Rodent Control Services in Roosevelt Park, Grand Rapids

Two stories on a narrow lot

Many houses in Roosevelt Park are older two-story homes built close to their neighbors, often with full basements, a back porch and a small garage off the alley. They are solid houses with a century of wear: mortar loss at the foundation, gaps around service lines and siding that has shifted away from the sill.

With houses this close, mice and rats move easily from one property to the next. Fixing one house helps, and fixing a few neighboring houses together helps even more.

The narrow side yards matter in another way. The strip between two houses is often shaded, damp and stacked with things that have nowhere else to go: ladders, spare tires, a recycling cart. That strip is where we find a lot of the foundation gaps on these homes, because nobody walks it and the siding there gets the least attention.

Upstairs, downstairs and the shared basement

Quite a few older two-story houses in this part of the city hold more than one household, either as an upper and lower flat or with relatives sharing the space. When that is the case, mice heard upstairs are almost always coming from the basement or the back porch below, climbing through wall cavities and the gaps around plumbing stacks.

We look at the house as one building no matter how it is divided. The kitchen on each floor gets checked, along with the chases where the drain lines run between them. Sealing just one floor rarely holds, since the animals simply shift to the other.

Busy homes, busy kitchens

Families here cook a lot, store groceries in bulk and keep pantries full. That is a good thing, and it also gives mice a reason to stay once they get in. A few simple habits make a home much less inviting.

• Store rice, flour, cereal and pet food in hard, sealed containers
• Keep counters and floors clear of crumbs overnight
• Empty kitchen trash daily and keep outdoor cans lidded
• Move stored boxes off the basement floor onto shelves
• Fix dripping pipes, since rodents need water too

None of this is about blame. Mice will find any house with a gap in it. These habits simply give them fewer reasons to stay once they arrive, and they make trapping go faster.

Grandville Avenue storefronts

Bakeries, markets, taquerias and other food businesses along Grandville Avenue handle a lot of deliveries and trash. Rats can find food behind any commercial strip, and from there they travel into nearby yards. Business owners can learn about our commercial rodent control service, which focuses on sealing buildings and keeping trash areas tight.

Homes on the side streets just off the avenue tend to feel that effect most in summer. A shop owner who keeps dumpster lids shut and a homeowner who seals the garage are, between them, doing most of what it takes to keep rats from settling on a block.

Garages, alleys and backyard burrows

Norway rats here often live in burrows under garage slabs, along fence lines or beneath back porches. Look for fresh holes about two to four inches wide, especially near trash cans or compost. Our rat control starts with finding those burrows and the food that keeps them going.

Small garages on alleys are common here, many of them older than the cars parked in them. Rotted bottom plates, a gap under the door and a cracked slab give rats shelter a few steps from the kitchen door. A heavy bottom seal, patched concrete and some metal flashing along the base of the walls can turn that garage from a rat shelter back into plain storage.

Our plan for a family home

We start with a careful inspection inside and out, then set traps in enclosed stations away from children and pets. Once activity drops, we seal every gap we found with steel mesh, metal and masonry patching. Follow-up visits make sure nothing new has opened up.

Families often worry about traps around little hands and curious dogs, and that worry is reasonable. Indoors we rely on traps inside locked boxes, set behind appliances and in basement corners, and we tell you exactly where each one is so nothing gets moved by accident.

If you want a plain answer about what is in your walls and how it is getting in, call Grand Rapids Rodent Control at (616) 441-5601. We will explain what we find in simple terms and keep the work focused on your house.