When Ridding Of Mice The Wrong Way Can Lead To Mold In Your Walls
Wall cavities (the spaces behind the brick of your home's exterior walls) are intended to breath contributing to one of the reasons critters such as mice, spiders, snakes, lizzard, scorpions, bees and wasps find it to be so comforting back there. Its like a protective cave, or fortress with comfort and plenty of air. So you may ask, why does a wall space have to breath? What is up with that? Read on..
This may come as a shock so brace yourself. Brick walls are never waterproof. You read that right, bricks and their mortar are actually like sponges absorbing tons of moisture. This moisture can easily pass into the wall cavity behind the brick and if it gets trapped in there your home can become toxic with mold and your wood framing can begin to decay. Sound like something you want to deal with? We thought not!
Well to add to this, moisture is indeed a problem in most climates given air conditioning contributes to the problem by creating cold air in warmer temperatures... can you say condensation.
So now you get it. Brick wall cavities need to breath and breath and breath.
This explains the building code mandated weep holes that you find along the foundation of your home and often under or above windows. These are the opennings in the brickwork many new home owners describe as little imperfections in the exterior of their home. The number of weep holes and size of the weep holes are supposed to take into account the volume of the wall cavity they are airing out. Moisture is to pass out via these holes and air is to pass into the wall cavity via the same holes. This exchange needs to be ever present.
Now you have a challenge on your hands because not long after you become owner to a beautiful brick home you learn that nasty little critters are easily passing through these spaces causing problems for you as the home owner.
Naturally you want to stop mice, snakes, lizards, scorpions, bees, wasps and large insects from having such ease of access to your living space. You, like the rest of us, have a few options to consider:
or
2. You do the same as above but with a store bought mortar mix.
or
Consulting your neighbor, friend, family, local handyman, pest control company, online website, you come up with any of the following solutions:
3. You buy a roll of copper mesh and shove it into each hole for a few pennies per hole.
4. You find a leftover box of SOS pads in your utility room and do the same as number 3 above.
5. You buy a sheet of light mesh screening and cut it into small sizes to place in each hole or pay your pest control company to do it for you as part of a larger package solution you are hiring them for.
6. You find weep hole covers made of plastic and/or metal that are made specifically for the purpose of protecting weep holes.
While the above appears to be six handy dandy solutions to your pest problem I encourage you to look again. The majority of these solutions interfere with proper wall cavity moisture ventilation and airflow even before they begin to clog with debris and dust. Some of the solutions having actually been designed with the intention to allow for continued ventilation actually fail and if that isn't bad enough then the material they are made from can be chewed through by mice. Uggg! Details below:
We hope this helps you make a good decision for your home's ventilation and pest control needs. Can you tell which solution is that of Rid-O-Mice? We hope so!
This may come as a shock so brace yourself. Brick walls are never waterproof. You read that right, bricks and their mortar are actually like sponges absorbing tons of moisture. This moisture can easily pass into the wall cavity behind the brick and if it gets trapped in there your home can become toxic with mold and your wood framing can begin to decay. Sound like something you want to deal with? We thought not!
Well to add to this, moisture is indeed a problem in most climates given air conditioning contributes to the problem by creating cold air in warmer temperatures... can you say condensation.
So now you get it. Brick wall cavities need to breath and breath and breath.
This explains the building code mandated weep holes that you find along the foundation of your home and often under or above windows. These are the opennings in the brickwork many new home owners describe as little imperfections in the exterior of their home. The number of weep holes and size of the weep holes are supposed to take into account the volume of the wall cavity they are airing out. Moisture is to pass out via these holes and air is to pass into the wall cavity via the same holes. This exchange needs to be ever present.
Now you have a challenge on your hands because not long after you become owner to a beautiful brick home you learn that nasty little critters are easily passing through these spaces causing problems for you as the home owner.
Naturally you want to stop mice, snakes, lizards, scorpions, bees, wasps and large insects from having such ease of access to your living space. You, like the rest of us, have a few options to consider:
Without Consulting Anyone
1. You run out to the hardware store and buy caulking to match your brick or motar and you spend your Saturday sealing these weepholes and patting yourself on the back for smart thinking and a job well done.or
2. You do the same as above but with a store bought mortar mix.
or
Consulting your neighbor, friend, family, local handyman, pest control company, online website, you come up with any of the following solutions:
3. You buy a roll of copper mesh and shove it into each hole for a few pennies per hole.
4. You find a leftover box of SOS pads in your utility room and do the same as number 3 above.
5. You buy a sheet of light mesh screening and cut it into small sizes to place in each hole or pay your pest control company to do it for you as part of a larger package solution you are hiring them for.
6. You find weep hole covers made of plastic and/or metal that are made specifically for the purpose of protecting weep holes.
While the above appears to be six handy dandy solutions to your pest problem I encourage you to look again. The majority of these solutions interfere with proper wall cavity moisture ventilation and airflow even before they begin to clog with debris and dust. Some of the solutions having actually been designed with the intention to allow for continued ventilation actually fail and if that isn't bad enough then the material they are made from can be chewed through by mice. Uggg! Details below:
We hope this helps you make a good decision for your home's ventilation and pest control needs. Can you tell which solution is that of Rid-O-Mice? We hope so!
