Rodent Control in Irvington

A brick Victorian house with a pointed turret behind tall trees in Irvington on the east side of Indianapolis — An Irvington Victorian. Old stone and brick foundations leave mice plenty of ways in.

Irvington was its own town once, named for the writer Washington Irving and incorporated in 1873. Butler University was out here from the 1870s until 1928, and the town agreed to annexation by Indianapolis in 1902. The oldest houses are Second Empire and Italianate from the 1870s. Bungalows filled in Irvington Terrace and Pleasanton in the 1910s, and Tudor Revival cottages came in the 1920s and 1930s.

Old houses mean old foundations. Most of the calls from Irvington are for mice in basements and walls, with rats on the blocks with alleys and detached garages.

Basements That Have Seen a Lot

A hundred-plus years of furnaces, plumbers and electricians leaves holes. Coal chutes get boarded over, old basement windows rot, and the mortar in stone foundations crumbles. Mice find every one of those. Old house basements walks through where to look, and an inspection can find what you miss.

Old coal chute openings
Wood basement window frames
Mortar gaps in stone or brick foundations
Pipe holes from old radiator and gas lines

Pleasant Run and the Parks

Irvington picked up Pleasant Run Parkway, the golf course and Ellenberger Park after annexation. Homes near the creek and the parks have more field mice and the occasional rat coming in from the green space. Fall is when they make the move, so seal up and set traps in September and October.

Landmarks: E. Washington St. · Audubon Rd. · Pleasant Run Pkwy. · Ellenberger Park · Irvington Terrace · Bona Thompson Memorial Center (ZIP 46219)

Local Questions

We're renovating. When should we deal with mice?

While the walls and floors are open. Sealing is easier and cheaper before the drywall goes back up.

Nearby areas: Broad Ripple, Fountain Square, Lawrence, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, Avon, Brownsburg, Plainfield, Greenwood.