Mice in Mobile and Manufactured Homes

Most mice in a mobile or manufactured home come in from underneath: through gaps in the skirting, then up through openings where plumbing and wiring pass through the floor. Close the skirting, seal the floor penetrations with metal mesh and fix any torn underbelly material, and you've closed the main routes.

Manufactured homes are common around Albuquerque. The Albuquerque Historical Society notes that Four Hills Mobile Home Park, with about 1,000 spaces, is the largest in the city, and the South Valley, Edgewood and Moriarty have many on private lots.

The space under the home is sheltered and dark, and skirting rarely seals tight to the ground. Once inside the crawl space, mice find the underbelly, the layer of material that holds insulation against the floor. Tears in it lead into the insulation, and from there pipe and wire holes lead into the cabinets and walls.

Check these points first:

• Gaps where skirting meets the ground or the home
• Skirting vents with missing or damaged screens
• Openings around water, drain and gas lines under the floor
• Tears and loose seams in the underbelly
• The space around the furnace and water heater closets
• Under steps, decks and porches attached to the home

NMSU Extension says mice fit through a quarter-inch hole and recommends quarter-inch hardware cloth over openings. Steel wool, foam, rubber and wood don't hold up. For skirting, run hardware cloth along the bottom edge and bury it a few inches if the ground allows. Screen the vents. Inside, seal the pipe openings under sinks and in closets with mesh and sealant. Patch underbelly tears with material made for it.

Trap first, so you aren't sealing mice inside. Rodent exclusion covers materials in more detail.

If mice have nested in the underbelly insulation, cleaning it is a dirty, cramped job. The CDC says to bag contaminated insulation for removal, and for heavy infestations calls for coveralls, boots, goggles and a HEPA respirator. NMSU also recommends a HEPA or N-100 mask in confined spaces. Most people hire this out. See droppings and nest cleanup.

Inside the home, follow the soak-and-wipe method: ventilate, spray with bleach solution, wait 5 minutes, wipe and bag. Hantavirus-safe cleanup has the steps.

In a park, the park owner may handle common areas and the space between homes, while you handle your home. Check your lease. In Albuquerque, the city's Urban Biology Division takes 311 complaints from multi-unit housing, but a manufactured home is usually a single unit, so private pest control is the route. On a rural lot, outbuildings and feed add to the problem. Cabin and shed rodent control covers those.

Once mice are past the floor, they head for the kitchen and bathrooms. Check under sinks for gaps around pipes, behind the stove and refrigerator, and inside the furnace and water heater closets. Seal the gaps with mesh and sealant. Store food in sealed containers and keep pet food off the floor at night. Set snap traps along walls where you find droppings, and follow the kitchen cleanup steps.

If you're tackling this yourself, work in this order:

• Set snap traps inside along walls where droppings show up
• Walk the skirting and mark every gap and damaged vent
• Look under the home with a flashlight for torn underbelly material
• Once the catch stops, close skirting gaps and vents with hardware cloth
• Seal pipe openings in the floor from inside the cabinets
• Clean droppings with the soak-and-wipe method
• Keep a couple of traps out for a month to confirm it worked

The ground around a mobile home matters too. Keep the area next to the skirting clear of weeds, stored items and firewood, which give mice cover right at the entry points. Store pet food and birdseed in metal cans. If the home sits next to open land, expect more pressure in fall and check the skirting each September.

Crawling under a manufactured home to fix skirting and underbelly is cramped and dirty work, and droppings make it a hantavirus concern. A provider can trap, seal the skirting and floor openings and clean the crawl space with the right gear. Ask whether they've worked on manufactured homes before and what materials they use for skirting. See rodent exclusion.

Manufactured homes in parks and on private lots both qualify for the same work.

• Mice in Adobe and Stucco Homes: Finding and Closing the Gaps
• Cleaning Up After Mice Without Breathing In Hantavirus
• Saw One Mouse? Here's How to Tell If It's Alone
• Mice in a Rental: What New Mexico Law Expects of Landlords and Tenants

Services: Sealing and Exclusion / Droppings and Nest Cleanup / House Mouse Control

1. Albuquerque Historical Society: Albuquerque's Environmental Story, East Gateway
2. NMSU Extension Guide L-209: Rodent Control and Protection from Hantavirus
3. CDC: How to Clean Up After Rodents
4. City of Albuquerque Environmental Health: Rodents