Do mice chew polyurethane foam? What do owners say?

How and what was used to insulate a house to prevent mice from getting in it?

Today there are different types of modern insulation on sale that we have never heard of before. Old proven methods of thermal insulation are considered to be the use of expanded clay, slag and ordinary sawdust mixed with quicklime (fluff). Rodents will never enter a house insulated with such materials. The use of polystyrene foam, mineral wool or polystyrene foam will not protect your home from pests.

Ultrasonic repellers, poisonous baits and mousetraps will help keep your home safe.

The harmful effects of ultrasound are not felt by humans, but this does not mean that it does not affect them. The safety of such devices for people has not been fully proven. Spreading poison poses a danger to pets and children, and mousetraps are ineffective. Interestingly, rodents are afraid of the smell of wormwood, so you can add leaves and stems of this plant to the insulation, but you will need a lot of them.

Pests in the barn

Rodents try to penetrate not only the house, but also any buildings in search of food. Therefore, residents of private homes are interested in how to get rid of rats in the barn on their own. In such a room they either keep large quantities of food for livestock, or for themselves. Therefore, there is always something for rodents to profit from.

Important! Their presence affects the health of birds, and as a result, productivity. Therefore, you need to get rid of impudent pests immediately

Chemicals

The easiest and cheapest way: just buy a pesticide and pour it into the place where it penetrates. However, everything is not so simple: pets can also be poisoned. It is unlikely that it will be possible to transfer animals from the treated area for 2-3 days, so this approach is risky. However, you can prepare traps: for example, put the poison in boxes where chickens, for example, will not climb.

There are several types of chemical poisons:

Use force

Rats are larger and much more dangerous than mice, so it is advisable to know how to get rats out of the barn using folk remedies before they cause trouble - these rodents take great pleasure in strangling chicks. Placing traps near their holes and installing special traps is a sure and effective way to catch pests. You can have several cats that are capable of hunting and killing rats: this ability does not depend on size at all. Fluffy mousetraps can be very miniature - it's all about speed and resourcefulness.

Traditional methods

To get rid of rodents, you need to make their stay in the barn unpleasant. This is even more effective than direct destruction - rodents multiply quickly and do not stop in front of traps.

Stove ash scattered on the floor guarantees mice digestive problems;
If no one lives in the barn, you can use mothballs or kerosene - this is a sure way to get rid of rats and mice in the barn.
Holes in the walls need to be filled with broken glass and then filled with concrete. No polyurethane foam!
Cruel method: a mixture of clay and flour will attract rodents, so water is placed nearby. The liquid causes the plaster to harden and the mouse dies.
You can hang and arrange bunches of herbs - black root, the second name of which is rat-eater, is not felt by humans, but is destructive for rodents.
Tansy, wild rosemary and peppermint - any of these plants will help get rid of rats and mice in your area.

Rodents destroy crops and livestock year after year and cause harm to humans

Being careful and taking timely measures will help protect yourself and your home from rats and mice.

Protecting foam from pests

Polystyrene foam is a very convenient material for thermal insulation and sound insulation. But it is various foam plastics that are most susceptible to attack by mice and rats. These are materials such as extruded polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, penoizol, penoplex. These materials are artificial, so they are not suitable for mice as food, but they chew them and turn them into dust. In the resulting voids, rodents make nests for themselves. To protect it from rodents, you need to take certain measures:

1. You should choose dense types of foam for insulation, since it is inconvenient for mice to gnaw on dense material.
2. Proper installation of the foam is necessary. It must be carefully puttied and sheathed using special materials, selected individually. The goal of proper installation is to prevent the appearance of cracks, since rodents enter the home through the cracks.
3. All holes must be sealed with polyurethane foam.
4. It is advisable to provide metal sheathing along all walls at pest entry level. They won't be able to handle metal.

These measures must be taken into account at the construction stage. If they have not been accepted, all that remains is to take actions aimed at repelling rodents:

1. The easiest way is to get a cat. Just the smell of a cat in the house repels mice.
2. You can install an electronic repeller, but if the area of the house is large, one device will not be enough, you will have to install several. Such repellers emit ultrasound of various frequencies, which causes fear in rodents and forces them to leave the building.
3. All food supplies must be kept out of the reach of rodents.
4. The home must be kept clean.

