What type size mesh to keep out rats/mice?

darsunt

I'm looking to get some wire mesh or screen to keep out mice and rats. What size mesh should I get? What is the best way to secure it? Can mice and rats dig under it (we have sandy soil)

bofusmosby

I am assuming that this will be for the crawl-space at the foundation. I have tried regular 1/4" mesh screen, and they just chew right through this. I would use the lath screen, also called carpenters cloth. It is a lot heavy'er, and more difficult to chew through. As far as digging under, you might want to use some pieces of rebar, and use wire to tie this into the bottom edge of the wire mesh. Bury the bottom edge down about 6-8", just in case some critter tries to tunnel under. The wire mesh will be galvanized, so even if it does rust, it should last for quite a while.

RippySkippy

sometimes the carpenters cloth is also known as hardware cloth

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Bugzilla

Just remember this: rats can get through a hole the size of a quarter and mice through one the size of a nickel. To learn more about these varments, check out the pest library @ LINK REMOVED . There's some good info there.