How to stop animals from digging trenches around house foundations
Burrowing rodents dig deep trenches along home foundations, leaving property owners searching for ways to eliminate the pests and prevent further structural damage. While backfilling with soil and mulch is a common response, stopping the activity requires targeting the animals directly or encouraging natural predators like hawks to clear the yard.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Considering extreme measures like dynamiteDid this help you?
- 2Backfilling with soil and mulchDid this help you?
- 3Setting trapsDid this help you?
- 4Spraying holes with pepper sprayDid this help you?
- 5Treating soil for grubs to eliminate food sourcesDid this help you?
- 6Using traps, peppermint, and cayenne pepperDid this help you?
- 7Using Ramik rat and mouse bait placed into the burrow holesDid this help you?
- 8Hiring an amateur to crawl under the houseDid this help you?
- 9Trying all-natural herbal repellents scattered in vents and under the houseDid this help you?
- 10Considering or avoiding poisonDid this help you?
- 11Hiring handymen to repeatedly replace the damaged standard soffit material.Did this help you?
- 12Installing 1/8-inch galvanized steel mesh (hardware cloth) as a barrier over or under the regular soffit.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I am tired of having a handyman replace soffit that has been destroyed or compromised by rodents, only to see the replaced soffit destroyed or compromised again less than a year later.”source ↗
“Additionally, I have read of some people's concerns that any rodents currently in the attic will be "trapped" up there once the hardware cloth is installed and die in the attic, leaving a pungent odor.”source ↗
“I can hear chewing in my floors. Like a mouse or rat chewing on wood. It's not in one spot or room, its all over the house. So I worry its an infestation.”source ↗
“It sounds like the mice/rats are in the sub flooring where we cant really reach”source ↗
“I'm losing faith in my grandma's ability to hire someone, but I also dont know what to do myself.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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