Preventing Mice from Entering Your Garage

Winter is coming, and with that comes the allure of your garage to pests like mice, chipmunks, and raccoons. What rodent could resist a slightly warmer area that could be a location in which you store pet food or dispose of trash? Worse yet, once a pest enters the garage, the next step is moving into the warmer, more food-filled location: your house.

This is why preventing pests from entering your garage should be at the top of the mind before the cold winters hit the Chicagoland area.

Today, we cover some of the ways to prevent mice from entering your home, from sealing your home to placing deterrents in your home.

Sealing Points of Ingress

If your garage is old, there may be holes used by mice to enter. Our first advice would obviously be to contact us for a new garage or professional repairs; but if that won’t do for you, the next best advice is to seal the openings to the outside.

If a mouse can get its head though, the body can go through as well. The little pests only need about a ¼ inch (0.6 cm) wide opening. They can jump – up to 18 inches, travel upside down, and crawl along an electrical wire. If you can stick a #2 pencil through a hole, a mouse can probably use it to get into your home.

• Simple, Temporary Fix: Steel wool, copper gauze (Stuf-it® brand) or screen wire packed tightly into openings
• More Permanent Option: mix a quick-drying patching plaster or anchoring such as Fixall® into a wad of Stuf-it® before pushing the material into the hole, and smooth over the outside. Holes 3 inches (8 cm) or more in diameter should be covered or backed with 1/4-inch (0.6-cm) woven/welded hardware cloth prior to filling with a good patching compound.

Keeping the Door Shut

Pretty simple fix here, if you’re not going in or out of the garage, don’t open the door.

Reducing Outside Habitat

If you have a lot of berry or nut trees outside, continuously remove these from your yard to prevent the mice from even seeing your property as a viable option.

Reducing Temptation to Enter

If you leave food in the garage or store trash, get it out. Dog or cat food make for great temptation for pests to enter. If you must store food in the garage, be sure to store it in an airtight container.

Get Boxes and Firewood off the Floor

Don’t give the pest a good home for the winter. Use our garage storage tips to get everything off the floor before it’s too late.

Get a Cat (Or Dog)

Obviously not an option for people with allergies, a cat would hunt pests efficiently, due to its nature as a mouse hunter.

Purchase Mouse Repellent

There is a lot of debate over the effectiveness of many of these, but if you look for an all-natural or humane solution, you can try some of these:

• Peppermint Oil
• Moth Balls
• Ammonia
• Cat urine, coyote urine
• Snake Dung
• High-pitch sound machines
• Flashing, bright light machines
• Toilet cakes
• Hedge Apples/Road Apples/Osage Oranges
• Dryer Sheets

Protecting Your Garage this Winter

From preparing storage to winterizing your garage to inspecting your garage, we have shared and will continue to share with you tips on preparing your garage for fall and winter.

Related Resources:

• How to Winter-Proof Your Garage
• Benefits of a Detached Garage
• How to Plan Garage Storage
• Protecting Your Garage Floor from Snow and Ice

Contact us for any of your pre winter garage repairs.