How to Stop Mice and Rats Entering Your Home

This time of year, the temperature drops and the rain pours down for half the week. For rodents living it up in the bushes and trees, that means it's time to relocate to a warmer, drier place—and your home is often their first choice.

Keeping them out comes down to three key things:

1. Exterior Inspection

Start by checking the outside of your house for possible entry points. Rodents are clever and persistent, but sealing up your home properly goes a long way in keeping them out.

Here’s a checklist of what to look for:

• Door seals – Especially the bottom of your doors and garage door. If there's a gap big enough to fit your index finger in, a mouse can probably squeeze through it.
• Window seals – Are they in good shape?
• Gutters – Do they have end caps on them? Rats can climb gutters if they're left open.
• Roofing iron – Is it sealed off properly?
• Bushes and trees – Are they pushing up against the house or close to your roof or windows? Rats and mice can climb trees and access the roof through small, unnoticed holes.
• Cladding – Any small cracks or crevices?
• Subfloor – If your house is on posts, the subfloor is often poorly sealed with timber or plywood. From there, rodents can climb up the holes where plumbing enters the home.
• A/C and gas lines – Are the entry points where your A/C or plumbing enters the house sealed? In many cases, rodents sneak through these gaps and end up inside your walls.
• Gas meter box – Check for gaps or holes there too.

If you find a small hole (smaller than your fist), use stainless steel wire wool, available here at Bunnings. Make sure it’s packed in tightly and gap-free. For larger holes, use wire mesh (which you can get from bunnings here) (double layered with a bit of spacing between) and then seal it off using expanding foam which you can also get here from bunnings.

If the hole is too big or you’re not comfortable sealing it off yourself, call in a builder—or give us a ring and we can organise it for you.

Do you grow vegetables? If so, check around your veggie patch and consider some exterior rodent control, like bait stations. We can help set these up for you. Also think about food and green waste—if it’s sitting outside in an unsealed bin, that’s a buffet for rodents.

2. Food Management

Food management doesn’t stop rodents from entering your home, but it stops them from staying.

Think about where food is stored and consumed in your home. Ideally, keep eating confined to the kitchen and dining area. Avoid eating in bedrooms and living rooms where crumbs and spills are easier to miss.

In the kitchen:

• Store items like flour, sugar, and rice in sealed plastic containers—mice and rats can chew straight through packaging bags.
• Organising your pantry in sealed containers also keeps it tidy and hygienic.
• For fruit and vegetables, keep them in a bowl with a pest-proof mesh cover. You can find nice-looking ones at Briscoes —this also helps stop flies in summer.
• Potatoes should also be stored in plastic boxes, not in their original bags.
• The fridge is generally safe if the door seals are tight—run your finger around the edge to check.

Crumbs and food scraps, even the tiny ones, are basically a full meal for a rodent. After making food (of any size), always wipe down your benches and vacuum or sweep the floor.

Rodents have incredibly sensitive noses. What smells like a clean kitchen to you might smell like a gourmet food court to them. Leaving food out—even accidentally—is the fastest way to make them feel welcome.

3. Waste Management

Waste is just as appealing to rodents as fresh food, and managing it properly makes a huge difference.

Inside the house:

• Your indoor bins should always have tight-fitting lids.
• Never let bins overflow.

• Wipe up residue or spills around and behind bins.
• Always use rubbish bin liners.

When taking out the rubbish:

• Put bags straight into a sealed plastic wheelie bin.
• Never leave bags beside the bin—rats will tear through them easily.
• Make sure your wheelie bin lid seals tightly, and always put it out on time for collection.

Green waste should go into a properly sealed bin too.

As for recycling, make sure all items are clean and food-free. Milk bottles and takeaway containers often have residue that attracts pests. If you're using the small blue half-bins for recycling, make sure they’re covered with a lid.

Final Thoughts

If you follow these tips and stay on top of rodent prevention, you’ll drastically reduce the chances of mice and rats entering your home—and stop them from staying.

If you’ve spotted signs of rodent activity or would like help setting up bait stations or sealing entry points, get in touch with Total Pest Control today. We offer fast, friendly, and local service from Wellington to as far north as Lower Hutt, Plimmerton and everywhere in between

Contact us for a free quote

Here are some examples of what we talked about above.