Closing the gaps, fitting door sweeps and screening vents that let rodents back in after a cleanup.
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Rodent exclusion is the sealing of every route rodents use to enter a building, including gaps around pipes, wires and vents, under doors, and at the joints where a foundation meets a frame wall. A technician inspects the building from the outside in, marks each opening, and repairs it with materials suited to the gap.
Treatment removes the rodents that are inside, but it does nothing about the route they used to get there. In a farmhouse, an older frame house or a stone-basement house from the gas and oil boom years, that route is often a gap that has been there for decades: a crack at the foundation, a hole where a pipe comes through the wall, a door that no longer closes square, or a vent without a screen. Mice can fit through very small openings, and rats can gnaw through soft material to make their own.
Purdue Extension guidance on rodent control puts rodent-proofing first in its three-step sequence, ahead of sanitation and control measures. The same guidance calls for sealing openings with mortar, concrete, sheet metal or hardware cloth, and for closing the space around augers, pipes and wires. Exclusion is the part of the job that takes the most patience, and it is the part most often skipped.
The timing matters here. Rodents tend to move into buildings as nights cool in late summer and autumn, so an exclusion job does the most good when it is finished before that move, not after the first sighting. The same work still applies in winter, since rodents already inside can use any gap they find. For the outbuilding side, see Farm and Outbuilding Rodent Control, and for the basement and crawl space, see Crawl Space and Basement Pest Control.
Do not seal a hole in a wall or attic while animals are still moving through it, because trapped animals tend to chew a new route. Do not block a vent that a furnace or water heater needs for combustion air. Vents should be screened, not closed. Do not climb onto a ladder alone to reach eaves or a roofline in cold or wet weather, and do not pack steel wool into a hole by hand without gloves.
The technician walks the outside of the building first, checking the foundation, the corners, the vents, the eaves and every point where a utility line enters. Openings are marked and photographed so the homeowner can see what was found. Working from the outside first keeps the inside of the house from being opened before the route is known.
The inside survey looks at the basement or crawl space, the attic, the rooms along the outside walls and the space behind appliances. The technician follows any gap that connects the inside to the outside and notes where droppings or rub marks suggest the animals are moving. This is the step that finds the routes the outside survey cannot see.
Each gap is closed with a material suited to it. Mortar or concrete is used for masonry, sheet metal for larger holes, and hardware cloth for vents that still need to breathe. Pipes and wires are sealed around where they pass through, and door sweeps are fitted where a door meets the floor.
Vents that a building needs for airflow are screened rather than closed. Door sweeps are fitted to outside doors so the gap underneath is closed without blocking the door. The technician checks that a screen or sweep fits its opening, because a loose fitting can become a new route.
The technician walks the building again to confirm the work and lists anything that remains, such as an opening that needs a different material or a gap that can only be closed after the animals inside are removed. The list is the record the homeowner keeps, and the next visit is set for when a technician is free.
Most entry points are at the foundation, around utility lines, under doors and through vents and gaps where two materials meet. Each one can be checked from the outside and then from the inside.
The foundation is the first place to look, because a crack, a gap at the sill or a missing piece of mortar gives access to the space under the floor. From there the animals can reach the wall voids and the rooms above, following the same path each time.
Pipes and wires that enter a house often leave a space around them that is wider than the line itself. Those spaces are easy to miss and easy to close, and they are one of the first things a technician checks.
Technicians use materials matched to the gap: mortar or concrete for masonry, sheet metal for larger holes, and hardware cloth for openings that still need to let air through. Soft filler alone is not enough, because a rodent can chew through it.
Hardware cloth is a metal mesh that rodents cannot chew through. It is used on vents and openings that must stay open for airflow, and it is cut and fixed so there is no gap at the edges.
Sheet metal is used where a hole is too large for mesh alone, and it is fixed firmly so an animal cannot pull it loose. Foam and caulk are used as a finishing layer, not as the only barrier.
A door sweep closes the gap under an outside door, which is one of the most common routes into a house or outbuilding. It works only if it fits the door and the floor.
A sweep that is too short, bent or worn leaves a gap that is easy to miss from inside the house. The technician measures the gap at each outside door and checks that the sweep meets the floor evenly across its length.
Doors that do not close square need adjusting before a sweep is fitted. A sweep on a door that rubs the frame will be pushed out of place, so the technician sets the door first.
