Mice In Attic? Read These Pro Tips From Koala Insulation

Mice In Attic? Don’t Panic! Here’s Everything You Need To Know To Confidently Tackle This Pest Problem

During an evening after a long day at work, you settle into your coziest chair and grab your favorite blanket and book. You’re only one page in when you start to hear an unfamiliar sound. Snapping the cover shut, you hold your breath, waiting for the sound again. And there it is—a sort of scuttling that sounds as though it's coming from within the walls and ceiling themselves. Your stomach drops as you realize you may have a serious problem on your hands—mice in the attic.

A mouse infestation is a Kansas City homeowner’s nightmare. These tiny rodents can wiggle their way into shockingly small gaps and holes, and take over your attic space, crawl space or wall cavities. If you think you may have mice in your attic in Kansas City, MO, don’t panic. With the help of this article and a Kansas City insulation company, you can solve this pest problem safely and efficiently, as well as prevent it from occurring in the future. 

Why It’s Important To Professionally Remove Mice In Your Attic

You know you have a rodent problem, but they’re all the way up in the attic. There’s no urgency in getting rid of them, right? 

Wrong. The sooner you can remove those mice in the attic, the better. The longer you leave them to do their thing, the greater the health risks and chance of incurring significant structural damage to your home. 

Infectious Diseases Spread By Mice In Attic

If you have mice in the attic in Kansas City, MO, there’s a good chance that you have one of these two species: the house mouse or the deer mouse. House mice are more common and can be identified by their fairly uniform color, whether black, gray, brown or tan, while deer mice tend to be gray or brown and have a white underbelly.

Both of these types of mice spread several infectious diseases, including:

• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis. An estimated 5 percent of house mice are carriers of this neurological disease. It is not usually fatal, but if exposed during pregnancy, birth defects can occur. 
• Rickettsialpox. This acute disease is spread through mouse bites. 
• Leptospirosis. Not life-threatening, this bacterial infection tends to produce symptoms similar to the flu. 
• Listeria. This dangerous disease has a fatality rate of about 1 in 5 and can cause stillborns and miscarriages in infected pregnant women. 
• Hantavirus. Often understood as the most severe infectious disease spread primarily by deer mice, hantavirus can cause severe pulmonary and respiratory distress, leading to about a 38 percent mortality rate. 

The problem is that it’s impossible to know whether the mice in your attic are carrying less severe diseases like rickettsialpox, which is only transmissible through bites, or hantavirus, which can be caught just by breathing in the air around the droppings and urine of infected mice. For this reason, it’s essential that you get those mice in your attic removed as soon as possible, and avoid trying to clean up the mess without the help of a professional. Doing so could put your life at risk. 

Common Signs Of Mice In Attic

Unlike other types of pests, identifying mice is fairly easy, as they’re not exactly quiet. Mice are nocturnal creatures, so you’re unlikely to hear them going about their business during the day. When the lights are out and you’re laying in bed, it's another story. In addition to the sound of them scurrying around at night, some common signs of mouse activity to look out for in your attic include:

• Mouse droppings and urine. These are a pretty definite sign. Unless you’ve seen your fair share of droppings before, you may not be able to identify exactly what kind of wild animal left them behind, but you’ll know without a doubt that someone is enjoying your warm attic. 
• Damaged insulation. When mice move into your attic, they go about making renovations to make themselves more comfortable right away. To do this, they’ll destroy your attic’s insulation and make it into nesting material for them and their shockingly large number of offspring. 
• Chew marks. If you have any cables, wires or cords in your attic and walls, you’ll probably notice evidence of gnawing and chewing. Mice need to chew on objects to file down their teeth, which grow continuously. At the risk of stating the obvious, damaged electrical wires can also pose a massive safety concern for you and your family. 

How Did I Get Mice In My Attic?

Having mice in the attic is one thing. Worrying about how they got in there in the first place is another. If you find yourself with a rodent infestation, don’t feel bad. Mice are incredibly crafty and can flatten their bodies down to the size of a dime. If there’s a crack or crevice the width of a dime anywhere on your property, those little rodents will have no trouble getting in. In fact, house mice can jump an impressive 13 inches high, while deer mice are excellent climbers. 

Some of the more common ways that mice find their way into the warmth of your home include:

• Foundation cracks
• Gaps between bricks
• Roof gaps made for roof ventilation (remember, mice can climb and jump off trees to get there!)
• Damaged vents
• Gaps in plumbing

So, the bad news is that there are a myriad of ways mice can find their way into your attic. The good news? With a thorough inspection, these points of entry can be identified and closed up to ensure they can’t get in again. 

Pest Control Or Insulation Experts: Who To Call

When you find evidence of mice in your attic, the first thing you should do is contact a pest control professional. As mentioned above, by trying to eradicate your pest problem on your own, you could be putting your health at risk. Don’t take chances with your health when there are experts who are trained in pest control and have all the right tools and equipment to get the job done. 

