Mice
How Mice Get Around a New Colindale Block
In an older house mice use floor voids and gaps in brickwork. In a modern block the routes are the services. Water, heating, drainage and cables run up the building in shared risers and then branch into each flat through the walls and ceilings. Where the sealing around one of those holes is incomplete, a mouse can pass from the riser into the linings of a flat and along behind the units without ever crossing an open floor.
Behind the kitchen plinth
The space under the kitchen units, hidden by the kickboards, is where the water supply, waste pipe and often the washing machine connections come through the wall. It is warm, dark and close to food. Droppings along the plinth, a kickboard pulled slightly away at one end, or nibbling on packets in the lowest cupboard are usually the first clues. Mice behind kitchen units goes through what to check.
Boxing, utility cupboards and riser doors
Bathrooms in new flats hide the soil pipe and supply pipes inside boxing, and the utility cupboard holds the hot water cylinder or heat interface unit with pipework running in and out of the wall. Both are enclosed and rarely opened. On the corridor outside, riser cupboard doors give access to the vertical service runs that link every floor, so flats stacked directly above and below yours share the same route. How mice travel between flats explains why the neighbours matter.
When the block is still filling up
In a phase where flats are still empty, mice can settle long before anyone notices, as the area page explains. By the time a flat is occupied they may already be using its cupboards, which is why a brand-new home can have mice in its first winter.
Signs to Look For in a New-Build Flat
- Small dark droppings along the kitchen plinth or inside the cupboard under the sink
- Gnawing on food packets in low cupboards or in the utility cupboard
- Scratching in the ceiling or behind the boxing at night
- Droppings on top of the hot water cylinder or around pipes where they enter the wall
- A faint, stale smell in a cupboard that is seldom opened
The signs of mice shows what they look like. Larger droppings, or activity that started in the bin store, may mean rat control in Colindale is the right booking.
First Steps in a Flat With Mice
- Move dry food and pet food into sealed containers and off the lowest shelves
- Take off one kickboard and look along the floor behind it with a torch
- Ask the flats above and below whether they have seen droppings, since you may share a riser
- Tell your managing agent if you see mice on corridors, in riser cupboards or in the bin store
- Do not fill holes while mice are still active, or they may be shut inside the boxing
Booking Mouse Control in NW9
When you book a mouse visit, say which floor you are on, which cupboards the signs are in, and whether the flats around you have mice too. Mention if the block is new enough that you still report snags to the developer, because gaps found during the visit may belong on that list. Before we arrive, take the kickboards off if you can and clear the utility cupboard and the cupboard under the sink.
Afterwards you will be told what was found and what happens next. How long it takes depends on the flat and on how established the mice are, as how long mouse treatment takes explains. Contact us again if new droppings appear after things have gone quiet.
Closing the Gaps in a Newer Flat
Mice that found one open service hole will keep using it, so it needs sealing once they have gone. Small gaps inside your flat, around pipes behind the kitchen units or in the utility cupboard, can be closed with rodent proofing in Colindale. Gaps inside riser cupboards or communal ducts are part of the building and need the managing agent. Mouse-proofing a property covers the rest, and Mouse Control Barnet deals with mice in other kinds of Barnet homes.
