A Cat

Bricks and no holes

''Now our place is not supper insulated''

No food for the rodents then..... :)

Our walls are 450mm granite with all cracks recently pointed. The mice just laugh and teleport in and out at will. Not bothered by cat. We are surrounded by fields and all the local houses have mice this time of year including one less than 2 years old.

I posted before about how mice have an instinct to shred insulation to make nests, esp foam pipe insulation and squirty foam. Despite this I foolishly took off a run of skirting this summer and squirty foamed behind it air tight. Last weekend there were crunchy noises coming from behind there so the skirting had to come off again, rake out a huge pile of foam shreds, stuffed the gap with mortar this time.

Me thinks you can take levity too far on this topic!

Wherever there is a significant recurring food source within stricking distance (cereal or fruit growing, livestock, rubbish disposal, public or domestic composting) rodents will thrive. And they do go for oil based materials in a big way, probably for nesting materials. They also wriggle their way at will through fibre-glass and mineral wool, chew corners off robust wooden door panels and ply and can out-breed an army of hungry feral cats never mind the domestic moggy.

I have also been asking myself how to keep them from chewing up insulation and boarding. A strategically placed layer of narrow guage wire mesh of the right strength probably would keep them out - but think air tight layer + mesh so a major undertaking - and even then one small entry point and they are away. I would be interested to know whether anyone has seen them chew through wire mesh.

Posted By: WillInAberdeenall the local houses have mice this time of year including one less than 2 years old

that's young for a mouse!

I was told a mouse can fit through a hole the thickness of a pencil .
I find this hard to believe though

I have found it is important to keep a fringe around the house clear of any sort of cover and preferably concreted. Also have a 30cm height concrete plinth. I have then laid a slab path outside this which is laid on top of a thick layer of brocken glass and old tiles which prevents them from tunneling under. Last year, after the harvest I caught over 20 mice in the following two weeks. This year we have had none.

Jonti

Moved from a rat invested mobile into our new house. Used stainless mesh top and bottom of sweet chestnut cladding to prevent vermin getting behind it. No prob until this summer. Yellow necked mice now in with a grand store of acorns. The builders left two convenient mice sized holes to enable access. Unhappy.

And don't kid yourself that Warfarin + pussy cats + traps will do it either.

Posted By: Peter_in_Hungarywe find that with 3 farm cats (all live outside) then there is only the occasional mouse inside. The problem exponentially gets worse if the cat numbers decline.

The only mice we used to see in our house were those that the cats brought inside! The new one will be much closer to fields though, so I'm very interested in this thread.

Had issues in my last house and could never work out ho they got in. I have wondered about this and am concerned, but cannot see a way to stop them if I don't know how they are getting in!

I think the solution starts by accepting that we're not going to keep mice out of the fabric for the whole lifetime of the building. (or water either). Then choose rodent tolerant materials anywhere the mice might end up, wool instead of foam board, build without gaps instead of filling with squirty foam. Keep the airtight layer visible ie use the wall/ceiling lining surface layer not a membrane hidden in the roof/wall where only mice can see it. Avoid cavities and voids. Keep pipes and cables inside the envelope.

Mice do make a contribution to the eco system, without them we wouldnt have buzzards kestrels stoats visiting the garden, I tell myself I dont mind them if they stay in the loft and out of the kitchen. But I still trap them.
Rabbits on the other hand are a right royal pain...

Posted By: WillInAberdeenI think the solution starts by accepting that we're not going to keep mice out of the fabric for the whole lifetime of the building. (or water either).

Agreed but

Posted By: WillInAberdeenrodent tolerant materials

Mice love wool as bedding. When you say "rodent tolerant" do you mean the wool carried off for bedding sort of expands to fill the space?

We have a squirrel in the loft (named Rustle) who has now re-eaten the wiring recently re-wired in 'protective' conduit at great expense (by landlord luckily). My question is, why aren't lofts filled with electrocuted squirrels?