Why do mice gnaw on styrofoam

What materials will mice not chew on?

Answering this question, we say “Yes!”. Styrofoam attracts gray animals with the search for food, comfort for housing and reproduction. At the same time, they violate the structure and functionality of the building material, turning it into dust. Damage can be up to 60%, especially for granular polystyrene.

Rodents are very resourceful. This is their basic instinct. So, within the walls of the house they will arrange a warehouse of mouse goodies. It is easy to imagine what aromas will soar. The smell of decay, which can spoil the living conditions of the owners of the house.

Rodent-resistant materials

When building a house, knowing in advance that mice love polystyrene or mineral wool, experts advise using

• foam concrete is an environmentally friendly lightweight material that has sufficient porosity for heat and good rigidity, as a result of which mice do not gnaw it;
• expanded clay - granules up to 4 cm in size, consisting of several types of clay: mice do not settle in it, because. they lack air, and small particles block the airways;
• ecowool - made with the addition of orthoboric acid, poisonous to rodents, but safe for humans. It is successfully used for insulation of buildings from the inside and outside, the service life is up to 50 years;
• foam glass - soot and foamed glass are used in the manufacture, such a hard material does not lend itself to mouse teeth.

The question of the interaction of two "neighbors", such as polystyrene foam and mice, without observing protective measures during construction, usually leads to negative results, so all owners should think about how to protect their warm home from rodent invasion.

Foam glass

Foam glass is produced from crushed waste from the glass industry, which is mixed with a foaming agent. Limestone, anthracite, coke are commonly used as a foaming agent. The resulting mass is poured into molds and placed in an oven at temperatures up to 1000 degrees.

Foam glass is produced in the form of plates. The material has absolute resistance to moisture, has high strength, is invulnerable to temperature extremes. Another advantage of foam glass is that it is an environmentally friendly material that does not emit anything harmful to health. When installing foam glass insulation, the fastening solution must be of good quality, and the seams between the plates must be sealed. This is what prevents mice from entering the room.

Rodent-resistant insulation

Basically, rodents avoid heaters of inorganic origin, which are distinguished by a rather dense and solid structure, which they cannot cope with. These heaters include:

• Foam glass;
• foam concrete;
• Expanded clay;
• Ecowool.

Most often, mice bypass inorganic materials with a solid and loose structure.

Foam glass

A modern heat-insulating material, presented for sale in the form of a bulk substance or solid boards. The insulation has an extended service life and is absolutely immune to rodent teeth.

The material is made from waste glass foamed with a carbon mixture. The result is strong glass cells that fit as tightly as possible to each other.

The advantages of the material include:

• High performance thermal insulation of the room;
• Easy installation;
• Immunity to high humidity;
• Pest protection;
• It can be used for insulation of residential and non-residential premises.

Foam glass is one of the most expensive heaters with a declared service life of up to 100 years.

The insulation is different in that it damages the oral cavity of the animal when trying to gnaw through it. Even if a mouse or a rat tries to gnaw through the move, they will leave this venture as quickly as possible.

foam concrete

Foam concrete is a material for warming various premises, both residential and non-residential.It is supplied to the market in the form of a loose mixture or blocks. According to its technical characteristics, it is as close as possible to concrete, but has less weight.

The material is used infrequently due to its shortcomings:

• Plaster does not adhere well to the surface;
• Increased susceptibility to moisture;
• If the installation rules are violated, you may encounter the development of mold fungi at the joints.

Its only advantage is rodent resistance.

Expanded clay

Another popular building insulation material that is immune to mice and rats. The material is obtained by firing clay. As a result, light fractions of various sizes are obtained, having a porous structure.

The material is poured into the cavity during the insulation of the foundation, the floors of the frame of the house, as well as when performing roofing work.

When moving under expanded clay, the animal will begin to experience hypoxia

The main advantages of the material include:

• Simplicity in carrying out insulation work;
• Absolute safety from an environmental point of view.

Ecowool

Ecowool is a modern insulation, the advantages and disadvantages of which are still fiercely discussed among builders around the world. At the same time, the main advantage of the material remains undeniable - mice and rats avoid it.

The material is made from cellulose, and special additives and additives make the material immune to fire. Another advantage is excellent soundproofing characteristics. For comparison, mineral wool, which is famous for its soundproofing properties, is almost 4 times inferior to ecowool.

Ecowool is a very light material and is great for insulating the ceiling or floor.

