Several years ago I had an addition constructed – it was built as an extension off the back of my house. Frame construction on crawl space of poured concrete built at a right angle butt jointed to the poured concrete foundation of my house. No mechanical fastener to the main house foundation. Things look tight, but….
I think that butt joint, or the end of the sill plate on top of that foundation wall, is providing an entry way for mice to enter/exit the crawl space. Found a nice colony growing in the crawl space that I’m attacking with poison and traps.
But, the main question becomes – how do I seal the joint to close off this entryway? Is caulk enough? Or does that get eaten by rodents? Steel wool would rust out, wouldn’t it? What else can I use?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Replies
Place the appropriate size backer rod in the joint, then caulk. Do both the interior and exterior side of the wall, and take them down to the top of the footing if possible.
Dave
OK, Thanks. I was afraid that they'd simply chew through the putty. But, I'll give it a try.Griff
If there are no food sources in the crawl space, they are just using it as a nestin/breeding area. They will find a easier place to nest, rather than chew trough a bead of caulk. Now if there is any type of food under there,... all bets are off.
dave
Don't think there's any food under there unless they're interested in chewing on the framing members or the fiberglass insulation. Couple of spiders maybe.
Thanks.Griff
For insurance, you can stuff the cracks with bronze or stainless steel wool ahead of your backer rod. Use a coarse grade, as it is more discouraging to rodents than finer wool. It is available at boat places and better hardware stores.I used this without caulk to stop garden snakes from accessing a finished basement built on expansive soil. Customer did not want to even know about fixing the underlying problem ($$$$). Poured foundation corner was cracked 3/4" wide.Bill
Would foam work? Just curious if they would eat/remove it or if it would stop them or possibly poison them?
Neil,Nope, the foam doesn't even slow them down. One thing I have done is loosely fill with coarse steel wool (or stainless wool in damp areas) and then foam into the heart of the wool. The resulting composite resists both air and rodents.Bill
Sounds like an interesting idea Bill.
Are you talking about using foam such as Great Stuff expanding foam (or similar brand)? Doesn't that stuff deteriorate when exposed to sunlight?Griff
Yes, Great Stuff or similar. It definitely needs to be protected from sunlight. The snake crack job was indoors, below grade in the basement laundry room.Bill
OK, thanks.Griff
If it's dry, use steel wool (or stainless wool, if not) in place of the backer rod.
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