Folk remedies are effective to protect polystyrene foam. They are based on the use of various plants that repel rodents with their smell. These are plants such as pine needles, tobacco, mint, wormwood. These dried plants can simply be scattered in corners. During the construction phase of a house, you can treat the foam with lime or red pepper.

Some people use boric acid to repel pests, but its effectiveness in controlling rodents has not been proven.

If none of the above methods help, you need to contact the sanitary and epidemiological station, whose employees will come and carry out a complete disinfection of the premises and the elimination of all rodents.

Do mice eat foam?

Polyurethane foam and rodents Mice control

Polyurethane foam is a common material that is used to fill gaps between doors and walls. It is used in construction, used in the repair of houses, buildings, and structures. Soft in texture, with good thermal insulation and moisture-resistant properties. Low, high temperatures and humidity are not scary. The question that remains to be resolved is whether mice chew polyurethane foam.

Taste preferences of mice

The digestive system of rats and mice is designed in such a way that rodents cannot tolerate hunger. They die within 3 days without food. To satisfy natural needs, mice gnaw everything in their path. Regardless of whether it is edible or not.

Among the materials damaged by mice are:

plastic;
sackcloth;
paper;
cardboard;
polyethylene;
polystyrene foam and its derivatives;
plastic;
rubber;
bricks.

On a note!

Another reason why animals constantly chew something is the special structure of mice, or rather their teeth. The incisors, which are located in pairs on both jaws, grow throughout life. If the animal does not constantly grind them down, it will not close its mouth.

Why polyurethane foam is attractive

The texture of the material is porous, light, soft. It does not cause any particular difficulty for the animals to gnaw through it. Do mice eat polyurethane foam, we can say with confidence - no. There is nothing useful or nutritious for pests in the construction product. Mice gnaw it for a different purpose.

With the onset of cold weather, rodents get closer to human habitation. They are attracted by warmth and abundance of food. They climb into the house through the narrowest cracks, gaps in the wall, doors, windows. If everything around is “clogged,” the animals begin to take a tooth sample. They chew on everything - brick, wood, concrete, all materials that are located in the lower part of the building.

Construction means for installation are the easiest option for a barrier for mice. The animals easily gnaw the material into dust and make entrances and exits. They can easily enter the premises. Polyurethane foam does not protect against mice. Moreover, it creates favorable conditions for their existence. The building product is used by mice to improve their own nest and promotes the reproduction of mice. They bite off pieces and drag them to a secluded place.

Review

In the garage, I sealed the space between the wall and the doors to prevent cold and moisture from penetrating. In winter, I visited there briefly and didn’t pay much attention to anything. I had to work there in the spring. I noticed the following picture. There was practically no foam in the lower part. There was dust, sawdust, and small crumbs. During general cleaning, I found a mouse nest with pieces of the product. Helped them with construction materials.

Oleg, Moscow

Special construction foam

Since 2012, polyurethane foam that is not chewed by mice has been sold on European markets. There is nothing special or dangerous in the composition for humans or living beings. But the addition of a bitter substance made it possible to use the product for construction purposes with particular effectiveness. The bitter building substance is not chewed by mice, cockroaches, or other harmful creatures. Feeling an unpleasant taste in their mouths, the animals give up the idea and stop gnawing on the unfamiliar material.

There is no such product on the domestic market, but something similar can be done. Use a solution of denatonium benzoate. The substance has a bitter taste and does not lose its properties for a long time on the treated surface. You can spray the product on already used, hardened polyurethane foam.

On a note!

Denatonium benzoate is used to treat cracks, gaps in walls, and the lower part of the building. Any surface accessible to mouse teeth can be made inedible and repellent.

Protection and prevention methods

There is nothing special that can protect foam for installation from rodents. It is necessary to build a dense structure on top that mice cannot gnaw on. Fill the gap between the doors, nail a board of chipboard or other similar material on top. The fibers are arranged in such a way that mice cannot make a hole with their teeth.

To protect yourself, you need to follow the general rules for fighting mice - get a cat, use mouse poison, ultrasonic repellers, cage traps, traps. Any convenient way to prevent mice infestation.

