How to Protect Your Home’s Electrical Wiring from Attic Pests

The attic: it's the most unfrequented area of the home - and for good reason. Dark, often chilly, and unfinished, it's no place for a dinner party. For humans, that is. Amidst the boxes of storage, pests like rats, mice, and even bats enjoy feasting on your stored boxes, clothes, and, most damaging, your home's electrical wiring. In fact, 24% of rodent infestations occur in the attic. By following the tips provided in this post, you are likely to keep expensive wiring safe throughout the year.

Seal Cracks to Prevent Rodent Entry

Rats and mice are fast, small, sharp-toothed creatures. Once they have made their way into your attic, protecting electrical wiring becomes sizably more difficult. The best solution is rodent control and exclusion for ongoing prevention. Sealing cracks in the foundation of your home with caulk or spray insulation is ideal for keeping rodents from creeping up to the top floors. Even small holes deserve attention; some mice can wiggle their way through holes as small as your pinky finger.

Bring out the Bait

Already hearing the pitter patter of rodent feet in your attic? Rodents and other pests work quickly to cause damage, so you'll need to be swift if you attempt to knock them out solo. Bait traps near electrical wiring can work effectively, especially if mice take the poisonous bait back to their nest. Beware, however, that this solution may not eliminate every existing pest, leaving you just one wire-gnawing creature down, and many more to go.

Use Targeted Rodent Repellant

A high-quality mouse or rat deterrent can do wonders for keeping existing or future rodents away from electrical boxes in your Apex home. Try spraying generously around boxes, near wiring, and anywhere else that's crucial to protect in order to keep your electrical system safe. Usually, these deterrents are available at your local hardware store, but they aren't safe for pets or small children.

Capture and Dispose of Rodents

If the notion, of spraying for, baiting, or sealing your home's entire foundation, sounds laborious or unsure, we understand. In all of the above suggestions, your time is required, and results are both unpredictable and finite. The ideal solution is to target the root of the cause with power and professionalism. Teams of our rodent exterminators can eliminate attic pests in a short time frame and install long-lasting protection for the entire attic, including wiring, that isn't feasible for homeowners to do themselves. 

Now that you have a few pointers for protecting electrical wiring, get to it. Apex is no stranger to rat- and mouse-infested basements and attics. For this reason, the faster you prepare yourself for an infestation, the less likely you are to have to deal with gnawed-on wires and ruined electrical boxes at all.

For more information about our rodent control services, or for answers about specific pests, give us a call