The Unwelcome Guests: A DIY Mouse Infestation Remedy for Our Mountain Haven

Our mountain sanctuary, nestled on 7.5 acres, was meant to be our haven—a place where dreams of homesteading would unfold. Little did we know, the tranquility would soon be disrupted by an unexpected infestation. Let me take you on a journey through the scurrying shadows and the determined steps we took to reclaim our home.

As we embraced our property in 2022, we were aware of a mouse dilemma and mistakenly thought it was confined to the laundry room. We trapped a few and found a few dead in the house and bathtub. I swiftly remedied the situations by sealing voids by the furnace vents, gas pipes, water pipes, and the dryer vent that went through the floor using spray foam and I shoved a draft guard under the back room door. Peace seemed restored for the next several months... or so we thought.

One of the main reasons we bought this place was to rent it out on Airbnb. We started renting it out for the rest of 2022 and we never got any complaints, no disturbances, no smells or droppings anywhere. Our temporary guests relished the tranquil mountain charm and we averaged a five star stay on Airbnb. Life was good and anything mouse related was forgotten.

We then made the decision in April 2023 to permanently move into this place, ushering in a summer of blissful silence. Again, all was forgotten about any rodent issues... mouse what??

Fall came, and with it, intermittent sounds of mice in walls and floors. Innocuous, we thought, as it didn't happen consistently. But it got our mind gears turning and our night time imaginations running wild.

Thanksgiving came and, like everyone else, spent the day at relatives. We didn't get home until 1am. And like usual, as soon as we got the kids in bed Hannah was about to pee her pants so she took a trip to the pee-pee-palace. Little did she know she'd have a mouse, not visions of sugarplums, dancing in her head and in front of her eyes on Thanksgiving night.

While on the toilet, a mouse scurried right under her feet and sprinted into our living room! Hannah's bathroom visit turned into a mouse chase. Torn between a couch and a reclining chair, the rodent eluded capture until we gave up, tossing the chair outside at 2:30 am... with the mouse still inside it. We were exhausted so I did what had to be done so we could get some sleep that night, if any.

Days later, I went under out house into the crawlspace, expecting a minor issue. Instead, I found a mouse haven—voids in the floor easily big enough for mice, droppings everywhere, tunnels in insulation. It was a mouse mess that demanded immediate attention. Good thing I had experience from being a pest control technician - I knew what needed to be done.

Armed with my past as a pest control technician, a week-long battle ensued. Home Depot became my arsenal—spray foam and wire mesh my weapons. Every pipe and every vent became a battleground, filled with foam and sealed with mesh. The bigger voids I used scrap wood to cover using screws to attach. Each evening I'd emerge from our small opening to our crawl space covered in insulation, dirt, mud, gross smells and spray foam on my sleeves. That's what the grind looks like in my opinion ;).

A lull followed, deceptive in its calmness. Then, one morning, a mouse darted across our living room around 6:30am followed by a deafening, alarm clock like shriek from Hannah. Up the stone fireplace it climbed, disappearing through voids without mortar. Hannah tried explaining to me as I had just been woken up by her battle cry moments earlier (it was my day to sleep in and hers to entertain the kids in the wee hours of the morning). I assessed the situation and looked around the fireplace and found several spots where mice could crawl between and through to behind the fireplace. The battle shifted indoors.

Behind the walls, we discovered mice highways, complete with seeds, eaten insulation, and droppings. Steel wool, spray foam, and wire mesh became our tools, sealing these runways and piecing the house back together. I used an endoscope to look behind walls, through the fireplace voids, and in the ceiling voids as well. I found several hideaways that needed attention. I was able to open all the walls, tear off the baseboards, and cut into the bathtub area to reveal mouse droppings, eaten insulation, and a mouse food storage. I started on the job cleaning up, sealing up, and closing back up the walls.

Silence followed my efforts. But, a scratching in our room hinted at a trapped mouse. Two days of futile attempts, then silence. We suspect I trapped a mouse that had already made a home in our walls when I had discovered and remediated the issue, an unintended consequence of our repairs.

The living room became the next battleground. I set up a trail cam to capture the mouse's movements. I was convinced I had sealed up everything I could and that any mouse remaining visible in the house was trapped there. Only one thing to do - trap that son of a b*tch! I caught the last mouse on camera several times and found it's pattern of life within our house and it's routes. I tried several traps of various kinds—none succeeded. Finally, I bought out all glue boards at our local Home Depot and through them everywhere making sure there was no place the mouse could go without stepping on one. That method proved effective! King's excitement echoed through the house as a mouse was caught, still alive.

Since December, winter's icy grip has silenced the haunting sounds. With spring on the horizon, an assessment of our crawlspace awaits, ensuring no avenue for reentry remains. There is still a bit of work to be done to be permanently sure no reentry happens in the future. What a time to be alive and living in the mountains. Hannah sure doesn't appreciate mice in the house but these types of things come with the territory and gives us great stories to tell! Hopefully our DIY mouse infestation remedy and story inspires and helps you fix your situation or just a fun story to read about.

The downside to all this, really, are the sounds of scratching and scurrying in our walls and floors each night. Now, any time there is a creak in the house or shuffle it invokes a momentary paralysis—we listen, we wait, wondering if another mouse lurks.

Hopefully the answer is no... but if you have faced something similar with mice we'd love to hear your experience! Share your stories, your insights, and how you solved it. Like this post if our tale resonated, and let the echoes of mouse wars connect us. Comment below; we're eager to hear your experiences! The battle might be won, but the trauma lingers. Take care of it the #YeehawWay