Rodents cause billions of dollars in damage each year to homes and businesses alike. Worse, they have the perfect tools for infiltration. Rats and mice have legendary teeth that can chew through some of the toughest substances such as cinder blocks and bricks.

The trick to keep them out is to convince them that your workplace is a bad place for them to live.

Clear Your Outdoor Areas

Start with some cleaning and tidying up. Clearing your outdoor area will be more difficult for some businesses than others, but do your best to remove anything that gives rodents a place to make a nest. Get rid of piles of debris, old vehicles and anything else that gives them shelter from the weather.

The fewer places they have to make nests, the less likely they are to stay in the area.

Keep the Food Away

Rodents’ powerful sense of smell leads them to open food containers. Properly seal and store food, including livestock feed, after eating and clean up any spills or crumbs left behind. Dispose of garbage from trash cans regularly and clean them to ensure that food residue does not remain.

Outdoor garbage containers and recycling bins that contain uneaten food or organic waste also attract rodents. Liquid residue clings to the sides of containers and pools at the bottom even after sanitation workers leave. Clean any other bins that have organic waste from your business; rodents, like other pests, are not picky eaters.

Seal Up Your Buildings

Rodents enter through openings far smaller than people imagine, so it is best to give them no chance to try. Mice crawl through gaps a quarter of an inch high, though they need to be slightly wider to accommodate the width of their skull. Close off any areas where they can enter your business.

Patrol the outside of your building(s) and secure all entrances as you look for cracks and openings. Add weather-stripping material to your doors and windows to fill in the gaps; this also keeps other pests out. Address those cracks and holes with caulking or other material to repair the damage.

Use quarter-inch wire mesh screens to secure other openings leading inside the building including air-conditioning vents, chimneys and laundry vents. Block off any access points to crawl spaces and attics with proper screening.

Contact Us

Deter the rats and mice as best as you can, but if rodents find their way into your business, contact us at ABC Exterminating Inc. for a free quote. We will keep your business vermin-free.