How to protect the thermal insulation circuit from damage

If you got a house with a ready-made thermal insulation layer, or the mouse population suddenly began to increase, you need to take measures to protect the insulation. Otherwise, within a couple of years, heat loss will increase, and with it, heating bills will increase.

There are several options here that I would recommend implementing comprehensively:

We protect all thermal insulation layers with dense material, preferably one that is too tough for a rodent.
We fill the cavities and discovered passages with broken glass, wood shavings soaked in copper sulfate, or push glass wool.
We store all food products and seed in a place inaccessible to mice. No food means no incentive to gnaw and seriously settle down in the insulated walls.
We place poison behind the casing and in the corners, and install ultrasonic devices that repel rodents.

Well, and the most effective method, which, in addition to getting rid of rodents, has a bunch of other useful effects. Finally, get a normal cat, and every morning you will find several gray carcasses on the porch. Sooner or later the mice will run out and your insulation will be safe.

The cat, however, will stay and ask for food, but it seems to me that this is a completely acceptable price for peace and order in the house.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CgTf7-OkKXE

How to treat polyurethane foam to repel mice?

If the foam was used without adding the substances mentioned above, it can still be protected from rodents. To do this, the repellent is applied over the sealant.

Depending on the period for which you need to provide protection, there are several options:

Rodent spray. It works well, but the effect after its use lasts only two weeks. After this period, you should reapply the spray or use other methods.
Glass chips. It should be quite small. It can be applied immediately to foam that has not yet hardened - adhesion will be ensured due to the texture of the sealant itself. But if the foam has already dried, then the surface will have to be pre-treated with glue.
Boric acid powder. It, like glass, is poured on top of foam.

It is important to understand that glass and boric acid, being outside, will not affect rodents in any way when they decide to make passages inside the sealant. So when applying a thick layer of foam, it is better to use additives.

Additional ways to protect yourself from mice and rats

If the thermal insulation layer has already been installed, and the problem with rodents has appeared recently, additional protective measures must be taken

It is important to prevent mice from accessing the interlayer. This can be done without dismantling the insulation

To create additional protection, it is recommended to use the following methods:

Installation of steel mesh. It is installed in front of the insulation. The method is expensive, but effective. The use of chemical compounds - “Rat”, “Goliath”, “Mortorate”. Processing is done in accordance with the instructions

It is important that the properties of the insulation do not change. The use of alternative thermal insulators. Rodents are afraid of sounds, so a layer of fallen leaves will scare them away.

Read about how to completely get rid of mice here.

Insulation that will resist rodents

There are a number of criteria by which mice choose insulation material: low density, lack of moisture, warmth and the ability to be used as food. Therefore, to protect against rodents, these factors must be excluded.

Insulation that can resist attacks from rats and similar animals must have the following properties:

High density. This is the main obstacle for rodents.
Treatment with special agents, the concentration of which is safe for human health.
Loose insulation structure. It prevents pests from making nests in the material.

These requirements are met by a number of thermal insulators, which need to be considered in more detail.

Foam glass

For the production of foam glass, broken glass is used, which goes through a heat treatment stage. To create voids, foaming agents are added - anthracite, coke. Subsequently, the formed hollow granules can be used as bulk material. To make blocks, they are poured into molds and then subjected to pressure and repeated processing at high temperatures.

When choosing foam glass as insulation, you need to take into account its properties (see all characteristics here):

High specific gravity. Depending on the manufacturing technology, the density of the material varies from 100 to 600 kg/m³. This is a high indicator, which negatively affects installation and processing conditions.
The thermal conductivity coefficient is one of the lowest among insulation materials - from 0.043 W/m*C. For bulk types of foam glass it is higher, since close contact of the granules with each other is not ensured.
Fire safety and sound insulation. They are determined by the properties of the material of manufacture and its structure.
High price. The average price for 1 m³ of block foam glass is 17,500 rubles.

This insulation is chosen if the problem of rodents is urgent and a high degree of protection against them is required.

Expanded clay

Expanded clay is made from special types of clay using a technology similar to foam glass. But unlike it, the formed granules cannot be compressed into a single block, since they have low mechanical strength and elasticity. This insulation is not chewed by mice and rats due to its flowability.

