Why these two rooms draw tenants.
A garage and a cellar share three traits that rodents appreciate: they are quiet, they hold clutter and they border the outdoors. The garage adds a big door with a bottom seal that wears out. The cellar adds pipes, wires and old openings that nobody looks at.
In a cold climate, these rooms also stay a bit warmer than the yard in winter. That makes them the first stop for a mouse testing the foundation after a hard frost. The visit is built around that simple route.
What we check in the garage.
- The bottom seal of the main door, and the corners where it meets the track.
- The side door threshold and weatherstripping.
- Wall plates, spots where utilities pass through and the seam at the bottom of each wall.
- Anything stored against walls, including totes, lawn gear, seed bags and pet food.
- The path between the garage and the house, including the door and any shared wall.
Many people stack boxes tight to a wall to save space. That creates a perfect hiding line, and it blocks our view of the baseboard. If you can, pull a few boxes forward before we arrive.
What we check in the cellar.
Cellars vary widely. Some are tall and finished, others are low and rough. Older ones can have stone or block walls, an earthen corner or an old coal chute that was filled long ago. We do not assume any of that applies to you, and we look at each feature as we find it.
| Feature. | What can go wrong. | What we do. |
|---|---|---|
| Poured or block walls. | Cracks and gaps at the sill. | Seal with mesh and cured sealant. |
| Stone foundation. | Open mortar joints and voids between stones. | Seal what we can, refer masonry work. |
| Utility entries. | Loose collars around pipes and cables. | Metal collars and sealant. |
| Window wells and vents. | Torn screens, missing caps. | Steel mesh and new covers. |
| Stored goods. | Cardboard and fabric used as nesting. | Advice on bins, shelving and spacing. |
Storage habits that help.
You do not need to empty the room. A few changes make a difference. Trade cardboard for lidded plastic or metal bins, raise boxes a few inches above the floor and keep stored items a hand's width from the wall so the baseboard stays in view.
Seed, pet food and fertilizer belong in containers that lock, and firewood belongs outdoors on a rack. If you are not sure what is helping or hurting, our inspection can point to it.
Snap a picture of the droppings or gnaw marks and mention it when you call, which speeds up the visit.
Dial (888) 686-4821Winter and the first frost.
The best time to look is before the first hard frost. After it, mice already inside tend to nest in boxes and walls. A short autumn check of door seals and sill gaps costs less than a repair later.
The sealing stage is described on the rodent exclusion page. For stored goods that are already fouled, see attic and crawl space cleanup to learn how waste is handled safely.
Before you call, a quick health checklist
Think of this as a checklist for the hour after you spot droppings.
- Anything that breaks apart when touched must be dampened before it moves.
- Prop the door, feel the breeze move through and come back in about thirty minutes.
- You can avoid skin contact with droppings, urine and nesting scraps if you glove up first.
- Cover the waste and the area around it with disinfectant, and give it a rest before the first pass of the towel.
- Close the bag tightly and place it in the ordinary household trash.
- Medical questions are outside what we can answer. Feeling unwell after contact with droppings is a reason to see a clinician.
Official references for this page
Each safety remark on this page comes from published agency guidance and not from any product we sell.
- CDC steps for lowering hantavirus risk: Block the openings before anything else, then remove old droppings and nests with care.
- CDC walkthrough for cleaning up after rodents: A wet technique for cleaning a home, plus the reasoning behind each stage.