This guide discusses how to seal around pipes to prevent mice.
Mice can be a nuisance for homeowners and businesses alike.
These creatures don’t respect whether you live in a big city or rural area. They can squeeze through tiny spaces, including pipes, and gain access into your home.
Once they’re in, your food and electrical wires will be in great danger. Besides consuming these items, CDC indicates that mice and rats can spread over 35 diseases.
Sealing Holes for Mice
The best way to handle mice infestation is to eliminate their entry point. You can start by sealing any openings around pipes leading to your house. But how do you seal around pipes to prevent mice?
Don’t worry; you’re about to find out soon enough. Just keep reading this article. You’ll get every guide you need to successfully carry out such an operation.
First thing First
Before you go about sealing any gaps or holes around pipes, first identify their routes.
Once you can spot all the holes mice use as entry points, you’ll know the appropriate measure to take. Fortunately, there’re different methods to seal openings in pipes, depending on their size.
The next step is to get all equipment required to seal all holes around pipes. Among these pieces of equipment are the caulking gun, Loctite tile form, cement, bucket, sponge, chisel, and utility knife.
Others include quicker advanced polymer concrete crack sealant, hammer, safety gloves, and safety eye Google. Having gathered all these tools, you’re set to begin sealing.
Seal Around Pipes Against Mice Infestation
Sealing around pipes to prevent mice is not a challenging activity. Everyone with zeal can carry out the such operation successfully.
However, you’ll need to go by the following guidelines.
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Clean All Dust and Dirt Around the Pipe
Usually, pipes coming from the outside are filled with dust and dirt. Before you apply any sealant, you must clean the line thoroughly. You can use a dry cloth or a small brush for the cleaning.
If you want hassle-free cleaning, you can use a vacuum cleaner. You can also attach the small tube to the hose to clean areas where the brush cannot clean.
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Select the Right Mouse Proof Sealant
It would be best to get the proper sealant, as several are available in the market. While some are for sealing pipes, others aren’t. Aerosol-based and Loctite form sealants are the best for this purpose.
These sealants work effectively on wood, concrete, metal, stone, and brick walls. They can expand up to three times their size after applying to the pipe surface.
Cement is another alternative to the sealants listed above. You can also use it to fix the gaps around pipes in your home. Mix it with sand, gravel, clay, water, and other minerals or chemicals.
But before applying it, make a square hole around the gap using your hammer and chisel. Next, you clean all dirt around the pipes to seal them properly.
What About Pipes Outside Your Home?
The procedure to seal holes around pipes outside your home is close to the description above.
Same here; you can start by cleaning the surface properly. Use a dry cloth, small brush, or vacuum cleaner for the cleaning process. Once you’re done, use caulking for the sealing.
But before you apply caulking around the pipe, ensure you use the appropriate sealant. We’ll recommend you use quicker Advanced polymer concrete crack sealant.
It can seal gaps or holes in pipes permanently and make them waterproof. Moreover, it doesn’t look odd after application because it has a matte texture finish.
You must know that only a few sealants will work with plastic pipes effectively.
The one listed here can seal every hole effectively. After the application, you must allow the pipe to stay free for a few days to dry completely.
Some Precaution When Using Foam Sealant
Your health matters as much as you want to prevent mice infestation. Certain precautions must be taken with seriousness when using form sealant to seal holes around pipes.
First, protect your lungs with a respirator and wear safety gear. These include a protective suit, chemical-resistant gloves, and wrap-around goggles.
Secondly, don’t spray foam sealant on wet surfaces. We refer to areas with moisture levels of more than twenty percent. If you apply the foam on such surfaces, it will not stick.
Furthermore, follow the instructions on the sealant for proper operation, storage, tip changes, and disposal. For those using spray foam, shake the container before spraying.
Prevent Mice from Chewing Through Your Pipes
After sealing every gap around pipes, you’ll not want these rodents to render your job efforts useless. One way to keep mice from chewing through your lines is to use effective chemical products.
Mouse repellants such as “Chemsico Mouse-Check” can be your best bet. You can also use a physical barrier like mouse traps or mouse-proofing materials.
Furthermore, you can also use an ultrasonic pest repellant to keep mice away from your pipes. It’s also an efficient way to eliminate mice without resorting to harmful chemicals or traps.
But how does ultrasonic pest repellant works? It’s pretty simple. This repellant emits high-frequency sound waves that are undetectable to the human ear.
However, these sounds are bothersome to pests such as mice. Although the high-frequency sound will not kill them, it’ll effectively chase them away from your house.
Mice Hiding Spots In and Outside Your Home
Having understood how to seal pipes with holes to prevent mice infestation, you must know their hideouts.
Now, the places these creatures can hide inside your home include the floor or cabinets. They can also conceal around pipes under sinks, washing machines, floor air, and dryer vents.
Moreover, they find windows, doors, appliances, fireplaces, basements, laundry rooms, and wall junctures very habitable. Then outside your home, they can hide between the foundation and attic, and crawl space vents.
But that’s not all; they can survive in holes designed for electrical, plumbing, cable, and gas lines. Finally, the rafters, eaves, roofs, and soffits are good hiding spots for this rodent.
Mice are curious pests and are busy in the activity of searching for food. Given any opportunity inside your house, they’ll damage your food and properties, as highlighted above.
These rodents can penetrate small cracks that are as small as ¼. That’s why you should know how to properly seal all the holes around pipes inside and outside your houses.