Manufacturers supplement the composition with orthoboric acid and boric salts. Substances, interacting with a rodent, provoke the development of dehydration, lack of air and sudden death. In this regard, pests prefer to bypass the material.

Why mice need foam

Rodents have a special structure of teeth. On the upper, lower jaw there are a pair of incisors, which appear closer to 20 days after birth, grow until the end of life. Teeth grow by 1 mm per day. If nothing is done about it, the mouse simply will not be able to close its mouth.

Rodents are forced to grind incisors daily on hard materials. For this reason, they gnaw on absolutely inedible "products", not particularly touching. Plastic, concrete, brick, wood, fabric, polyester, polystyrene, etc. are used.

Also mice gnaw on styrofoam for some more reasons:

• In a stressful situation. When there is a lot of noise in the room or there is a struggle for survival, a habitat. Rodents mark their territory in this way, calm the nerves.
• Innovation. All unknown mouse materials are tasted. Useless "food" will not be eaten by rodents, but they will use it for other purposes.
• Building material for the nest. The properties of polystyrene were appreciated not only by people, but also by mice. Non-toxic, well separated into pieces, has high thermal insulation. Mice build their nests directly in the thickness of the foam, gnaw through numerous passages there, or bite off parts, drag them to a more convenient place for them.

Styrofoam and mice

Styrofoam in the walls separates the outside of the building from the inside. Trying to get into the room, the mice gnaw on everything, evaluating for hardness. Seeing that the material lends itself well, the animals firmly achieve their goal. Some kind of flaw in the construction. Allows pests to enter the house almost unhindered.

Insulation in the house is a necessary thing

Against the background of this problem, attempts are being made to get rid of annoying "roommates" with modern ultrasonic devices, poisoned baits. But these remedies are ineffective, and even a couple of cats in the house sometimes do not solve the problem.

The solution is seen only in the use of heaters, which are of no interest to the sharp teeth of rodents.

Despite the fact that the selected type of insulation must be resistant to rodent attacks, it must also perform its main functions, having practical parameters:

• Thermal conductivity - the lower the coefficient of this characteristic, the more reliably the house is protected from cold temperatures
• Heat capacity - higher values ​​of this parameter provide better heat retention
• Vapor barrier - if the insulation meets the standards of this criterion, walls and other structural elements are not at risk of infection with fungus and mold
• Noise isolation is an important argument, especially when insulating partitions and walls in multi-storey panel houses
• Ignition risk resistance

In order not to experiment once again with the taste of rodents, you can immediately determine those heaters for the walls of a wooden house that are suitable for their interests:

• Basalt wool. Here rodents feel very comfortable, arranging nests for breeding. Rats are able to live in such a heater until it turns into dust.
• Styrofoam - with the cohabitation of rodents, the supply of insulation may not be enough even for a couple of seasons
• Ordinary polystyrene foam is also an attractive dwelling place for rodents

But these animals feel discomfort when arranging isolation:

• Penoizol. This is a type of foam, but with different components and structure
• Extruded polystyrene foam, the dense structure of which does not crumble, and is not suitable for mice and rats to live in
• Aerated concrete with a solid structure that is too tough for rodents
• Ecowool, which contains borax, which does not arouse the interest of rodents

But more effective heaters in the confrontation with a detachment of rodents are expanded clay and foam glass.

If you please, another time heaters that do not gnaw

For one reason or another, the forks of insulating materials listed below are not of interest to rodents:

Concrete-based materials benefit from strength. Ecowool contains orthoboric acid, which is added to the composition so that the organic insulation does not rot. It also protects the material from pests.

So, at the beginning of the article, we had three tasks: to find out how to insulate the house so that mice and other rodents could not start in the heater, how to process the material so that mice were not interested in it, and how to get rid of pests if they were already visiting. We noted that:

• Mineral wool and polystyrene are attacked;
• Around the area to be insulated, it is necessary to arrange a building envelope - for example, foam plastic can be plastered without leaving even a small gap;
• Material treated with insecticidal agents or orthoboric acid repels pests;

Whatever the material is treated with, mice in the insulation will not appear for sure only if it is covered with a protective layer. The material thus protected will properly serve its purpose.

I wish you good construction and only invited guests to the house!

About penoplex

There are many types of heaters, each with its own pros and cons. Penoplex is called extruded material. The extrusion method is simple. Under the influence of high temperature, under strong pressure, granular polystyrene foams, from which smooth plates are then made. This is a finely porous material in which cells isolated from each other are located. They are filled with air.

