Rodents in Garages, Sheds and Outbuildings in Akron

Yes, the garage and the shed can be treated along with the house. In Akron, detached garages and backyard sheds are often where rodents set up first, and where they're easiest to stop.

Lots of older Akron homes have a one- or two-car garage at the back of the lot, sometimes facing an alley. Many of them sit on thin slabs that have cracked and settled, with wood sills on top and gaps under the door. Add bags of grass seed, birdseed, a stored car and a pile of lumber, and it's an ideal winter home for mice and a safe base for rats. Not sure which rodent moved into the garage? The guide to telling a rat from a mouse sorts it out from the droppings alone.

Rats under the slab, mice in the car

Rats like to burrow under the edge of a garage slab or a shed floor. You'll see the holes along the outside wall, usually with a fan of loose dirt in front. Inside, mice nest in boxes, the lawn mower bag, the camper and, too often, under the hood of a car that doesn't get driven much. A car parked through the winter in a detached garage is a common place to find chewed wires in the spring, and repairs to modern wiring harnesses aren't cheap.

Calls like this come in from all over: the old garages behind houses in Kenmore, the outbuildings on bigger lots in the Valley along the Cuyahoga, and newer attached garages in Cuyahoga Falls where the door seal has worn through.

• Holes and fresh dirt along the slab edge or under the shed
• Chewed bags of seed, fertilizer or dog food
• Nests in boxes, mower bags or the car's air filter housing
• Gnawed corners on the bottom of the garage door
• Droppings on shelves and along the back wall

Handling the garage and the house together

If rodents live in the garage, they'll test the house next, especially if the garage is attached. The tech will usually treat both at once. Outside the garage, locked bait stations go along the walls and fence. Inside, traps along the walls. Then sealing: a new door seal, metal guards on the corners, hardware cloth over gaps at the sill and concrete patch for holes under the slab.

Sheds with wood floors sitting on the ground are tough. Rats burrow underneath and you can't see what's going on. Sometimes the fix is a hardware cloth skirt buried around the base. Sometimes it's raising the shed or clearing out what's stored in it. The tech will tell you what makes sense. For a burrow problem, see rat control. For sealing the house at the same time, see rodent exclusion.

Things to change in the garage right now

Move seed, feed and pet food into metal cans with lids. Get boxes up off the floor onto shelves and away from the walls. Clear out old furniture and rags. If you store a car for the winter, start it and move it now and then, and keep the hood area free of nests. Check under the hood if you see droppings nearby.

Akron winters add one more wrinkle. The garage is warmer than the yard, road salt and slush keep the floor wet, and a car parked inside gives off heat for an hour after you get home. To a mouse in January, that's the best spot on the block. Keep the overhead door shut tight when it's not in use, and don't leave the side door cracked for the dog.

If it's already past that point, call and describe what you're seeing. Tell us whether the garage is attached or detached and what's stored in it.

Related: Rat Control, Rodent Exclusion and Sealing, Mouse Control

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