Chapter 11 of 17
Pest prevention
Why the crawl space is attractive to animals, and how to make it less so.
1 min read
The space under a manufactured home is sheltered, dark, often warm from the ducts, and, if the skirting has a gap, easy to enter. Rodents in particular find it ideal, and the damage they do is not limited to nuisance: they tear open belly wrap, pull out insulation for nesting, and chew wiring and pipes.
Exclusion is the effective approach and it is mostly skirting maintenance. Walk the perimeter and close every gap: cracked or missing panels, openings at corners, the gap where utilities enter, and any spot where a panel has been pushed out from behind. Vents should be screened so they ventilate without admitting anything.
Remove the attractants. Do not store anything under the home. Keep vegetation trimmed back from the skirting, keep firewood away from the perimeter, and deal with standing water. Overhanging branches are a route onto the roof and from there to roof penetrations.
Inspect the crawl space at least twice a year with a torch. Droppings, torn belly wrap, disturbed insulation, and gnawed pipe insulation are all early signs. Finding them early is the difference between exclusion work and rewiring.
If something is already established, deal with it and then close the entry point. Removing animals without exclusion simply creates a vacancy.
Key points
- The crawl space is sheltered, warm, and easy to enter, exclusion is the fix.
- Close every skirting gap and screen the vents.
- Store nothing under the home; trim vegetation back from the perimeter.
- Chewed wiring and torn belly wrap are the expensive outcomes.
Watch out
Removing animals without closing the entry point just leaves a vacancy for the next one. Exclusion is the permanent part of the job.