If you’ve ever had an issue with rats in your home, you already know that it is a problem you want to do everything you can to avoid. Rats will try to live where humans live; a comfortable place that provides easy access to food and water. If you don’t use your basement very often, it can be easy to overlook the areas that will make your basement vulnerable to rat entry. One of the best things you can do to prevent rats in your basement is to secure your home before they get in. You can do this by focusing on holes in your homes exterior, your home’s entry points as well as your yard.
Holes
Rodents most often find their way into the basement of homes at the ground level. Usually, it’s something as simple as a hole that you may not have noticed or haven’t gotten around to fixing yet. You may inspect your perimeter looking for a large hole. But unfortunately, it really doesn’t take much of a hole or crack for a rat to make its way into your home. In fact, they really only need an opening ¼ of an inch wide, or a hole the size of a dime to gain entry. One of the best ways to prevent rats from getting into your basement is to seal up any crack or hole in your home’s exterior.
Once you have taken care of these entry points, there is something else you can do as an added defense against rats and other rodents. To further secure your home you can install a clear window well cover. The clear cover offers complete protection and fully covers your window well. This means rats, and any other kind of animal, won’t be able to make their way into your window well. The clear window well covers offered by Windowell Expressions creates an extra barrier between your home and your yard. And because the cover is clear, you will get all of the benefits that you would with a standard window well grate — extra sunlight and protection from burglars.
Entry Points
You should also pay special attention to your window screens and exterior doors. Instead of plastic window screens, install metal ones which will be much more difficult for a rat to chew or wiggle through. You should also be sure to keep all of your exterior doors closed. If you have a hard time remembering to do this, install some springs so your doors will automatically close.
Yard
Another way to prevent rats in your basement is to keep your yard neat and tidy. Continue to mow your lawn and trim your edges. Remove debris, trash or other garbage quickly. By doing so, you’ll eliminate nesting places for rats outside your home, which will keep them further away from the inside of your home. Cleaning under appliances, keeping up on trash removal, and tending to dirty dishes quickly is another way to keep rats out of the inside of your home.