There are many different strategies that pest management companies may use for mice in attic removal. Some possibilities include peanut butter on mouse traps, snap traps, and bait stations. In most cases, a combination of traps and poisonous bait will be used, but the exact weapons of choice will be determined by the extent of the problem, your home, and any specific requests you may have.

After mice have been eradicated, you’ll need to get your attic’s insulation removed and replaced. Some pest control contractors offer this service along with pest removal. Many homeowners in this situation take their pest control experts up on this offer, as it saves them the time of having to search for an insulation contractor. Unfortunately, hiring your pest control company to remove and install insulation in your attic can end up costing you a lot more time and money than expected. 

Pest control contractors do not specialize in insulation removal or installation. Contrary to popular belief, insulation installation requires a high level of expertise to do right. The better insulated your home is, the more comfortable you will be year-round, and the more money you’ll save on your utility bills each month. Over time, energy costs can add up. Hire a professional insulation company to get your insulation removed and re-blown after having mice in the attic in Kansas City, MO. 

Insulation Removal And Re-Blowing After Having Mice In Attic

Your pest control company has successfully removed all the mice in the attic, leaving you to sleep better knowing that your home is yours again. In the morning though, you know there’s still lots of work to be done. It’s time to repair the extensive damage that was done. There are two steps to getting your home back to—or even better than—its original insulation levels. 

Insulation Removal

It can be quite a shock to see the damage that has been done to your attic’s insulation after mice have made their home in it. Missing chunks, shredded material and a revolting amount of urine and feces will make insulation removal necessary for your home’s energy efficiency, as well as your health. 

Though you may not realize it, if your home is circulating air as it should, you’re being exposed to particles in the air of your dirty attic no matter where you are in your home. By removing damaged insulation, you’ll be able to breathe easily again. 

A professional insulation company has all the appropriate protective equipment to protect themselves from being exposed to any infectious diseases, including hantavirus. Once the old, contaminated insulation is removed from your home, they’ll thoroughly clean and sanitize the area to ensure that your space is healthy again. 

Blown-In and Batt Insulation

Having mice in your attic insulation can be highly stressful. It may help to try to look at the positives in situations such as these. One such positive is that this infestation may be the push you needed to get your insulation updated. 

Once your insulation company has removed all your old insulation, they’ll install brand-new fiberglass or cellulose insulation. Fiberglass is a great choice for use after having mice in the attic in Kansas City, MO, due to its generally lower cost (though this can vary depending on supply chain shortages). Fiberglass can be installed in two ways: by being blown-in and in pre-made batts. 

Blown-in insulation, or loose-fill insulation, is great for getting into all those small spaces that batt insulation can’t fill. And after going through mice in the attic removal, you’ll probably be especially concerned about them returning. To prevent future infestations, a Kansas City insulation company can also use open- or closed-cell spray foam insulation in any gaps that look like potential entry points for rodents. 

With the expertise of an experienced insulation company instead of a pest control company, you can ensure that your attic won’t just be pest-free, but will remain so and keep your energy bills down for years to come. 

Preventing Pests From Returning

Once homeowners in Kansas City have had mice in the attic, they tend to be on guard and watchful for the presence of a future infestation. Fortunately, there are preventative measures you can take to avoid having to go through this unsettling experience again. 

Mice in attic prevention generally just comes down to eliminating as many gaps as you possibly can. Some ways to do so include:

• Adding door sweeps to the bottom of your exterior doors.
• Replace weatherstripping as needed. 
• Repair or replace any damaged patio and front door screens.
• Look for areas where plumbing, electrical and HVAC system components enter the home. Seal any gaps around these fixtures with caulk, spray foam or steel wool. 
• Keep trees away from the side of your home so that rodents can’t use them to access your roof. 

Additionally, keeping your home clean helps a ton. Mice choose to come inside because they’re not getting what they need outside. This may include warmth, shelter and—you guessed it—food. By emptying your garbage cans regularly and making sure your home stays odor-free, mice won’t know just how full your fridge is. 

Call Koala Insulation of South Kansas City To Remove Mice In The Attic Today!

If you suspect you have mice in the attic in Kansas City, MO—or bats in the attic—call a pest removal company to get rid of the rodents, but not for your insulation work. Save money by going straight to the experts at Koala Insulation of South Kansas City. We believe in providing our customers with the facts—not scare tactics. If your pest control company provides you with recommendations for insulation removal and replacement, give us a call and we’ll provide you with our professional second opinion. After an on-site inspection, we’ll provide you with a free, no-obligation estimate. We’re confident you’ll see the value in our service based on facts alone and won’t pressure you into working with us. 

To get in touch with our team today to discuss your mice in the attic problem, give us a call at 816-929-8255 or fill out our online contact form. We look forward to making your attic’s insulation work for you again.