Why do many choose penoplex for the construction of a country house? The advantages of this material:

1. It is inexpensive.
2. Differs in the special durability and reliability.
3. It has a low level of thermal conductivity, so penoplex is better than many heaters.
4. It prevents the penetration of moisture, only 2 cm of this insulation in terms of vapor permeability is the same as roofing material. But it absorbs moisture where the cut is, tk. at this point the cells lose their integrity.
5. This material does not rot or decompose, there is no mold in it, i.e. it is biostable.But, despite this, it is highly environmentally friendly, although some disagree with this statement. If there is a fire and the material catches fire, then harmful substances are released. But penoplex cannot ignite on its own. It is easy to cut, you can install it, not paying attention to weather conditions.
6. It serves, taking into account various influences, fifty years. But studies have been conducted in which the material was frozen and then thawed. Even in such harsh conditions, he withstood, and confirmed his warranty period with a margin.
7. Does not dissolve, does not change shape when exposed to alcohol-based paints, chlorine, cement mortar, etc.

In order for these useful properties to be preserved, it is important to buy quality products and install them correctly. If these conditions are not met, it loses its properties, oxidizes and even releases toxins.

Penoplex regularly serves the owner of the house for 50 years or more

There are several types of penoplex, which differ from each other in various characteristics. There is Penoplex Foundation, with special strength. Penoplex wall is made with flame retardants, so this material will not immediately ignite. They are rarely insulated inside, if it is difficult to do it outside. If you work with it indoors, choose thinner plates to make it easier to work. There is also Penoplex Roofing, which can withstand heavy loads. Such a roof will last a long time, even if it is a flat version, and then a flower garden was laid out on it. There is also the universal Penoplex Comfort, which is used everywhere.

Rodents and penoplex

Do mice eat this material? These rodents, like any living creatures, eat only what is needed for the body, i.e. various nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc. Penoplex does not contain these useful substances, so mice do not eat it.

Why mice gnaw foam

But this does not mean that your garden houses are protected. Yes, mice do not eat penoplex for food, but they still gnaw it to build tunnels. They need access to a living space where it is warm and there is food. If the mice plan to get inside, they will not use the door for this, but will gnaw through tunnels in the walls, including in the insulation. This material lends itself easily to their sharp teeth.

Mice gnaw on almost everything, and in the case of penoplex, they don’t have to try very hard, because. it is a soft material with a porous composition that lends itself easily. It is also bad that by destroying the integrity of the insulation, mice worsen its thermal insulation properties.

Mice love to gnaw their way through soft insulation.

Protection methods

How to protect your home from rodents, how to prevent damage to the insulation? If this is a country house, then try to make it unattractive to rodents. Mice run to where there is a lot of food. Therefore, remove all crumbs, all supplies, take them with you or hide them in jars where they will not climb. But there are other ways to protect:

1. Buy hard boards that mice can't chew through.
2. Do not be too lazy to place a metal mesh or a sheet of tin outside that the mice cannot overcome.
3. Lead a constant fight with rodents, get a cat that will drive them out of the house.
4. Another way to protect is to paint the insulation.

Or ditch the foam and use material that mice don't chew on. Now there are many thermal insulation materials that meet these requirements. Rodents do not live in expanded clay, but they will drown in sand or gravel insulation. Mice will not be able to gnaw through expanded clay, so they can insulate basements, walls, floors, etc. Or get foam glass, which is also not favored by mice.

Before you start building a house, consider all the details. Where mice are found, and the fight against them does not bring results (neighbors have all the conditions for the reproduction of rodents), it is worth building houses with heaters that mice do not gnaw. In other cases, it is necessary to use methods of protection and constantly fight rodents.

Protection of foam from pests

Styrofoam is a very convenient material for thermal insulation and sound insulation. But it is the various foams that are most susceptible to attack by mice and rats.These are materials such as extruded polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, penoizol, penoplex. These materials are artificial, therefore they are not suitable for mice, but they gnaw them and turn them into dust. In the resulting voids, rodents arrange nests for themselves. To protect it from rodents, certain measures must be taken:

1. It is necessary to choose foam for insulation of dense varieties, since it is inconvenient for mice to gnaw on dense material.
2. Proper installation of foam is required. It must be carefully puttied, as well as sheathed with the help of special materials, selected individually. The purpose of proper installation is to prevent the appearance of cracks, since rodents enter the dwelling through the cracks.
3. All openings must be sealed with mounting foam.
4. It is desirable to provide metal sheathing along all walls at the pest penetration level. They can't deal with metal.

