Pests We Treat Before & After Photos

Recently, a Cowleys home improvement crew was sent to a home in Asbury Park, NJ to perform rodent exclusion work around the home’s exterior foundation. We were asked to perform a weep hole exclusion by installing metal screening over the home’s weep holes (often called just “weeps”) to prevent mice and other rodents from gaining entry. 

Homes with exterior brick veneer (thin stone over wood framing) have small openings periodically spaced in the brickwork. This isn’t because the brick mason was sloppy! These holes were left there on purpose. Why? Brick (and stone for the matter) is not waterproof. It’s a highly porous material that acts almost like a sponge and when it rains, the masonry wall absorbs a tremendous amount of water. In order to prevent rainwater from entering the building, masonry construction requires a drainage cavity that allows water to drain down the back face of the brick. The potentially damaging water is collected at the base of the wall by flashing, which is then channeled out to the exterior through these little holes, which are typically about a half-inch wide. Weep holes not only provide an opening allowing water to drain out through the wall’s bottom, but also allow ventilating air to enter behind the wall that helps to dry the structure. Moisture buildup in the cavity can cause mold, mildew, wood rot. If you look carefully, you’ll find these weep holes, a building code requirement, spaced about two feet apart along of the length of the wall. With this Fair Haven home, the entire home exterior was brick, so these gaps surrounded all sides of the house. 

Although weep holes are essential for water drainage and ventilation, they have a downside for homeowners. These holes are enticing entry points for mice, other rodents, and even on occasion, snakes, to enter the home. However, for this homeowner with the screening we installed, the wall will still be able to drain and breathe, but now rodents and other pests will no longer be able to use these openings to gain entry. 

Recently, I was called to a home in Asbury Park, NJ to handle a mouse infestation. As often happens this time of year when temperatures drop, mice seek refuge inside homes. Here, the homeowner found two common signs of mice — droppings and noises in the wall voids. Mice are nocturnal and do their foraging in the quiet of night. Often, the mice stay hidden but leave a trail of droppings behind. Here, the homeowner told me that he found droppings in their bedroom closet.

During me inspection, I found a trail of droppings along the bedroom baseboard heaters (mice are attracted to anything generating heat) leading to the bathroom. I also found mice were chewing up pieces of toilet tissue paper and the cardboard rolls and using it as nesting material. Whenever dealing with a rodent infestation, it is important to determine their entry points into the home and how they are able to move about once inside so that their access points can be sealed. Here, I found that there were gaps around the water pipelines into the bathroom, which explains why the homeowners had heard noises inside the wall voids. I sealed the gaps around the pipes using expanded foam resin and installed interior rodent bait stations in the bathroom. With the bait stations and access points sealed, these homeowners will not have to worry about mice scurrying about their bedroom and bathroom.

Last week, I was called out to investigate a home in Point Pleasant, NJ. The homeowner contacted Cowleys because mice were getting into the kitchen. She told us that several mice were caught on glue traps that she had placed. In addition, rodent bait stations had already been set up from a previous service call. Mice infestations can be challenging for a variety of reasons. One is their size. Because mice are so small they are able to get through gaps and cracks that we barely notice. identifying and sealing all of them can sometimes take a few visits. 

On this visit, I noticed a door nest to the refrigerator that lead to the crawl space. The door was never used by these homeowners, and was leftover after the kitchen had been remodeled. I observed a large gap under the door. There was a high probability that this was the trouble spot for the mice entering the living areas of the home from the crawl space. 

I used a chew-proof copper mesh to fill the gaps where the mice were likely entering. The benefit of using copper is that it does not rust like steel wool. I also inspected and rebated the rodent bait stations that had previously been set up. Unfortunately, there was active rodent activity in the kitchen and crawl space area as well as the exterior behind the home. Clearly, this was one stubborn infestation. Cowleys, however will stay on the job until the infestation is completely resolved. One mouse inside a home is one mouse too many.  

I set up additional bait stations in the crawl space where the mice were initially gaining entry into the home. I also sealed the gap under the kitchen door as well as a hole by their A/C unit in the back of the home. I expect the indoor mouse population to drop quickly and dramatically. In the meantime, we will have follow-up visits until this infestation is completely resolved.

We were sent out to a condominium association in Point Pleasant, NJ to safely remove birds that were harboring in one of the dryer vents. When we arrived, we spotted a bird coming out of one of the dryer vents on the second floor. In order to safely remove the birds, we installed a customized one-way device over the dryer vent. The birds can push the flap open when they exit, however, because the flap is weighted, they'll be unable to reenter the vent. The best part of this device is that, if there are young birds inside, the adult female will still be able to feed them through the flap, until they leave.

A short time later, we were able to safely remove all the birds from the home. We then removed all the nesting debris out of the vent, disinfected the area, and installed a DryerWallVent® to each of the dryer vents. The DryerWallVent’s large opening and angled damper provide maximum airflow efficiency for the safe venting of the dryer. Integrated magnets keep the damper closed when the dryer is not in use, keeping nuisance birds and other pests on the outside. 

This customer in Fair Haven, NJ was cleaning out his attic one day, when all of a sudden he was attacked and stung by several yellow jackets! Since he was a Home Protection Plan customer, he immediately called our office and we were sent out to inspect and treat.

After equipping our protective bee suit, we thoroughly inspected the attic. A few moments into our inspection, we found a HUGE yellow jackets nest underneath the attic insulation in the corner of the attic! First, we injected a knockdown dusting application into the nest. A few moments later, we injected a knockdown aerosol product. Both of these treatments will rapidly exterminate the yellow jackets. A short while later, we removed the nest & any contaminated insulation, and properly disposed of them.