What have mice cost you?

[Steve]

Electron is the resident mouse expert and has built all kinds of fancy traps. I could not resist the timing of this post. The picture that follows is what I saw and had to clean up this weekend after wife backed car out of garage. WARNING: This picture is gross and disgusting and should not be viewed by anyone while eating or with sensitive stomachs. Picture Just imagine how I felt having to deal with it....

Nice floor Steve...did you put that in yourself? Our last house, we did the entire 3 car garage floor with that nice sealer/sprinkles thing, and loved the look of it. Dunno if we're going to do it again, though...it's a lot of work.

Yes, it is Rustoleum Epoxy Shield from Home Depot. I would never use it again. I spent all day prepping the floor, including a industrial pressure washer and regardless of all the proper prep, a few spots either peeled up or worn through. I like the concept and would probably do it again with a better, thicker, product - this basic stuff is just too thin.

 

[beelzerob]

Yes, it is Rustoleum Epoxy Shield from Home Depot. I would never use it again. I spent all day prepping the floor, including a industrial pressure washer and regardless of all the proper prep, a few spots either peeled up or worn through. I like the concept and would probably do it again with a better, thicker, product - this basic stuff is just too thin.

Ya, that sounds like us...we cleaned that sucker great, and still had the car tire pick up spots of it off the floor. And it was wretched work, too...scrubbing, washing, rinsing, drying, etc.

By far the best result was just the look...but it was a lot of $$ and effort for a look. On the plus side, it made mopping up that mouse blood pretty easy, eh?

 

[jeffx]

Get a few cats, they do wonders to deplete your local varmant population. In the summer, our 2 cats probably average 1 kill a day (mice/chipmunks/rabits/birds/sometimes squirrels).

 

[brotsten]

Electron is the resident mouse expert and has built all kinds of fancy traps. I could not resist the timing of this post. The picture that follows is what I saw and had to clean up this weekend after wife backed car out of garage. WARNING: This picture is gross and disgusting and should not be viewed by anyone while eating or with sensitive stomachs. Picture Just imagine how I felt having to deal with it....

Nice floor Steve...did you put that in yourself? Our last house, we did the entire 3 car garage floor with that nice sealer/sprinkles thing, and loved the look of it. Dunno if we're going to do it again, though...it's a lot of work.

Yes, it is Rustoleum Epoxy Shield from Home Depot. I would never use it again. I spent all day prepping the floor, including a industrial pressure washer and regardless of all the proper prep, a few spots either peeled up or worn through. I like the concept and would probably do it again with a better, thicker, product - this basic stuff is just too thin.

I put this in my new garage (new) before I moved in. The only prep was a pressure wash. Almost 6 months and it still looks perfect. Keeping fingers crossed....

Brian

 

[DavidL]

Electron is the resident mouse expert and has built all kinds of fancy traps. I could not resist the timing of this post. The picture that follows is what I saw and had to clean up this weekend after wife backed car out of garage. WARNING: This picture is gross and disgusting and should not be viewed by anyone while eating or with sensitive stomachs. Picture Just imagine how I felt having to deal with it....

Nice floor Steve...did you put that in yourself? Our last house, we did the entire 3 car garage floor with that nice sealer/sprinkles thing, and loved the look of it. Dunno if we're going to do it again, though...it's a lot of work.

Yes, it is Rustoleum Epoxy Shield from Home Depot. I would never use it again. I spent all day prepping the floor, including a industrial pressure washer and regardless of all the proper prep, a few spots either peeled up or worn through. I like the concept and would probably do it again with a better, thicker, product - this basic stuff is just too thin.

I put this in my new garage (new) before I moved in. The only prep was a pressure wash. Almost 6 months and it still looks perfect. Keeping fingers crossed....

Brian

I am using the HDepot Epoxy in my garage and boat house and it has worked out very well. When I recently coated the boat house floor, I had extra so went over the top of the garage floor to freshen it up. Looks great. No peel from car tires. No special prep other than pressure wash and cleaning with their citrus cleaner and rolling it on and dusting with sprinkles. I do regularily pressure wash it to keep the dirt out of the house. BTW, this is TWO part epoxy. I think they also sell a one part "epoxy" which doesn't work nearly as well. This has a 3/4 gallon of Part A and a quart of Part B in the case.

 

[gregking]

I had a problem with mice in my last house due to a nearby field that would periodically get mowed and would seem to drive them out.

The biggest problem I had with these was their appetite for PLASTIC. I had several things damaged from them chewing up the plastic (for nests I think). They ate all kinds of stuff in the engine compartment of my car: radiator overflow jug, fuse box cover, etc., but nothing damaging, like wiring or hoses. They also got inside and ate up the seat adjustment handle?!?!