To analyze the relevance of using expanded clay, its characteristics are taken into account:

The nominal thermal conductivity for one granule is from 0.01 W/m*C. But in fact, for the expanded clay layer it is higher, since “cold bridges” are formed between the components. It all depends on the density of the backfill.
Compaction factor – 1.15.
Fraction 10-20. It is this size of granules that is used for insulation.
Water absorption from 8 to 20%.
The average cost is from 1300 rubles per 1 m³.

Expanded clay can only be used as loose insulation on horizontal surfaces.

Ecowool

It is made from paper industry waste. After processing, ecowool is treated with compounds of brown salt and boric acid. Their concentration is dangerous for rodents, but does not affect human health. To apply ecowool to the surface of walls or floors, special pneumatic equipment is used. The final drying time of the protective layer varies from 2 to 4 days depending on its thickness.

Main characteristics of ecowool:

Insulation belongs to the category of moderately flammable materials. When exposed to open fire, it does not melt; if the source of ignition is removed, attenuation is observed.
Average density – up to 55 kg/m³.
Thermal conductivity - up to 41 W/m*S.
The price includes work on applying the material - from 600 rubles. For 1 m² with a thickness of 100 mm.

It is advisable to use ecowool for large volumes of insulation.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CgTf7-OkKXE

Special construction foam

Fighting mice The bitter building substance is not chewed by mice, cockroaches, or other harmful creatures. Feeling an unpleasant taste in their mouths, the animals give up the idea and stop gnawing on the unfamiliar material.

On a note!
Denatonium benzoate is used to treat cracks, gaps in walls, and the lower part of the building. Any surface accessible to mouse teeth can be made inedible and repellent.

Bitterness from mice

In Europe, a few years ago, polyurethane foam was developed with an extremely unpleasant taste for mice. It is also avoided by other unpleasant guests: bedbugs, cockroaches and rats. This miracle cannot be found in Russia, but you can try to make an analogue yourself. Of course, it is much better to immediately use the right and reliable materials, but situations vary.

Interesting! To protect the polyurethane foam, after hardening it is enough to spray it with a special aerosol, the range of which is always wide in hardware and construction stores. Such a simple protection system can work if the insulation does not constantly get wet, otherwise the entire effect will disappear very quickly, also spreading an unpleasant odor.

Repelling rodents with bitter substances

If mice chew through the foam in some places, you can give them an unpleasant surprise. After each passage of foam, sprinkle its layer with bitrex (denatonium benzonate). The foam, having hardened, will still contain this extremely bitter substance in its mass. Having felt it in the mouth, a rat or any other rodent will lose the desire to bite into the polyurethane foam in this place for a long time.

Read more: Tightening the viburnum wheel bearing

Why do mice chew inedible things, including different types of insulation?

Some types of insulation are considered conditionally edible for rodents, for example chipboard, reeds and polystyrene. By eating them, rats compensate for a long absence of food. The organic materials from which the insulation is made are perfectly digested and absorbed in their stomachs. Mice can chew polyurethane foam, fiberboard, MDF, and polyurethane foam, and this is due to their physiological characteristics. Rodents' incisors grow throughout their lives, so they have to be ground down regularly.

Not only thermal insulation materials are damaged, but also shoes, clothing, furniture, and wiring. Most of all, mice like to live in jute, inside mineral or basalt wool. The soft material holds its shape well, is ventilated and retains heat well. Treatment with special chemicals or boric acid will help protect the insulation from damage. Plywood and DSP boards, which are excellent for insulating a frame house, are not always susceptible to mouse teeth.

Mice chew on polyurethane foam, what to do?

Sometimes people amaze us with their shortsightedness, bordering on stupidity. For example, there are those who are sure that using ordinary polyurethane foam you can protect your home from mice. They selflessly clean cracks and holes, and rodents not only do not disappear, but also multiply exponentially.

In fact, mice chew on polyurethane foam not because they are hungry and want to eat something before getting to more edible human reserves. There are more prosaic, but still vital reasons for this.

