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Mice coming/going in gap between skirting and carpet of upstairs bedroom

Hi folks, I would just like your help on how to prevent mice going in the gap beneath skirting. I am posting pics below.

I've heard mice going there for quite a few years now but we've always been able to get rid of the mice, at least temporarily before they come back again. I hear scratching there and then hear them run along behind that wall somewhere.

We had large cracks in the front wall due to subsidence and so moved everything out of the room to get them repaired last week. We saw that there are a couple of holes in the carpet along the edge which are obviously created by mice, so thought we might get carpet changed or those holes sealed as they will be covered again by the wardrobe anyway.
We repapered the walls and painted them as well the skirtings. 

We asked the carpenter who fitted a wardrobe in the room below to take a look if he could seal as per the above. He pulled carpet back and only then we realised that there was a gap all along the edge, quite wide on that side exterior facing wall. He said that he had never seen it before like that and that it was probably caused by the floor shrinking or something.

He said if we hadn't have just repainted/papered then he could have easily moved the skirting down to block the gap. He said otherwise, we could have some beading but he recommended we just leave it and said he couldn't feel draughts or smell mice.

From my research, I gather it is usual to have a gap in homes that aren't modern or have wood flooring. I think there has always been carpet here.
I'm not too bothered about draughts, although I can now feel a slight draught today at the gap as it is cold and windy. 

I do want to prevent access to mice as much as possible before I put all the furniture back. Are there any downsides to sealing it? How would I go about sealing it, the carpenter said that expanding foam and the sort would just fall into the gap so he couldn't do that.

As an aside, that gap may be the reason why I can clearly hear conversations from the downstairs room. 

You can see two carpet holes along the skirting of side exterior pink wall, one on corner at left and one 8 inches to the right.


Can see that wood has also been chewed underneath carpet at those same spots.

Can see brick work. Is it supposed to be like that.



The below is the same pink wall, but can see that some planks go a lot closer to the wall so gap isn't as big.


The below carpet on the other side of the blue wall which is also on the exterior (front) is tucked in.



The wooden planks go all the way underneath the skirting here, and carpet also tucks in to make a snug fitting on top.


Below is how the interior wall is that is joining the above.


And I realise now that there is a hole in the carpet here as well on the internal blue wall, at front of pic.








Comments

  • pramsay13
    pramsay13 Posts: 2,088 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You should be dealing with the cause first rather than the symptom.
    If you block them they will try and find another way in.
    Better with traps or poison. 
    Why are the mice coming into your house. Is there food that they are able to get?

  • rvnmax
    rvnmax Posts: 17 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    pramsay13 said:
    You should be dealing with the cause first rather than the symptom.
    If you block them they will try and find another way in.
    Better with traps or poison. 
    Why are the mice coming into your house. Is there food that they are able to get?

    Thanks for your response pramsay13

    Of course, that's how we get rid of them. But they just come back. We call pest control every year or so and all they say is that most likely they are in all the neighbouring properties as well and so we can't just get rid of them.

    Is usually find something that they can feed off like new falafel mix packed in a cupboard where they've managed to access, but we've tried to close what we can and for couple of years now I've not found anything. So I don't know what they could be feeding off and I don't see the harm in blocking access if there is no other damage. The root cause is that they have access. If we block all access, say by putting something down that they can't go through, then at least they won't come into my bedroom during the night.

    I can deal with wherever they are trying to go on another thread or with pest control, pest control don't help with the carpentry side of things.

    As a related aside, we are trying have been planning a kitchen for a while to renovate in a few months. Have you got any recommendations in the build to make it mouse-proof. All I can find is that, they seemingly access anything and everything.
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 9,031 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Copper mesh pushed under the skirtingboard should stop them coming into the room, but you will appreciate that you have to block every milimeter of the periphery of the room. Mice don't like to eat copper. 
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • Peppermint oil.

    Mice hate peppermint oil, we had the unfortunate experience of having a mouse living in our car. We had cleared the garage and what we thought was a dead mouse was a living mouse !

    Cue baiting the car with chocolate and putting cotton wool balls soaked in peppermint in there to catch the mouse, worked and now I put peppermint in all my outdoor storage to keep mice away.
  • rvnmax
    rvnmax Posts: 17 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    tacpot12 said:
    Copper mesh pushed under the skirtingboard should stop them coming into the room, but you will appreciate that you have to block every milimeter of the periphery of the room. Mice don't like to eat copper. 
    I've put some steel wool in for now as that is what I I had from blocking previous holes. Just a bit worries as this is more of a large continuous gap rather than a small hole, so a bit worried it might just fall down inside when pulled on or pushed on. Need to stick it somehow. All the research I've done and I didn't even realise copper wool was a better alternative to steel and I could actually combine wool with caulk, sealant or foam.

  • rvnmax
    rvnmax Posts: 17 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Peppermint oil.

    Mice hate peppermint oil, we had the unfortunate experience of having a mouse living in our car. We had cleared the garage and what we thought was a dead mouse was a living mouse !

    Cue baiting the car with chocolate and putting cotton wool balls soaked in peppermint in there to catch the mouse, worked and now I put peppermint in all my outdoor storage to keep mice away.
    If that works, I might gift it to the neighbours as well. Get rid of them from our row altogether. Get rid of the mice that is, not the neighbours...
  • Its kept them out of the shed so far ! 

    you just need to get past the toothpaste smell :D
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