Anyway, one thing I learned was NOT to use D-con, etc. They are supposed to eat this and get thirsty and go outside seeking water before dieing. Well, I got one that chowed down on some in my pantry and then started dissentegrating (the poisons eat up their insides). He ran all over the shelves and cans in my pantry, leaving a trail everywhere. NASTY!

I also had a friend that used it in the attic and it fell down a wall cavity. A few days later it STUNK and they had to cut into the wall to find it.

From now on it's simple traps for me. Or a cat if I could stand to have one.

gk

 

[beelzerob]

BTW, this is TWO part epoxy. I think they also sell a one part "epoxy" which doesn't work nearly as well. This has a 3/4 gallon of Part A and a quart of Part B in the case.

I'm pretty sure that's the kind I had...came in a big box, you had to mix the 2 parts together and then roll it on.... I liked the look, but not even a month later, I parked the car in there after driving it home, to keep it out of the rain, and the tire picked up about a quarter-inch square area, and another smaller area nearby. Granted, it wasn't big by any stretch, but it seemed to contradict the idea of hot tires not being an issue for it.

Worst problem I had was we did the 3rd car area first, and once it was finished I realized that it was slick with any water on it. So, we added some non-skid to the 2-car area batch, and it worked much better, but there were still some pretty slick areas, even in that.

 

[rsspencer]

We live out in the country on a farm and have tons of pests all the time. We used to live in the old barn that was infested with mice, wasps, spiders, etc. Actually we moved because my wife couldn't stand finding dead mice in our toddlers toys. Lessons learned:
Ultrasonic mice repellers don't work. Traps work but take a lot of checking and bating and they seem to get wise to them after a while. At first we were catching about 6 or so every day. Poison bait works well and is the least effort. Never smelled there decaying bodies as some have said. Out here the mice are very small so they probably dry out quickly. Cats if kept indoors work but if they go outdoors, they fulfill their other food chain duties by feeding the coyotes and bobcats. Cats also take care of the spiders too. Some larger dogs will eat mice in a single gulp so no mess left behind.
Exterminators are expensive and have to come out every 3-4 months.
Mice like to chew through the corners of door sweeps, particularly the big soft ones under garage doors.
The also like to chew into flex duct hvac ducting to use as their own private tunnel system. Nothing like finding out all the air your heating up is filled with mouse droppings.
The daily driver cars were mouse free but if they sat for a few days, the mice would start nesting in them. Even getting into the passenger compartment somehow.
Strangely, never had a wire chewed on. At least not that we know of so they didn't chew until it became a problem. Never any cpvc nor pex water pipe chewing problems either.
Wasps - a bee suit is a good investment. Just block or screen off any protective overhangs or recessed areas then they won't nest there if it doesn't protect them from weather.

 

[apostolakisl]

We had a family of mice get in once a couple years ago. I used the sticky traps and caught all of them in a few days. Sticky traps are nice in that the mouse doesn't run off to die in your walls somewhere. I put in snap traps at the same time and none of them were touched. I used peanut butter as bait. Maybe something else is better?

 

[pete_c]

We had mice when we first moved into the house. There was a lot of construction going on in our subdivision at the time. I mostly saw them in the rafters of the basement and attic. I put poison bait down right after seeing them and 10 years later I have not seen any.

I have been testing some weather stuff on the far side of the deck and ran some cat5e and alarm wire out to the test points. The wires did get chewed up some under the deck. This though has been a recurrent problem. A few weeks back put a PVC tube in place and used it for the wire chase hoping to alleviate the problem.

The issue here though is with rabbits and it appears that we have a bumper crop this year of rabbits. I did see a fox last week carrying a rabbit about twice the size of its head between the houses one early morning.

 

[beelzerob]

I tried the sticky trap just once. It worked, but I have never seen a larger pile of mouse poop in my life. It apparently used its final seconds on earth to eat all of the peanut butter it could reach and then poop it out.

Since then, I just station 1 snap trap on either side of the garage door, baited with peanut butter. I usually kill about 5 or so every summer.

I don't like using poison....I'd rather know where they are when they die than find them later.

We've had no problems with them chewing into stuff, except the bottom of the garage door rubber seal so they could get in. Of course, I think they're finding abundant food in the garage, so they've had no reason to try alternatives...

 

[nathank]

Yes, it is Rustoleum Epoxy Shield from Home Depot. I would never use it again. I spent all day prepping the floor, including a industrial pressure washer and regardless of all the proper prep, a few spots either peeled up or worn through. I like the concept and would probably do it again with a better, thicker, product - this basic stuff is just too thin.

Always use 100% solids epoxy, and prep with muratic acid etch or grinding. If you put it down right it will never peel up.
Here is the product I used http://www.epoxy-coat.com

5 years later and it has not chipped, flaked or peeled anywhere. Hard as a rock, and I've dropped some heavy stuff on it.