The first reason lies in the physiological characteristics of all rodents, without exception: the front incisors are constantly growing and, so that they do not interfere with normal food intake, they must be periodically ground down. So mice grind everything, including polyurethane foam, but don’t eat at all, as many people think.

The third factor is the simplicity and ease of gnawing through passages. For safety reasons, domestic pests move around the house in a maze of their own making. It’s much easier to make a path and create a hole in polyurethane foam than in brickwork.

What to do

If mice get into the insulation, then it is problematic to smoke them out. Therefore, it is better to think about thermal insulation, which at the same time can serve as a barrier for rodents, in advance.

Experience suggests that pests do not favor the presence of the following materials, which in terms of useful properties are in no way inferior to polyurethane foam:

expanded clay,
foam glass,
foam concrete,
glass wool

Ecowool is considered the best anti-mouse material in construction today. Why it is called that is unclear, because 20 percent of it consists of components that are not the most healthy for health: boric acid, borax. It is these toxic substances that cause suffocation attacks in rodents.

There is an opinion that rodents are afraid of penoizol, styrofoam and the usual polystyrene foam, but as practice shows, mice not only gnaw it, but also use it perfectly to organize their own home and labyrinth.

If the foam has been purchased and it is not possible to replace it with an alternative material, then in this case there is a way out: during the work, the treated area is generously flavored with glass broken into fine crumbs.

Foam that mice are afraid of

By the way, news recently appeared that a certain European company has released polyurethane foam that can repel not only rodents, but also other household vermin such as cockroaches, bedbugs, etc. It does not contain pesticides hazardous to humans.

Miracle foam appeared abroad in March 2012, but it never reached the Russian construction market.

Although, if you try, you can make such foam yourself, because the bitter ingredient is not a secret, it is denatonium benzoate. The foamed surface is generously treated with the solution, and rodents may not want to try it on their teeth.

To the question: do mice chew polyurethane foam, the answer has been given. But whether to use it in construction or not is up to each individual to decide.

What to add to the polyurethane foam to prevent mice from chewing it?

In an attempt to protect sealant from rodents, people mix it with various substances. Among them are those that have a toxic effect on mice, as well as those that make the foam taste unpleasant or are designed to cause pain when biting.

The most popular:

Poisons. They will most likely kill the mouse, but this will not happen immediately. Firstly, since these animals do not eat the foam, but only gnaw holes in it, the toxin does not enter the stomach. In small quantities, it can only be absorbed through the mucous membrane of the mouth. During this time, the mice will have time to cause significant harm, so there will be no benefit from the poison. And secondly, if the poison takes effect and the mouse dies inside the passages it has made, then the unpleasant odor will easily seep out through the porous material and create problems for the residents of the house.
Broken glass. An ideal option, which, nevertheless, is characterized by cruelty towards animals (even pests). Having started gnawing on the foam, the mouse will stumble upon sharp fragments that will injure its palate and tongue, after which it will completely lose the desire to touch such sealant.
All kinds of flavoring additives. If they are added to human food in order to enhance and improve the taste, then in the case of mice it’s the opposite - you need to make the foam tasteless. Hot ground pepper can be used as such an additive, but you will need a lot of it, and over time it will lose its hot properties. Boric acid is also used, which gives the sealant a bitter taste.
Glass wool. For obvious reasons, mice do not like to chew it. Since it will not be possible to mix this material with foam, they do it differently - when insulating the walls, they first lay a layer of glass wool, and then apply polyurethane foam on top of it.

There are no special additives developed by the industry to protect sealant from rodents.

About the use of insulation

One of the reliable insulation materials for the home, which retains heat well, absorbs noise, is non-flammable and inedible for rodents, is expanded clay. It is made from clay, which is cleaned, wiped, then granules are made from the resulting plastic solution, which are hardened at a certain temperature.

As it cools, expanded clay acquires light weight and is at the same time durable. It has small, medium and even large fractions – 10 – 25 mm in size. Mice and rats will not be able to exist in such material, since they will drown in the thinness of its particles. Expanded clay is used to insulate interfloor and attic floors and basements; it can be used for walls.

