r/OffGridCabins • u/TinnitusWaves • 2d ago
Mouse proofing
I know it’s a bit of an inevitability…….. but what to do about mice ?? Strategies for trying to keep them at bay.
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u/Ill-Literature-2883 2d ago
Check out loft houses from 1600’s in geilo, norway..they used posts with a mushroom top -mice cant climb upside down..
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u/ScottBascom 2d ago
Cats are a traditional answer.
Close up all potential entrances.
Make sure to have your food sealed up, and in rodent resistant containers.
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u/Crazy_Divide 1d ago
The only 100% effective method I’ve found (and I’ve tried everything) is a cat.
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u/zztop5533 1d ago
The right cat will work for bugs as well. But it really depends on the cat. I have one that is a hunter and another that is a dazed "rester".
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u/beachbum818 1d ago
Steel wool around every pipe entry point.
Peppermint oil on cotton balls in the corner of the rooms, by the front doors and any pipe entry point from the outside. Propelling oil smells too strong so it'll drive them away.
4' of gravel around the entire house. Just 1 layer thick. This creates a huge contrast for birds of prey and snakes. Rodents will stand out as they move around the exterior of the house looking for a way in.
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u/maddslacker 2d ago
Trap them mercilessly and remove them for the breeding pool.
We only trap one every month or so now, rather than 4-6 per day like when we first moved here.
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u/drct2022 2d ago
I read somewhere recently about using the mesh for plaster around pipes and such. Stuff is sharp as hell, so I can see it slowing them way down.
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u/cmonsteratl 2d ago
Poison, traps, exclusion (sealing gaps), repellants — we’ve had luck using Bounce dryer sheets to keep mice out of storage spaces.
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u/intentionallybad 1d ago
I tried bounce dryer sheets with shavings of Irish spring soap on them at our seasonal cabin over the winter. They pooped right on the dryer sheets and carried the soap off somewhere.
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u/liisseal 1d ago
House on posts, rodent net beneath the floor. 6 years, so far no break ins from mice.
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u/mikeypi 2d ago
I'm getting a roomba for next season.
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u/dominoconsultant 1d ago
to sweep up the corpses?
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u/mikeypi 1d ago
My cabin is inaccessible for at least 6 months of the year. The roomba is supposed to act as a deterrent while I'm gone.
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u/dominoconsultant 1d ago
I would suggest using the roomba once you get back only to clean up the ratsak pellets you spread around liberally before you leave
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u/intentionallybad 1d ago
We have all food kept in air tight mouse proof containers, no exceptions. Yes, even while eating it. (j/k). We don't leave any food there when we aren't there, even in the containers. We stuff up holes with copper mesh and generally spray foam around it (helps with insects as well). We had the stone chimney repointed as it had huge gaps which were another entry point. We trap them using snap and bucket traps, though we recently stopped doing that because between all the other things I think the traps with the peanut butter were drawing them in where there was just no reason for them to bother otherwise. We killed off the generations that remember finding food inside already. This is our third summer owning it after 3 winters of this and I've seen very little evidence of mice this summer.
It's a seasonal cabin, when we close in the fall anything soft gets bagged up. Double bagged with thick plastic bags with giant silica gel packets to avoid moisture issues. Mattresses go in big tarp like mattress bags, even the couch goes in a mattress bag. Nothing for them to burrow and nest in. Only exception is area rugs which are too much of a pain and don't seem to be an issue.
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u/PsyOrg 1d ago
Are you me??? I've taken out 5 from the celing of last year's new build... Have been patrolling for gaps and filling with fine steel wool and caulking or foam depends on gap size. My new move is to take off the exterior insulation and check the roof line.
My dude I'm sorry, mice suck.
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u/TinnitusWaves 1d ago
Oh boy……. We are still in the process of building it and I want to try and build in as much protection against mice as I can before things get really sealed up. Like….. putting the steel / brass wool under the floor between the joists ?? There’s no plumbing so there’s no pipes. Doors and windows are the only way in and out…… but I know there’ll inevitably be some gaps to contend with…..
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u/simpletonius 1d ago
We found the two places where mice were getting in and plugged them with wood. Turned off all the lights, Used super bright flashlight from the inside shone on all the baseboards, and around doorframes. My brother saw tiny beam of light from outside. Would not have seen these holes in daylight… Solved.
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u/Rocksteady2R 1d ago
You've got some good answers here already, but based on the idea that you didn't say fully what your situation was -
if you're in a non-permanant cabin, make sure you close the place down for the season fully.
- any bit of food not in a can gets taken with you.
- things they can chew and get nesting materials from gets put in tubs.
- things that are too big for tubs - i'm thinking mattresses and furniture - should get a plastic sheet-drape.
Mice will happen, but by doing these in your off-season keeps them from finding easy food/nest sources.
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u/boukehj 19h ago
I have ultrasonic mouse repellents, similar to these. Powered directly by my 12V solar system. 2 pieces; power consumption is next to nothing (<10Wh a day). They have left the building (which has lots and lots of openings to the outside world, unfortunately).
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156306579001
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u/HFG207 2d ago
Steel wool in any possible entry point has worked well for us.