Entry Point Sealing and Rodent Exclusion in Indianapolis

A row of older two-story frame houses on Ritter Avenue in Irvington with snow on the ground — Ritter Avenue in Irvington. A century of settling and patching leaves plenty of small gaps.

If you've trapped mice every November for three years running, the traps are working fine. The house just has a door open somewhere. Exclusion is the job of finding those openings and closing them with material rodents can't chew through, like steel mesh, sheet metal, hardware cloth, mortar and good exterior sealant.

It's not glamorous work. It takes a ladder, a flashlight and patience. But it's the reason a good rodent company's customers stop calling.

Where the Gaps Usually Are

Every house is different, but in central Indiana the same spots come up again and again:

The sill plate and rim joist where the wood framing sits on the foundation
Holes around gas, water, electric and AC lines
Old basement windows, coal chutes and window wells
Garage door bottom seals and the corners of the door
Dryer vents, bath fan vents and range hood vents with broken flaps
Crawl space vents with missing screens
Gaps where a porch or addition meets the original house

Old Houses vs. New Houses

Older Indianapolis houses, the doubles, bungalows and Victorians inside I-465, tend to leak at the foundation. Stone and block foundations have mortar gaps, and generations of plumbers and electricians have drilled holes and left them open. Old house basements covers the usual trouble spots.

Newer houses in places like Fishers and Avon are tighter, but the garage, the dryer vent and the line set for the AC are common entries. Plenty of suburban houses sit over a crawl space, and the crawl space vents need good screens.

Got droppings, chewing or noises in the wall?

One call connects you with a licensed rodent company that works your side of town.

(317) 996-1254

Doing It in the Right Order

Close the last openings after the mice inside have been trapped. Seal everything on day one and the ones still inside are stuck in your walls. The usual approach is a week or two of trapping, then the final sealing once activity drops off. Ask for photos or a written list of what got sealed. Pair it with an inspection if nobody's sure where they're coming in.

Rodent Q&A

Can I just use spray foam?

Mice and rats chew through foam by itself. Pack the gap with steel or copper mesh first, then seal over it.

Will sealing help with the cold too?

Often it does. A lot of the gaps mice use also let in drafts.

Covering Broad Ripple, Irvington, Fountain Square, Lawrence, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, Avon, Brownsburg, Plainfield, Greenwood.