A mouse can squeeze through a gap about the width of a pencil. In Beeston's older terraces and student lets, that is more than enough room to move in.
People often tell us they have checked everything and cannot see how the mice are getting in. The usual reason is that they were looking for a hole, when a house mouse only needs a crack. Its skull is narrow and its body compresses, so a gap of around six millimetres is enough. Anything that looks like a slot you could slide a pencil into deserves attention, particularly where services enter the building.
Beeston has a lot of Victorian terraces and inter-war housing, and both have their weak spots. Old brickwork loses mortar over the decades, air bricks can be missing their covers, and gaps open up wherever a pipe, a cable or a gas line was added later and sealed with little more than paint. Student houses add another layer: they are altered, repaired and re-let in a hurry, and holes behind units or under stairs often go unnoticed for years.
Droppings are the clearest sign: small, dark and pointed at the ends, usually found along skirting boards, inside cupboards and behind appliances. You might also hear scratching in the evening or at night, find nibbled packaging, or notice a stale, musky smell in a closed cupboard. Mice leave grease marks along the routes they use repeatedly, so a dark smear along a wall base is worth a second look.
Leaving a few traps in the kitchen can catch the odd mouse, but it rarely solves the problem if the entry points stay open, because new mice simply replace the old ones. A proper approach is to find where they are travelling, treat the infestation, and then close the access so it does not repeat. In shared houses that means agreeing who looks after food storage, since open bags of cereal and crumbs under the cooker keep a population going.
It is worth being realistic about timing too. How long it takes to clear a problem depends on how many mice there are, how many entry points exist and whether the building keeps offering food and warmth. A single visitor in a tidy house is a different job from a family living behind a kitchen unit.
We look at the whole property, from the outside walls down to the loft, and explain what we find in plain terms. Free advice comes with all treatments, and you will not be asked to pay a call-out charge. If you have noticed droppings or noises, call us on 0115 937 5117 and we will arrange a visit to suit you.
Yes. A house mouse can pass through a gap of around six millimetres, roughly the width of a pencil, because its skeleton is flexible and its skull is narrow. If you can fit a pencil in, a mouse may be able to follow.
Not if some are already inside, as you could seal them in with a way to roam within the building. It is usually better to deal with the mice first, then proof the entry points using hard-wearing materials.
Tell us what you have seen and where, and we will come back to you. Prices are fixed and there is no call-out charge.
