, and any new noise is a reason to phone. For the whole process, see entry point sealing and the inspection page. If animals damaged anything, repair follows as a separate step.
A scratch at 2 a.m. can be reported at 2 a.m., because the line is picked up around the clock.
Ring (888) 686-4821Make it a habit.
Check vents and door corners each season, and after storms, roofing or tree work. A small gap caught early costs far less than the problem it invites.
A sensible weekend plan.
Spend a Saturday morning on the outside of the house, with a flashlight, a notebook and a ladder only if you are comfortable using one. Mark each gap you find. Close the small, low ones with mesh and sealant, and list the high or complicated ones for a professional.
Spend the afternoon indoors, looking at the basement, garage and any attic you can safely reach. A second list of problems often appears from the inside, such as daylight at a door or a pipe collar with a visible gap. Both lists together make a clear job for a technician.
Mistakes that undo the work.
A common mistake is stuffing a gap with something soft and calling it done. Another is sealing the outside and ignoring the inside, where a pipe collar or a garage corner is still open. A third is leaving a gap behind a stored item, such as a woodpile or a bin, that hides the route from view.
Check your work a few weeks later. If a patch has been chewed or pushed aside, the route is still active, and a stronger material is needed. That is a good moment to call, since the signs show exactly where to look.
Cleanup safety steps from public health agencies
Thinking about tidying up first? Go in this sequence, and pause if any step feels uncertain.
- Fine powder from crumbled droppings is the real hazard, so avoid anything that stirs it.
- Treat thirty minutes of airing as part of the job, not an extra.
- Surfaces near waste can carry germs you cannot see, which is why gloves and handwashing both matter.
- Nobody should touch droppings until they are completely wet and have rested about five minutes.
- Pull the bag tight and knot it before it goes out, and keep your hands covered whenever a dead rodent has to move.
- If flu-like symptoms follow, mention the rodent contact to a physician. Diagnosis is not our work.
Public guidelines this page relies on
Rather than ask you to trust a paraphrase, we link the full pages that the guidance came from.
- EPA: rodenticide product limits: The EPA explains the rules, whose aim is less danger to kids, pets and wild animals.
- CDC: cleaning up after rodents: A damp-method routine for homes, with the reason behind each step.