Rats and Mice in the Garage: Fort Lauderdale Rodent Control

Florida homes don't have basements, so the garage takes their place as the spot rodents find first. It holds the water heater, the washer and dryer, extra freezers, pet food and bags of bird seed. It has a big door that rarely seals tight, and an attic overhead that connects to the rest of the house.

Calls about the garage cover a lot of ground: mice on the shelves, a roof rat in the garage attic, droppings near the pool pump, or a chewed wire under the hood of a car. Parked cars are their own problem. Rats in car engines covers that.

What people usually notice first:

• Droppings on shelves, the water heater or the dryer
• Chewed bags of pet food, seed or grass seed
• Daylight at the bottom corners of the garage door
• Noises in the attic over the garage
• Chewed wires or nesting material under a car hood

What a thorough garage job includes

A garage job is part trapping, part sealing and part housekeeping. Ask the technician to cover each:

• Inspection of the door seals, walls, slab edge, vents and garage attic
• Traps along the walls and behind stored items
• New bottom seal and side seals on the garage door if they're worn
• Sealing pipe, dryer vent and water heater vent gaps
• A check of the shared wall and attic connection to the house
• Advice on moving food into sealed metal or heavy plastic bins

Step by step

Most garage jobs go like this:

1. Clear enough clutter to see the walls and floor edges
2. Inspect the door, walls, attic access and any pool equipment area
3. Set traps and remove the food sources
4. Replace or adjust door seals and close wall openings
5. Check the garage attic for roof rats and seal the roofline if needed
6. Recheck until the traps stay empty

Why garages get rodents in Fort Lauderdale

Garage doors here get opened all day, and many people leave them up while working in the yard. Door seals harden and crack in the sun. Storage piles up because there's no basement or cellar. The garage attic is often hotter and less sealed than the attic over the house, and roof rats use it as a way in. Callers in Imperial Point and Plantation often hear rats over the garage first.

Pool equipment areas sit outside next to the house with pumps, heaters and covers that rats chew. Boat and dock storage on canal lots adds more cover.

What you can do today

Move pet food, bird seed and grass seed into sealed metal cans. Get boxes off the floor and onto shelves away from the walls. Close the garage door when you're not in it. Check the bottom corners of the door for daylight. If you see it, a mouse can get through, since UF/IFAS says mice fit through cracks a quarter inch wide.

Cars, golf carts and boats

Rodents nest in engine bays, golf cart battery compartments and boats on trailers, especially ones that sit for weeks. Snowbirds who leave a car in the garage all summer often come back to chewed wires and nests in the air filter box. Before you leave for a long stretch, clear food out of the garage and ask the provider about traps along the walls.

Check the engine bay if the car sat for a while: droppings, leaves and shredded insulation are the giveaways. Have a mechanic look at any chewed wiring before you take the car out.

Signs it came from the garage

If you're finding droppings in the laundry room or the kitchen wall next to the garage, the garage is the likely source. Look for droppings along the garage walls, shredded insulation from the garage door panels, and grease marks at the corners of the door. A hum of activity in the attic over the garage at night points to roof rats using it as their way into the house.

Related services: Mouse Control, Roof Rat Control, Rodent Exclusion & Sealing

Areas served: Victoria Park, Las Olas, Rio Vista, Sailboat Bend, Tarpon River, Croissant Park, Harbor Beach, Coral Ridge, Imperial Point, Downtown & Flagler Village, Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Plantation, Davie, Hollywood, Dania Beach, Pompano Beach, Lighthouse Point, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Coral Springs.