These measures must be taken into account at the construction stage. If they were not accepted, it remains to take actions aimed at scaring away rodents:

1. The easiest way is to get a cat. Only the smell of a cat in the house repels mice.
2. You can install an electronic repeller, but if the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe house is large, one device will not be enough, you will have to install several. Such repellers emit ultrasound of various frequencies, which cause fear in rodents and force them to leave the building.
3. All food supplies must be kept out of the reach of rodents.
4. The home must be kept clean.

To protect the foam, folk remedies are effective. They are based on the use of various plants that repel rodents with their smell. These are plants such as needles, tobacco, mint, wormwood. These plants in a dried form, it is enough just to scatter them in the corners. At the stage of building a house, you can process the foam with lime or red pepper.

Some people use boric acid to repel pests, but its effectiveness in controlling rodents has not been proven.

If none of the above methods helps, you need to contact the sanitary and epidemiological station, whose employees will come and carry out a complete disinfection of the premises and the elimination of all rodents.

That mice won't gnaw

What mice don't chew

Mice do not start in solid insulation. They simply cannot make a hole for themselves in these materials.

Foam glass

It has sufficient strength, thanks to which it protects the house from the invasion of rodents and insects. There are two types:

The first type is used when it is required to insulate floors, ceilings and ceilings. Plates are used for wall insulation.

Foam glass has the following advantages:

1. Does not emit harmful fumes into the environment and is safe for human health.
2. Allows you to use a jigsaw or a hacksaw, so it is easy to work with.
3. The insulation is not affected by sunlight or moisture. It is durable and easy to operate.
4. Rodents are not able to gnaw a hole in it.
5. Prevents the appearance of fungus.

Although mice do not like this insulation, they can enter the room through the seams between the plates. To prevent this from happening, you should use a sealant and lay the material on a solution whose quality has been confirmed by positive reviews.

It is made from special clay, which is cleaned and then formed into granules with a diameter of 10 to 25 mm. The pellets are hardened at high temperatures, increasing their strength and reducing their weight.

More often, attic floors and basements are insulated with expanded clay, but the material can also be used for walls.

Mice in the walls covered with expanded clay will not be able to move. They will simply sink into small fractions. The dust contained in the insulation will not allow rodents to breathe normally and will clog their nose, and the teeth of mice and rats will break on strong balls. Animals cannot survive in such conditions.

The material has the following advantages:

1. Well insulates the walls.
2. Has zero fire hazard.
3. Does not let in extraneous sounds.
4. Inexpensive and durable.
5. Provides reliable waterproofing.

Expanded clay is not used to insulate the walls of a wooden house. Brick walls are insulated during the construction phase.

Clay balls also insulate the underground. To do this, small granules are selected and laid using the “dry screed” technology. Expanded clay in this case can be poured onto the ground or concrete.

It is made in the form of blocks and in the form of a solution. The latter type is good because it does not have seams through which mice and rats can enter a person's house.

Heaters are treated with brick walls from the side of the street or poured into the masonry during construction work.

Foam concrete is made from sand, water, a foaming agent and cement. After hardening, it becomes very hard.

And if builders are concerned about the question in which insulation mice do not start, you should pay attention to this material. Rodents will bypass it

Blocks are used for wall insulation. The floor is insulated with a solution. The material has many advantages:

1. Foam block houses are warm, quiet and durable.
2. The insulation does not absorb moisture and does not crack.
3. Rodents, ants and cockroaches cannot settle in it.
4. Stacking blocks is easy because they are light in weight.
5. The material is easy to process. It is sawn, cut and drilled, if necessary.

Insulation is not used indoors, because condensation may form at its joints, which will cause the development of mold fungi.

Insulation is a new material in construction, but it is gaining more and more popularity despite its high cost. The fiber can only be applied with special equipment. After it hardens, it is leveled with a roller.

The insulating material is made from cellulose. It can be placed inside and outside the building, it has no drawbacks in use.

The list of benefits of ecowool is as follows:

1. It is safe for humans and animals that live indoors.
2. It muffles any noises that the street makes and keeps the heat inside the home.
3. Does not rot or decompose.
4. It has a low fire hazard, because it actively releases moisture when heated.

