Rodent Exclusion
Finding and closing the openings rodents use.
Rodent Control
Rodent Proofing in NYC
Proofing protects the parts of a building rodents are most likely to use, before or after an active problem.
Short answerRodent proofing is preventive protection: hardening doors, vents, pipe openings, foundation gaps and utility entries so rats and mice have fewer ways in. It overlaps with exclusion but is planned around vulnerable areas rather than one known route.
Where Proofing Starts
Ground level doors and cellar entries, vents and screens, pipe and utility penetrations, gaps at the foundation, and basement floor drains. Older buildings usually need more than one visit's worth of thought, because past repairs may have left new gaps.
Proofing and Exclusion
Exclusion answers a specific problem: the mice in the kitchen and the gap behind the stove. Proofing looks wider, at the building as a whole. Both use materials rodents cannot chew through, and both start with an inspection. See rodent exclusion.
What Proofing Does Not Do
It does not remove rodents already inside and it does not promise a building will stay clear. It lowers the odds and makes any return easier to trace.
Not sure what you are dealing with? An inspection finds the source and sets the scope.
Questions and Answers
What materials are used to seal rodent entry points?
Materials rodents cannot chew through, matched to the opening. That usually means metal mesh or hardware cloth, sheet metal, and cement or masonry fillers for masonry gaps. Foam or plain caulk on its own is not enough because rodents chew it out. The right choice depends on what the opening is, what surrounds it and how it will be used.
Does sealing holes stop mice?
Sealing stops mice from using the openings you closed, but only if every route is found and the material holds. Mice already inside must be trapped or removed first, or they stay sealed in with you. Sealing without an inspection tends to miss gaps behind appliances, inside wall voids and around pipe sleeves.
Related pages
Entry Point Sealing
Closing the specific openings an inspection finds.
Rodent Inspection
Where every rodent job starts.