Before & After Photos

I was sent to Middletown, NJ with my colleague Alfonso to help a homeowner who had contacted Cowleys after finding mouse droppings in several areas of their home. With any rodent infestation, our priority is finding any actual or potential entry points. Finding mice entry points is a challenge since they can squeeze through the smallest of cracks and crevices. A mouse needs only about a quarter-inch gap to find their way inside your home. If a mouse is able to poke its snout through a hole, the rest of its body will follow. To successfully resolve a mouse infestation, it is critical that these entry points are located and sealed. Failure to do so means that you’ll likely have ongoing problems with these overwintering pests, even if the ones already in your home are eliminated. 

As outdoor temperatures drop, mice, other wildlife, and certain insects will look for harborage in your home to escape the harsh outdoor elements. if there is a weak link for them to gain access inside your home, they’ll find it. Mice commonly look for entry points around the home’s foundation. They’ll enter into the crawl space or basement and then find their way to the living areas of the home when they forage for food and water. One of the most common, and often overlooked, entry points for mice are pipe chases, those spaces where pipes, such as from air conditioning units and the home’s plumbing system, as well as electrical supply lines, are run into the home. Pipe chases often become entry points for overwintering mice and bugs when the original sealant around the pipes starts to become worn and disintegrates, creating a perfect “tunnel” for pests to enter the home. We found several possible entry points around some pipes, and sealed them with chew-proof copper mesh. To reduce the mouse population in and around the home, we set up rodent control bait boxes in the home’s interior as well as the exterior perimeter. Finally, as part of our protocol, we scheduled a two-week follow-up to re-inspect and replenish the bait boxes as necessary. We are confident that with the exclusion and the bait boxes. We’re confident that it won’t take long for the infestation to be resolved, and this homeowner will no longer find droppings and other upsetting signs of mouse activity in his home.

A Port Monmouth, NJ homeowner contacted Crawl Space Solutions By Cowleys to resolve his crawl space problems. The homeowner decided that it was time to invest in his home by repairing an unsightly area of crawl space that was visible from the basement. Also, the homeowner was concerned, and rightly so, that his open crawl space was allowing excess moisture seeping out from the soil into his home. The moisture source was increasing the indoor humidity (you could feel the wet air when standing near the crawl space) and the likelihood of dangerous mold growth. 

These pictures show the “before and after” of our crawlspace project.

First, we removed all the debris and old insulation, leveled the ground for proper draining and installed drainage matting,  which is a dimpled plastic mat that allows all excess moisture to work its way over to the sump pump. Afterward, we installed a vapor barrier. A vapor barrier is a heavy-duty, 20-mil 7-ply sandwich of high and low-density polyethylene with a polyester-cord reinforcement. By encapsulating the crawl space & installing the vapor barrier over the foundation walls and floor will create a continuous air and moisture barrier. The vapor barrier is extremely durable and is treated with an antimicrobial to prevent mold

As any roofer will tell you, terracotta clay-based ceramic roofing tiles can be challenging to work with. Although they are heavy and durable, if accidentally dropped or stepped on, these types of tiles can easily be broken. Terracotta tiles are installed by placing overlapping and interlocking rows of them on the roof. Although clay roofs are built to last and have been around long before asphalt shingles, repairing them can be a big hassle.

In order to access any tiles that are further up the roof from the eaves, you have to get to them without breaking any.  Because the weight of a person walking on the roof is more than enough to break these clay tiles, roofers often use boom trucks. When pieces have to be replaced, if the tiles are hooked over fasteners, you have to go under the piece and cut the fasteners since the overlapping tiles cover the fasteners. If the tiles are glued down, you may need a hammer and chisel. When I think of what roofers who work with terracotta tiles have to do, it makes me glad that I’m just a wildlife technician who only risks getting bitten or scratched by a nasty raccoon or sprayed by a skunk!

I was sent to a home in Belford, NJ to perform a wildlife exclusion along with one of our home improvement specialists. A wildlife exclusion is any project where we seal wildlife entry points (often on or around the roof) to prevent a re-infestation. With this home, raccoons were gaining access through a small area of a terracotta roof that had been damaged. According to the homeowner, this area had been previously patched, but the person doing the repairs failed to secure it properly leaving the gap vulnerable to wildlife.

We were asked by the homeowner to perform an exclusion to this area to ensure that any raccoons in the neighborhood stayed out. For this project, we measured and fit a piece of “trim cool,” aluminum fascia trim, in place that fit together like a puzzle piece. This trim blended into the roof, and just as important, was able to be secured correctly in order to prevent any wildlife access.

We often use trim cool to do repairs because of its flexibility. More and more, we are seeing fascia boards are covered with this product because of its resiliency to the outdoor elements. Homeowners don’t have to worry about peeling paint, wood rot, or wildlife gaining access to your attic by clawing their way through weakened wood.

Recently, a homeowner residing in the coastal community of Belford, NJ contacted Cowleys because of a suspected mouse infestation. Upon arrival, I inspected the areas where there were rodent droppings. The size and shape of droppings contain a wealth of information (in addition to a wealth of pathogens and parasites!). As you’d expect, the size of the droppings is related to the size of the animal. A house mouse, which weigh less than an ounce, produce very small droppings, about the size of a grain of rice, and their droppings often have pointed ends. Rat droppings. Rats weigh many multiples more than a mouse, averaging 8 ounces or so, and not surprisingly their droppings are much larger and often have blunted, rounded ends. The holes I found were big enough for a rat. Although rats need a larger entry hole, it’s not by much. A mouse can enter a hold about the diaper of a dime while rats need a space about the size of a quarter. I told the homeowner the bad news that this was a rat infestation, but the good news is that this infestation would be resolved, and resolved quickly.

I started by cleaning up all of the droppings, which pose a serious health risk. When rodent droppings dry out, particles can become airborne carrying aerosolized viruses including Hantavirus, a potentially fatal respiratory disease. We can’t stress enough the dangers of rodent droppings in an enclosed area. They are a serious biohazard. After finishing up with cleaning the rat mess, I sealed the two entryways being used to access the living areas of the home, one in the kitchen and one in the closet. Because these holes were so large, I used hardware cloth instead of plugging the holes with copper mesh. 

Mice and rats typically enter homes through openings around the foundation, first finding their way into the crawl space or basement. From there, thy travel through wall voids to forage for food and water throughout the home. I located potential access points in the crawl space and also baited the areas where there were indicators of rodent activity. I’m confident that this rat infestation will be resolved quickly with their entry points sealed and the bait stations set up. There should be no more rodent activity in the home’s living areas. I scheduled a two-week follow-up to re-inspect, replenish bait as needed, and apply additional treatments if necessary. Before leaving, I assured the homeowner that there should be an immediate reduction in the quantity of droppings, and if not, to contact us immediately. Although rodent treatments work quickly, they are not instantaneous. It takes some time for those rats inside the home to be eliminated.

While treating this homeowners' property in Tinton Falls, NJ I discovered a large number of spider webs along with the columns on the front porch. Spiders are hunters, so if you see any in your home or their webbing around your property that means that they have a food source. By eliminating those pests, you’re eliminating the spider's food source and they’ll go elsewhere to find food.

With the homeowner's permission, I inspected the entire interior of the home to find any signs of spiders or any pests, to which I found none. I grabbed my broom and then dusted and vacuumed the spider webs. By removing the spider webbing, the spiders will get frustrated and leave that area. I also treated the columns, the front porch, and the exterior of the building with a non-repellant residual and sealed any gaps or opening around the property with a waterproof adhesive.