The material is light and soft, so some do not understand why mice and rats cannot nibble on it. The fact is that ecowool contains orthoboric acid. It causes an attack of suffocation and dehydration in living creatures. If the pest wants to make a nest in the material, then he will not be able to live there for a long time.

The acid is also endowed with antiseptic properties, and it is it that prevents the cotton wool from catching fire when heated.

What is the attraction of the material

And really, why do mice gnaw on foam plastic? There are at least five reasons for this.

• Everything is elementary. A plastic material with excellent thermal insulation properties is ideal not only for insulating a person’s home, but also for arranging rodent nests, where they settle without a twinge of conscience. Other building materials have similar properties: polystyrene foam, polystyrene foam, which mice gnaw for the same purpose.
• Even if the gray animals are not going to live in foam, they will still use it to create their own labyrinth. The beaten paths are corridors through which one can safely navigate between the nest and the kitchen or pantry, where many tasty and edible human stores are stored.
• The constant growth of the incisors makes the animals need to gnaw on the surrounding objects.
• House mice can damage the material in stressful situations: for example, with strong noise, as a result of a sharp increase in the number of individuals in the population, when the struggle for food and shelter begins.
• Exploratory behavior: it has long been proven that when in contact with a new and unknown rodents try to try an unusual object for them on the tooth.

What not to choose

So, the greatest pleasure for rodents is delivered by natural insulation and polystyrene. A heater based on mineral and basalt wool will not stop them either. All these heaters are soft, so it’s quite easy to “crack down” on them. Given the significant sound insulation, it will be difficult to immediately hear the presence of mice.

The only way to protect the space between the wall and the insulator is to use solid insulation. However, aerated concrete and the company have one significant drawback - they can only be used at the stage of building construction. And on top of that, they conduct heat well, so they are rarely used.

Another solution to the problem is inflatable insulators, led by penoizol. Mice don't eat them at all. However, due to the small amount of work, the cost of insulation can increase several times compared to alternatives. But its plus is that they can be insulated both during construction and at the stage of operation of the building.

If you can't afford solid insulators, take steps to protect the insulation from rodents. When insulating with materials from natural raw materials, give preference to balls, which are immediately concreted. Concrete will protect the foam or straw from the teeth of mice.

Give preference to the strip foundation - it will be difficult for rodents to overcome it. And under the floor of the first floor, put any loose insulation and broken glass

It is important to adhere to the technology of laying a heat insulator. Gross violations of the stages of work will lead to the appearance of gaps, which mice will certainly take advantage of.

If problems arise already during operation, additional measures will have to be taken. There are several main ways to deal with rodents:

• laying ecowool in floor coverings - it consists of 80% wood pulp and 20% borax, becoming an antiseptic, mice do not eat it;
• spray the blocks with a solution of lime and borax;
• adding slag, tobacco dust, ash, mint, wormwood and pine branches to the insulation;
• the use of metal nets in places where rodents can enter - for example, in the floor;
• use of a monolithic reinforced concrete slab as a foundation.

When planning construction, it is worth wrapping the building with a metal grate (cells 5 by 5 mm). But sometimes rodents gnaw through a mesh with a wire thickness of 1.5 mm.

When the mice are already wound up

When the mice are already wound up, you can do the following. The first method is the use of a "expanded clay" lock by firing low-melting clay. A 30 cm layer of expanded clay is laid out on the ground, which is covered on top with a plastic film, two layers of OSB-3. Laminate is laid on top of these layers. This method is very efficient. Also, a 10 cm layer of expanded clay is placed between the main and subfloor.

Acoustic devices will also be effective, especially those that imitate the sounds of animals and birds of prey that feed on mice. And if none of the above helps, get a mousetrap cat.

Now you know which insulator mice do not gnaw on - this is penoizol. For all other materials there are means of protection.

Chemical activity

Of particular note is its low chemical activity. This is another positive side of the material, since it is not affected by many compositions:

• alcohol-based paints;
• different types of acids;
• salt solutions;
• chlorine;
• various oils and paraffins;
• cement mortars.

But there are also such substances, although there are few of them, that have the ability, when interacting with foam, to make it change shape and even dissolve.

When insulating glue for work, it is important to choose the one indicated in the instructions

This is important: when choosing a solvent for painting, you should carefully study the instructions in order to avoid deformation and shrinkage of the material