Before & After Photos

A homeowner in Jackson, NJ contacted Cowleys because of a problem with burrowing groundhogs (woodchucks) digging away at his home’s foundation around the inside corners of the house. For homeowners, these ground squirrels are one of the most damaging pests that can invade your yard. They not only wreak havoc on your lawn from their burrowing activity, as this homeowner found out the hard way, they can damage your home’s foundation if their burrowing activity is adjacent to your home. 

As you can see in the photo, the foundation has a brick overhang. Often, we are able to deal with groundhog infestations with  “Dig Defence,” an underground fencing system made of heavy galvanized steel. We frequently recommend this product since it does not degrade underground. Also, because Dig Defence is a trenchless system, it is relatively easy to install for experienced installers. However, in the wildlife control business, we must deal with the situation we are given, and find those solutions that will work for those situations. When it comes to wildlife, it’s never one size fits all. Here, because of the overhang, we could not install this type of fencing. So, we had to do this the old-fashioned way.

For this groundhog problem, I first wanted to do a trapping set-up. I was able to trap and relocate two groundhogs. While removing these two problem animals will help, I suspected that there were others, and trying to catch all of them would have been an exercise in futility. First, with all of the increased activities, these rodents are skittish and will shift their movement to avoid the traps. Also, this neighborhood was highly conducive to groundhog activity and I could see them thriving here. The entire neighborhood had strep banks with heavy cover, which is ideal for their burrowing activity. Also, there was plenty of food. Many of the neighboring homes had bird feeders and flowers providing them with virtually unlimited food sources.

After completing the trapping, it was time to do the heavy lifting. We pulled back off the rocks around the foundation where the animals were burrowing. Next, we had to dig out the dirt. With a trench dug out, we put in hardware cloth and secured it with masonry screws. This groundhog exclusion will not only work well, it matched up with the house and was aesthetically appealing. No doubt, there was one of our tougher groundhog exclusion jobs, but the end result was well worth it. 

Recently, I was sent to a home in Jackson, NJ that had a troublesome mouse infestation. Mice will commonly enter homes through gaps, cracks, or openings around the foundation to gain access to the crawl space or basement, and from there, travel through wall voids throughout the home searching for food and water. More often than not, they wind up foraging for roof debris in the kitchen and find hidden harborage areas, often where there is heat like around ovens and under refrigerators around the motor housing. 

Here, after discussing with the homeowner, where mice were spotted, I moved out the oven from the wall. There were extensive droppings and an opening around the gas pipe providing the mice with easy access into the kitchen. I sealed the opening around the pipe with hardware cloth and also placed mouse bait stations behind there. Mice will travel in the same pathways alongside walls. Inevitably, they will enter the stations enticed by the tempting bait. Soon thereafter, any mice that visited the station and consumed the bait die. 

After finishing up with the kitchen, I entered the crawl space to determine how the mice were first gaining entry into the home. While down below, I placed more bait boxes right below the kitchen to catch more mice before they even had a chance to venture into the living spaces above. While inspecting the interior perimeter of the basement, I found openings around the crawl space vents that were more than enough for mice to enter. I sealed these openings to prevent new mice entry into the home. With the perimeter entry points sealed and bait stations to deal with any mice already inside, I’m confident that it will not take long for this rodent infestation to be completely resolved. With rodent activity, we schedule a two-week follow-up to reinspect, replenish bait as needed, and determine additional treatments, if necessary.

I arrived at a home in Fords, NJ to inspect for possible rodent activity in the attic. The homeowner, who was hearing light “pitter-patter” noises in the wall voids and attic at night, suspected a mouse infestation. 

I’m often asked why attics such a popular location for mice to live and breed. Well, from their perspective, this “penthouse” location offers everything that a mouse could ask for in a home — it’s warm, dry, small, dark, safe, and out-of-the-way. Also, there is little human traffic up there. Other than using the attic to store clothing and other household items, a home’s occupants rarely venture up there, so mice have the place all too themselves. Attics also offer mice a ready supply of comfy insulation that they use for nests, and there are a virtually infinite number of nooks and crannies to explore and hide in. 

Once mice infest the attic, they not only destroy expensive insulation with their droppings and urine, but they can also chew on electrical wires, creating a potential fire hazard. Mice in the attic are a health hazard for the entire home. While mice may live in the attic, they are scavengers that venture throughout the entire home in search for food. And they inevitably find their way into the kitchen where they bore through cereal boxes and other cardboard containers, contaminating food and spreading disease. Mice are especially attracted to homes where pet food is left out all day. For a mouse, there is nothing better than a continuous supply of food left out in the open for the taking. 

