Mouse Control for Kalksteenfontein homes and businesses

Kalksteenfontein is small enough that most people know their neighbours, and that helps, because rats here are a shared problem rather than a private one. Give us a block of five or six houses that agree to treat together and we can make a real dent.

Rodents in Kalksteenfontein: what we see

Rats dig in under wendy houses and along walls in the soft sand, and mice live in the shared roof spaces. A row treated on the same day keeps them from simply shifting next door.

It is mostly compact council-built homes in rows and pairs, with wendy houses and brick rooms added in the backyards over the years. Roof lines often run unbroken across several homes, which gives mice a private corridor above the ceilings. The backyard rooms, with their timber floors sitting on sand, are where we find rat burrows most often.

The ground is open, flat Cape Flats sand with very little to break the wind. After a few days of winter rain, low corners and blocked drains hold water, and the open veld nearby stays soggy. In summer the South-Easter piles litter against fences, and that windblown rubbish becomes rat food.

How to tell you have a problem

1. Small droppings about the size of a grain of rice in drawers, cupboards and along skirtings.
2. A sharp, ammonia-like smell inside closed cupboards.
3. Nibbled corners of cereal boxes, bread bags and pet food packets.
4. Light scratching in the walls or under the kitchen units at night.

Worth knowing

When we arrive for mice, the first place we check is behind the stove and under the sink. Those two spots explain most kitchen infestations.

The biggest mistake is putting traps in the middle of the floor. Mice run along walls, so traps should be against the skirting with the trigger facing the wall.

Our process, step by step

We start by finding where they get in and where they nest, which is usually a gap behind the stove, around a geyser pipe or under a kitchen unit. Indoors we mainly use snap traps and enclosed traps placed along the walls, because mice run close to edges and are curious enough to investigate. Where baiting is needed, it goes inside tamper-resistant stations that children and pets cannot open, after a bait risk assessment. We then seal the entry points with steel wool, mesh and sealant, because mice can squeeze through a hole about the width of a pencil. A follow-up visit checks the traps and confirms the activity has stopped.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our mouse control service works.

Stopping a repeat visit

• Fit brush strips to the bottom of garage and outside doors.
• Keep the garage tidy, since boxes on the floor make perfect mouse nests.
• Do not leave pet food out overnight in the kitchen.
• Move cereal, pasta, rice and pet food into hard plastic or glass containers with good lids.
• Pull the stove and fridge out once in a while and clean the crumbs and grease behind them.

How much will it cost?

The price depends on how many rooms are affected, how long the mice have been there and how many gaps need sealing. A single kitchen is quicker than a whole house with mice in the walls and the garage. Follow-up visits are usually included, and the quote is free.

Mice are one pest where DIY genuinely works if you are thorough: a handful of snap traps baited with peanut butter, set against the walls, will catch a lot of them. Where people go wrong is not sealing the gaps, so if you are still catching mice after two or three weeks, it is time to call us.

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