Anyone ever have to gut a building thats overrun with mice?

[gayler]

Any advice, other than a hazmat suit? The landfill office where I work is overrun with mice. After several years of telling the boss. he gave the ok to pull out the walls, and cleanup and put in new insulation,but he wants to do it cheap and save the paneling. This is a steel building on a slab floor and nothing for a rodent burier. We are thinking of pouring quickcrete to fill in the voids of the corogated steel. Any other ideas to block the mice from getting in? Sorry for the poor spelling, I'm a dumbass!

[MoonRise]

Not really joking about the HazMat suit.

Look up "hanta virus". Bad-bad-bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanta_virus

[wb2vsj]

Read this and then maybe think twice about re-using the paneling if it is contaminated.

http://shop.sixwise.com/thatlittlemo...ought3105.aspx

and some good info from D-Con here:
http://www.d-conproducts.com/docs/dCONinformation.pdf

If there is a hole, they will get in. It amazing how small of a hole they can squeeze through.

Once you get rid of the infestation, try to keep it so they have no need to come back. i.e. access to food.

I use mouse poison/bait in the shop, seems to help keep the population down, but not out. I'd place those bait traps around the perimeter so they get their "last" meal outside and don't need to come inside.

[gayler]

We have a pest control company put out bait inside and out.

[rlitman]

I've filled gaps loosely with very coarse steel wool (#2 or coarser), and then blown expanding foam into/through the steel wool. No way mice or rats are chewing through that (but expect to find bloody marks where they try; maybe even an embedded tooth).

Mice can get into a hole that a pencil fits in.

[930dreamer]

I wouldn't go cheap in the rodent world, bad things can happen.

[BigV]

Tyvek suits and respirators at least. Fresh air respirators outside the work area be even better, but at that stage hazmat suits might be a good idea, if indeed its that bad.

[aero]

Just let a vehicle idle in the building for a few hrs mice will be gone

[olytdi]

Originally Posted by wb2vsj

Once you get rid of the infestation, try to keep it so they have no need to come back. i.e. access to food.

I use mouse poison/bait in the shop, seems to help keep the population down, but not out. I'd place those bait traps around the perimeter so they get their "last" meal outside and don't need to come inside.

I disagree with using bait of any type. You are trying to eliminate the mouse problem not attract them. Poison bait is the best marketing trick in the book -- you have to keep on buying it because they keep on coming! You never solve the problem. Do you really think that you'll extirpate all of the mice in your immediate area? Never going to happen. Bait attracts...over and over and over...You'll just end-up with a bunch of poisoned mummies and a huge body count. Ask me how I know.

What you want to do is eliminate the habitat (food, water, shelter), and access to the space in question. You do that by not having any of these elements available and by blocking access tight as a drum.

[mdbeck1]

I always wanted to build one of these to see how well it works.

I've heard that using anti-freeze will keep the smell down.

[OccupantRJ]

Place a big rubber snake in the room. Works for birds, not sure about mice. We have a small porch overhang over the front entrance door at work, and the birds crapped off it all the time, making an unsightly mess around the area. I placed a rubber snake on top of the flat porch roof, and problem solved. No birds for over 10 years.

[wouldworker]

What ever you do take it seriously. I lost a friend to hantavirus several years ago.

[jhelrey]

Fire.......

[PRH44]

Originally Posted by MoonRise

Not really joking about the HazMat suit.

Look up "hanta virus". Bad-bad-bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanta_virus

I had a neighbor die from Hanta virus after he cleaned his barn. Please take precautions as it acts very fast. He was dead in 3 days.

[cyamaha2007]

x2 on the foam with steel wool "rebar" embedded in it. The day before you do the clean out put 1 gal of gas in a small engine push mower or the like. close up the building and let it run till it dies. You will find lots of dead mice. Atleast they wont come back looking how to get home.

[Buckgnarly]

When i moved into our house, the detached garage had a ton of mouse droppings that I cleaned up by sweeping out, got pretty sick from that. No idea what it was, but I would highly recommend wearing a respirator.

Google the mouse wheel of death...I hate those damn things!

[fireguy]

We have mice in the shop. We do not keep food in the shop.

One of my guys said not get the rodent killer in a box or other loose poision. They will eat the stuff up and then die in the shop. He suggested a solid block of poison,then tying it to a shelf with wire or to screw the block to a shelf. you do not want them taking the poison away.

When we had a mouse problem in one house we lived in a child, my brother and I fixed the problem. We would go get a bull snake and let it loose in the basement. As a side benefit, the little kids were afraid to go in the basement. I don't know why they thought the snakes were rattlesankes. Our room was in the basement.

[stan.riner]

Originally Posted by OccupantRJ

Place a big rubber snake in the room. Works for birds, not sure about mice. We have a small porch overhang over the front entrance door at work, and the birds crapped off it all the time, making an unsightly mess around the area. I placed a rubber snake on top of the flat porch roof, and problem solved. No birds for over 10 years.

I wonder if that would work here in Hawaii. We don't have any snakes here. Would the birds even know to be afraid of it? interesting question.

[Garage5.9]

Originally Posted by stan.riner

I wonder if that would work here in Hawaii. We don't have any snakes here. Would the birds even know to be afraid of it? interesting question.

I can see the retarded doves landing right next to it along with the mynas

[ZAPPER68]

Originally Posted by PRH44

I had a neighbor die from Hanta virus after he cleaned his barn. Please take precautions as it acts very fast. He was dead in 3 days.

My old school buddy cleaned out one of his grain bins and was buried a week later. Hanta virus is some very nasty stuff...please be careful and wear suitable PPE.