As late summer turns colder and the temps drop, it is prime time for rodent infestations. The little critters begin looking for shelter before winter hits; your warm home is very inviting. Once inside, mice and other rodents gnaw on just about anything, including electrical wires. When a household fire is deemed to be caused by ?unknown origins, it is often an electrical fire caused by wires chewed by pests.
Even more common are leaks in water supply lines within the home, hidden where you can’t easily inspect for damage. Overtime, even a pinprick leak can cause thousands of dollars of damage to the building materials and your possessions. If you think that rodents might have helped themselves to a drink of water and left the water running, call our water damage restoration experts for help.
Hardy plank and vinyl siding are both at risk for a rodent intrusion. Even a well built brick home can be vulnerable. Mice and rats can enter homes through a variety of openings. Rats can squeeze through holes the size of a half dollar, while mice can fit through gaps the size of a nickel. Open garage doors, cracks in your house’s foundation, and gutters also provide an opportunity for rodents to enter.
Walk around the exterior of the house identifying other mice entry points. Look for evidence of those in current use (droppings and scratch marks) and those that show potential as future problem areas. If the scope is serious, have our team secure the exterior. Caulking, metal-screening, or even new shingles might need to be seamlessly blended with the home’s existing materials. The goal is to make it look like there had ever been a problem.
Finding out you have rodents or other critters living in your house can be an unsettling discovery. Mice and rats are dangerous because they can bite, bring fleas and disease into a home, and create a toxic environment by defecating and urinating within the walls. But the danger to your structure is their ability to chew through plastic water pipes in hard-to-reach places. The damage from rodents chewing through water pipes can occur either over a long time or as one big “flood.”
When damage is slow, a small amount of water will continuously seep in spaces within the walls, causing buildup of mold and rotting porous materials. Drip by drop, the damage can accumulate over weeks into a problem that can cost thousands of dollars in water damage restoration costs to fix.
In other cases, mice and rats can chew through water pipes that are already weak and worn out. Because the pipe is already fragile, the rodent damage can cause the pipe to burst, with large amounts of liquid instantly inundating the space.
Damage to your home or other structures from rats, mice, squirrels and chipmunks is usually not covered by a standard homeowners policy. Animal infestations and damage from animal waste or secretions are also generally excluded from homeowners coverage.
Homeowners insurance policies do not usually provide coverage for damage to your property caused by a pet or other domestic animal, such as a pig, cow or chicken. It’s a good idea to review your homeowners policy to see what kind of coverage it may provide if a wild animal damages your property.
No matter what, or who, caused your water damage, call Logan’s trusted water damage restoration professionals for repairs. Since 2010, Sierra Restoration has treated each assignment not just as a job, but as an opportunity to help a friend; at Sierra Restoration, customers are family.
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