Spring Structural Damage: Hidden Signs Left Behind by Winter Rodents

One of the biggest dangers of rodent infestation is the hidden structural damage that they can cause to your home. This damage is most likely to occur in winter, when rodents will invade your home to find shelter from the cold. In today’s blog we will be looking at the hidden signs of damage left behind by winter rodents.

Drafts

One indicator that winter rodents have caused hidden damage are new drafts in your home. Pests will get into your home by squeezing into gaps near windows, doors or the home’s foundation. Rodents also aren’t averse to making new entry points if they need to, chewing their way through caulk and weather stripping to gain access to your home. The presence of rodents over winter may also lead to them contaminating your insulation with urine and droppings, reducing its effectiveness and creating new drafts in your home.

Electrical Damage

Some of the most dangerous hidden damage that can be caused by rodents wintering in your house is damage to your home’s electrical wiring. Rodents will often use electrical wires to sharpen their teeth by chewing on them, they may also strip wire insulation to use as nesting material, leaving wires frayed and exposed. Be sure to keep a close eye on any exposed electrical wires in vulnerable areas of your home like basements or attics and if you spot any damage contact a licensed electrician to replace the wires as soon as possible. If left unaddressed these frayed wires can lead to circuit overloads and shorts or electrical fires in the worst cases.

Structural Damage

There are also several ways that rodents who have come into your home over the winter can damage the structure of your home. Rodents have extremely sharp teeth, and they can use these to chew on or chew through studs, joists or other structural elements of your home. While this damage can be difficult to detect, be sure to listen for scratching sounds behind your walls, strange smells with no noticeable source or stains in strange places, all of these could indicate that you have rodents living in your walls and possibly chewing on your home’s structural elements.

Plumbing Damage

In addition to chewing on electrical wires rodents have also been known to chew on pipes in order to sharpen their teeth. This may end up leading to hidden leaks and water damage to your home which can be quite costly to repair. One way to know if rodents have been chewing on your pipes and causing hidden leaks is to keep an eye on your water meter. If you suspect there may be a leak you can turn off every water using faucet, tap and appliance in your home, check your water meter, then wait 15 to 30 minutes before checking it again and looking for obvious changes which could indicate a hidden leak.

While many rodents will move back outside when the weather gets warmer they may also choose to stick around, if you suspect that you have an active rodent infestation it is probably in your best interests to contact a professional pest control company. They will have the experience and tools necessary to identify and eliminate rodent infestations and stop those rodents from causing further damage to your home. If you have any questions about professional pest control services, please feel free to contact us.

Gilpin’s Pest Control is a family-owned business operating on the Lower Mainland in Greater Vancouver and the BC Interior including Kamloops, Revelstoke, and Sicamous. After 35 years in the business, we do a stellar job and are proud of our rapid response time. 

If you have any questions about this article or you would like to talk to us about pest control needs, please call us toll-free at (800) 770-2428.