Keep the mice out (or I guess in)

May 9, 2009 12:02 PM

Mice coming in through the garage because the wall board doesn't come down low enough. What do I fill the gap with?

My garage's north wall is shared with the rest of the house. It's kind of shaped like:

     *---------------*-------------------*
     |                                   |
     |                                   |
 ----                                    |
|
|

Where I put *, mice have eaten through wood or there is a gap in the wood and they've eaten through the insulation. The wallboard doesn't quite come down to the concrete so you can see wood in some places. They can now travel to and fro the house easily.

This is good news for the cat. I'd prefer it to stop.

I was thinking of putting a plastic/vinyl wall board (wall base/cove board, whatever) at the base of the wall to cover this up. But logic is stopping me for a couple reasons.

The wall board is not uniform distance from the floor. In some places it is as little as 5", in others it is as much as 8". So I'd guess I'd need to find 10" wall base. But mostly I just see 4" and 6".

The wallboard is also bowing out in a lot of places, making it so that the wall base is going to angle in. This seems odd. I figured it would adhere to the concrete, but I guess I could nail it to the studs behind the wallboard pretty easily. But then I'd want to seal it to the floor I guess or maybe just glue the very bottom to the very base of the wall where it meets the floor.

Does anyone have any experience putting plastic baseboards down in their garage?

posted by cmm to home & garden (9 comments total)

Maybe try sheet metal in the larger places. I've heard that mice can chew through some strange things if they want to. Or wire mesh and then something overtop to cover it. You can also try forcing steel wool into the smaller holes. Another idea is to use mothballs if you can tolerate the smell in the areas.
posted by Taurid at 12:24 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]

Do you mean inch " or feet '?

If it's inches, try some expanding foam filler. It'll take into account any differences in size of gap automatically.
posted by Solomon at 12:31 PM on May 9

Steel wool in crevices will stop mice traveling through said crevices.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:59 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]

Mice will eat through foam filler if they want to like it's nothing. If you need to keep them out, loosely fill with steel wool and THEN spray foam filler into and among the fibers. Or a sheet metal kickboard will work -- but you cannot leave a gap of even 1/4".

Keep in mind, as well, that this may be merely the easiest way they have into the house. You may need to get more creative in case they do. If the construction here is shoddy I wouldn't have great confidence in other potential entryways.
posted by dhartung at 1:02 PM on May 9

If I had this problem I would (1) remove the lower 4 ft of the wall completely using a jigsaw and knocking it out, (2) maybe nailing metal flashing along the bottom of the studs, meeting the floor, at the bottom as others have suggested to help deter the mice, then (3) put new sheetrock at the bottom meeting the concrete, then (4) nail a new baseboard. This might be more than you want to do, but in my experience augmenting mediocre construction with more jury rigged construction usually results in problems.

Of course the mice will find a way around it, but putting the metal there (metal flashing is cheap) will keep them from destroying the bottom of the wall again. Then of course start with the traps and being alert to other mouse routes in the structure; all of this will erode their numbers and get the problem manageable (as long as you don't have poorly constructed, or god forbid, old balloon framing).
posted by crapmatic at 1:28 PM on May 9

Oh, and of course I forgot to mention filler at the 4 ft level where old wall board meets new wall board.. that part is a piece of cake.
posted by crapmatic at 1:29 PM on May 9

Steel wool.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:55 PM on May 9

Expanded metal (which is what replaces lath prior to drywall replacing plastering) is great for stopping mice. It's think enough that you can put it up and then put drywall over the top.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 2:30 PM on May 9

I just had another thought about steel wool in crevices and cracks. What about making it a little more repulsive to the rodents by using SOS pads or something similar? The soap might be an extra deterrent.

Also I know now what Kid Charlemagne is talking about when they say the "expanded metal". It took me bit before I realized what it was, but then it came to me. I think that would work very well too.
posted by Taurid at 7:46 PM on May 14