# Mice coming in through floor under kitchen sink?



## ckelley116

Hi all! New here, first-time homeowner, and on moving day Saturday I discovered "evidence" of a mouse problem in my new home's kitchen. The house is 115 years old, and in the seller's disclosure the previous owner did tell us that the pipes under the kitchen sink had leaked at one time. We found not only rust stains, but the fact that the metal floor into which the pipes go was almost completely rotted out due to the rust. As most of the mouse droppings have been found in the cabinets and drawers immediately surrounding the sink, I figure that's where the mice are getting in. I can't post a picture since this is my first time but it's a decent-sized hole. I'm wondering if steel wool and insulating foam will be enough? 

I have NOT seen droppings anywhere else. There's also some ant issues in the kitchen, which I'm taking care of with the Terro liquid ant baits. I expect that problem to resolve itself in a few more days, as I've had really good luck with them in the past. As of right now, though, I don't want to put any plates or food into the cabinets. We have a cat, but so far he hasn't caught anything (that we've seen).

What can I do about the floor of this cabinet? Although we do plan to replace them eventually, new cabinets aren't in the budget at the moment. The previous owner has slabs of metal covering the hole but there's still a good amount of space. Any ideas for a budget-friendly, newbie DIY fix?

Thanks :thumbsup:


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## jmon

I have responded to your post, you should be able to post pictures now. A few pictures will help allowing you to get better advice/suggestions. Thanks.


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## SeniorSitizen

I can relate because I once lived in a house built in 1896 with the metal cabinets. We had a similar mouse problem but the metal wasn't quite so rusted but enough for a mouse freeway. I recommend trapping until the population is zero for awhile then closing the holes as best you can with more metal. At some point the sub floor condition may be an issue also.

Trapping - I fasten my traps to a 1x for ease of handling and in your case I recommend tethering the trap to prevent it being taken down below out of reach in case one is only caught by a leg or sometimes the tail. 

These Victor traps are strong enough if they get body slammed they don't go anywhere. Run your trap line religiously until you have the population under control.


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## ocoee

I agree with SeniorSitizen
Trap them and then exclude them

seal the hole, and any dime size hole 1/4" hardware cloth.
Foam would work, but they will chew through the yellow stuff.

I used to place steel wool and basically hold it in place with the Ready Foam for bigger holes or just stuff it in larger, but not too big, holes.
Keep in mind the steel wool is a temp fix

There is another foam product called Pur Black that is designed for use in animals exclusons
It cost about the same as Ready Foam but requires a $30 applicator


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## dougp23

Def seal up the holes under the sink and set traps. Then, go outside your home and start looking to see how they are getting in. If you can keep them outside, that's the final solution.
I know, I lived through one with a home we bought, 43 trapped and killed in one month. Until I went outside and figured out how they were getting in. 
Some may disagree with me, but don't hire a pest control person. They'll just set traps and most want to come back each month and refill the traps. You want them out of your house and playing in the yard where they belong!


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## Bob Sanders

You HAVE to seal the holes.... and you have to seal them well.

Mice follow the trails of other mice so once one has found it's way in, they'll just keep coming. Placing steel wool in a hole only works a small percentage of the time. If they know there is food in a certain location they are very persistent.

Traps and poison will control them once they get in, but they will continue to come if the holes aren't WELL sealed.


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## ChuckF.

Best way to patch pipe holes is to get a piece of 3/4" plywood, drill a hole in it the size of the pipe and then cut it down the middle through the hole. Put the plywood on the floor around the pipe and screw it down. Put caulk inside the hole first to make it airtight.


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## wetech

I've had good success with copper wool and foam sealant. Just replaced a basement door that had an opening adjoining the floor of a sunroom where mice were getting into my house. I used the wool and foam, no more mice. When I replaced the door, the foam was chewed up on the exterior right up to the copper.


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## Oso954

> As most of the mouse droppings have been found in the cabinets and drawers immediately surrounding the sink, I figure that's where the mice are getting in.


Consider that the exit hole. You need to find the entrance hole(s) to the home. Otherwise you will still have mice in the home whether you see the traces of them or not. They can do a ton of damage to insulation and wiring.


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## RustNeverSleeps

I think @ChuckF. has the best solution, to install a physical barrier around the openings, encircling the pipes.

I once had a mice intrusion problem and it took me a while to determine they were entering through a whole-house water shut-off valve. Stuffing steel wool around the valve slowed them down but did not stop the intrusion. Adding a layer of thick card board over the top finally did the trick. (My take way message is if you have a good way to anchor the cardboard in place (tape), then you may be able to create a barrier with very little effort and cost.)


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## funflyer

I discovered a product called Tomcat last year and now I won't use anything else. I just had to deal with a mouse in the kitchen this last week and it was gone in two days. The Tomcat comes with a small plastic container that a mouse can get into but not your cats or dogs, but since I don't have any pets in the house I just set a block of the stuff under the sink on a plastic lid. In the picture below, the piece of Tomcat is about 1/4 of the block. This is the second piece I put there as the first one was totally gone the first night and this one has been there two days so I believe the mouse is either dead or not feeling too good at this point. The best thing about Tomcat is that is dries out the mouse from the inside so they don't stink when dead.


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## Bob Sanders

funflyer said:


> The best thing about Tomcat is that is dries out the mouse from the inside so they don't stink when dead.


I use Tomcat too, and it ain't true! They stink.


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## ocoee

the active in Tomcat is bromethalin. It is a neurotoxin. It does not dry the animal out. No rodenticide ever has.

Be extremely careful using it of you have pets young children.
I won't use it at all


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## steve16

You should seal the hole with some steel material and set a mouse trap near it to restrict mouse coming into your house. Also, that should be done properly to avoid further entry of mice into your house else you will suffer mice infestation in the near future and sooner or later will need a professional pest control exterminator for tackling the problem.


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## WhatRnsdownhill

get a few cats........


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## Knucklez

been there done that. takes a while to find where they getting in, they good climbers too. forget about using steel wool. u need a solid barrier. this past winter has been my FIRST winter where no mice get in cause i spent 10 years trying to figure out where they get in. found a small 1/2" size hole below grade along wall. had to remove outdoor deck to find it (it was old anyway). filled this hole with concrete. did u notice i said below grade? how did they even know there was a hole there.. it was 10" below surface soil.. they good at being mice. they real good..

the bad part of no mice though is that all the food i drop between the stove and the cabinet has to be swept out now or it stinks after a while


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## JanetCarlyle

Create a barrier by making the hole small enough to only pass water through it.


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## enochian

I have also tried DIY mouse control, with little success. 

Can anyone PM me a reputable nationwide company that can seal houses from mice?


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