Sealing a hole while animals are still inside can trap them, and trapped rodents tend to chew a new way out. The sequence is worked out on site, so the sealing and the removal happen in the right order.
The technician finds the active routes first, then places control measures along them, and seals the openings once the animals using them have been dealt with. This keeps the house from being opened up while the population is still moving.
In some cases a temporary closure is used until the building is clear, so that animals are not trapped inside a wall. The technician explains which openings are being closed and when.
The number of openings, how hard each one is to reach, the material the building is made of, and how much repair is needed all change the price. The price is explained and approved before work starts.
A house with a few openings at the same height on one side is a shorter job than one with gaps in the foundation, the attic, the crawl space and around several utility lines. The difference is in the number of openings and the time needed to reach each one.
Repairs that need masonry work, a new door or a rebuilt sill take longer, and so does any work that has to be done in a crawl space or a cramped attic. No figure is given in advance, and no work starts until the homeowner has seen the price and agreed to it.
Frame houses from the gas and oil boom years often have gaps where the siding meets the frame, around window trim and along the sill plate. The work is closing those joints with suitable materials and fitting the outside doors. These houses tend to move and settle, so a gap that is sealed once can open again, and the technician notes it for the next check.
Stone and brick foundations often have gaps in the mortar, around the joints where the wall meets the floor and at the places where pipes or wires come through. Repairs use mortar or concrete that matches the wall. The work can be slower than in a frame house, because the openings are harder to reach and some have to be found by feel and by following droppings along the wall.
Barns and sheds have large openings, gaps under doors and open eaves, and the openings are usually bigger than in a house. Hardware cloth, sheet metal and heavy door sweeps are the usual materials. Because rodents can work through soft materials, the technician checks any wood or foam repair again on the next visit.
Houses built during the gas and oil boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s are common in the town core of Montpelier, and similar stock appears in Dunkirk, Redkey, Eaton and Albany. Many of these houses have stone or full basements and close-set lots, and the gaps in those foundations are where exclusion work tends to be most involved.
Farmhouses out on the section roads around Montpelier and Hartford City are a different building type. They often have a crawl space or a dirt-floor cellar, outbuildings close by and utility lines that run in from the fields. The sealing there starts at the foundation and runs out to the barn, since the animals tend to move between them.
Timing is the local point that matters most. Indiana has cold, snowy winters, and rodents tend to move indoors as the nights cool. Exclusion finished in late summer or early autumn is the version that tends to keep the animals out for the rest of the year.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent rodent exclusion and sealing, send the form and we'll call you back.
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Inspection, sanitation and control for mice and rats in houses, barns and grain storage around Montpelier.
Rodent control for pole barns, machinery sheds, grain bins and feed rooms on farmsteads around Montpelier.
Inspection and control for crawl spaces and unfinished basements under houses in and around Montpelier.
Sealing entry points and clearing boxelder bugs that gather on siding and overwinter in farmhouse walls.
A pest control quote in Montpelier is set by what the job must cover, not a standard fee.
Mice and rats move into farm buildings as the nights cool and stay where food, shelter and warmth are.
Boxelder bugs and brown marmorated stink bugs are the fall invaders that Purdue University Extension material names for Indiana.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources guidance generally lets a person remove up to five bats in a 24-hour period from a dwelling without a permit, when the bats are a demonstrable but non-immediate threat to people.
Sealing stops new animals from getting in, but it does not remove the ones already inside. The usual plan is to clear the animals first, then seal the routes they used. A technician can say which order suits the building.
Caulk is useful for small gaps around a window or a trim joint, but it does not stop a rodent that chews. Metal mesh, sheet metal and mortar are used where chewing is a risk. The technician chooses the material for each gap.
Call (855) 974-4733. Phones are answered 24/7, and a visit the same day is possible when a technician is free. No arrival time can be promised.
Someone should be present or have given access to the house, the crawl space, the attic and any outbuildings. Stored items may need moving so the foundation and vents can be seen. The technician will say what needs clearing before the visit.
It tends to reduce the chance of new animals entering through the sealed gaps. Gaps can open again as a building settles or as materials wear, so the technician notes what was found and suggests a check.
A building needs air moving through some vents, and closing them can cause problems with moisture or with combustion appliances. Screening lets the air through and keeps animals out. The technician checks that each screen fits its opening.
Yes, using mortar or concrete that matches the wall. Stone and brick joints can be slow to repair, so the technician will explain the method and any limits before the work starts.