While in the attic, I observed several areas with the most obvious sign of a mouse infestation: distinctive pellet-shaped mouse droppings. A single house mouse can deposit up to seventy-five pellets daily. Multiply that by a dozen or more mice and it doesn’t take long for these filthy droppings to accumulate. I also observed rodent burrows, those little tunnels and runways, in the insulation. Finally, during my inspection, I look for potential access points. In this attic, there were gaps and open voids around electrical lines and pipelines, giving them easy potential entry points.

I started my treatment by setting a tracking powder inside all rodent burrows, pathways and entry points. Mice may hide in the attic, but they have to leave in order to feed. Mice come into contact with the tracking powder because these creatures of habit use the same runways and entry points over and over. This potent powder, which adheres to a rodent’s fur and paws, is ingested when the rodent grooms, killing them soon thereafter. I also sealed and patched the rodent entry points with copper mesh. Finally, I set up rodent bait and snap traps in the attic. After finishing my interior service, I moved to the outside of the home, inspecting for possible entry points. I found a large potential rodent access point around the A/C unit lines going into the home. I sealed that opening and treated around the area. Finally, as an extra precaution, I set up some exterior rodent bait stations.

I explained my findings and treatment to the homeowner. He was pleased that he was well on his way toward having this troublesome mouse infestation permanently resolved. 

A homeowner in Keasbey contacted Cowleys after hearing strange wildlife scratching and scurrying noises in her basement and inside her wall voids. Mice use wall voids to travel unseen inside a home when foraging for food. Even though mice inevitably find their way into the kitchen for food, they may be nesting anywhere. Rodents have a “gift” for staying out of sight since these nocturnal creatures do their foraging at night. Often, you’ll see signs of rodent activity well before spotting a live rodent, and it is important to keep your eyes, ears, and nose open. Mice populations increase rapidly, and you want to address these infestations as early as possible.

This homeowner was quite happy to see me when I arrived, and was thankful that I was sent out immediately to deal with the infestation. For a homeowner, those unfamiliar squeaks and scratches can be quite disturbing, and she wanted whatever trespassers were hiding in her home to be gone.

All indications were that this home has a mouse infestation. I inspected both the home’s interior and exterior for rodent activity. Although the mice themselves may be hard to spot, they are messy creatures that leave behind plenty of signs, including clusters of their tiny, dark pellet-like droppings, smelly urine, chewed wires, and clumps of insulation, paper, cardboard, or other nesting materials. Sometimes you’ll see mouse markings on walls, which are stains left from the dirt and oily residue in their hair.

Also, during a rodent inspection, I am always on the lookout for potential access points. Entry points need to be identified, so an exclusion can be performed. Exclusions prevent more animals from finding their way inside your home using the exact same routes. In this home, I found several gaps around pipes and other areas, as well as a small basement window that had been left open for some time giving the rodents an open invitation for entry.  

I closed the window and spoke with the homeowner about making sure that all ground-level windows stay shut. After setting a rodent tracking powder inside the gaps and voids, I sealed them with copper mesh. Copper mesh effectively blocks out mice. Mice can chew through wood and a lot of other material, but not this stuff. After treating burrows and patching the holes and gaps, I set up rodent bait stations around the exterior of the home and inside the basement in order to trap any mice still lurking in and around the home. 

This homeowner in Avenel, NJ contacted Cowleys for a crawl space improvement. Cowleys has an experienced crew that handles various crawl space improvements, up to and including full encapsulation and whole-house dehumidification for homeowners with water and moisture issues. These issues often result in mold growth that then affects the indoor air quality of the home.  

This particular installation job was more limited, and we are more than happy to adjust the scope of our work to meet the particular needs of the homeowner. The homeowner did not require full encapsulation (Cleanspacing”) because the crawl space was dry and did not have humidity levels that would be conducive to mold growth. However, the customer decided that it was time to replace his flimsy 6-mil “contractor bag” vapor barrier with something more durable and substantial in order to deal off the dirt and prevent dust and odors that periodically permeated the living areas above. 

To meet the needs of this homeowner we removed the old barrier and replaced it with our tear-resistant heavy-duty 20-mil CleanSpace vinyl vapor barrier. This vapor barrier is only available to licensed Basement Systems dealers. Our barrier is a specially engineered film made of layers of high density and low density polyethylene, and you  can walk on it without worrying about rips and tears. With its mil thickness, this barrier has the durability of a plastic tarp. 

The homeowner was quite pleased with our installation work and informed us that if he ever needed additional crawl space renovations, he’d have us back in an instant.