Foam glass, which is produced in slabs and in bulk, is also not eaten by rodents. In the loose version, it is similar to expanded clay and is used to insulate walls, floors, and ceilings of a house. It is customary to mount the slabs on the walls from the inside or outside, lay them on the floor, concrete, bitumen, construction adhesive or expanded clay having small fractions.

Foam glass is made by melting and foaming glass. The material is strong, durable, environmentally friendly, and has good resistance to moisture and ultraviolet radiation.

Ecowool is a fairly new material. Rodents do not like ecowool because it contains phosphoric acid, which causes dehydration and suffocation. Ecowool is made from cellulose, harmless to humans, antiseptic, fireproof, releases moisture when heated, muffles noise well, is not subject to rotting and decomposition, and is durable. Can be used both inside and outside the house.

Foam concrete is produced in mortar and blocks. Rodents don't eat it either. The blocks are suitable for construction and wall insulation. The composition of the material, which is used to insulate a house from the outside or is poured into the middle of the masonry during construction, includes water, sand, cement and a foaming agent. Used for thermal insulation of floors and ceilings. Light in weight, environmentally friendly, easy to process, non-flammable, and not subject to rotting.

Penoizol is foam plastic in liquid form. Spraying on the walls is carried out using a special compressor. Mice and rats happily chew this type of foam. In ordinary foam plastic, pests make nests and gnaw passages.

Penoplex is resistant to high and low temperatures, chemicals, possible deformations, resists moisture, transmits light, is environmentally friendly and safe for human health. Extruded polystyrene foam is strong and lightweight, used for thermal insulation, sports fields, ice arenas and refrigeration equipment.

Which insulation doesn't breed mice?

Above we looked at the most popular materials for insulation and found out that all of them are not an obstacle to small pests. But science does not stand still. Materials that are not so easy on the teeth of mice and rats have begun to appear on the market.

At the same time, many characteristics of insulation have been improved.

What are these new generation materials? These are insulation materials such as ecowool, foam glass, expanded clay. Let's start the review with ecowool. This is an insulation material created on the basis of cellulose with the addition of antipyretic and antiseptic agents. It can be assumed that rodents will like such soft and warm material, but the secret is that during the production of ecowool, orthoboric acid is added to the composition, which is completely harmless to humans, but causes persistent suffocation and dehydration in mice and rats.

Its advantages:

Excellent thermal insulation ability;
Low breathability;
High coating density;
Fire safety;
Moisture resistance;
Easy to use and durable;
Completely harmless to humans.

No less interesting in terms of the issue under consideration is such a relatively new insulation material as foam glass. It is produced by manufacturers, both in slabs and in loose form. It is made by melting glass and then foaming it. This material is very durable, so neither mice nor rats can chew it. It does not matter in what form the foam glass is: in blocks or in bulk. On top of that, in the bulk version it is also quite difficult for mice to move. Along with the above-mentioned strength function, which does not allow small pests to gnaw and settle inside this thermal insulation material, it has all the same characteristics as ecowool with a difference in coefficients and composition.

Expanded clay insulation, which has long proven itself in construction, is at the same level as foam glass and ecowool, although it is not one of the new products on the market. This is a porous material obtained by firing special types of clay. It is produced both in the form of large granules, similar to gravel, and in the form of sand. But expanded clay is much lighter than them, since during the firing process maximum moisture evaporates from it. In addition to high thermal insulation characteristics, this heat insulator has excellent noise-absorbing properties; it is also very durable, capable of withstanding mechanical loads. It is for the latter reason that expanded clay is inconvenient for mice and rats to live in the thickness of the insulation. In the fine fraction of expanded clay, rodents will simply drown, they will not have enough air, and due to its special hardness, it is not suitable for the teeth of pests.

What mice and rats rarely chew through

There are a number of thermal insulation materials that are rarely damaged by rodents. But this depends on the thickness of the insulation, its actual density, and the structure of the wall (ceiling). If you apply additional protective measures (treatment with special compounds), then mice will not chew the following types of heat insulators:

Mineral wool or glass wool. The material attracts rodents due to its low density; they can use it to make nests. Glass wool negatively affects the health of rats, which is why they are afraid to come into direct contact with it.
Extruded polystyrene foam. Unlike polystyrene foam, it has a higher density, which prevents rodents from making moves in the material.

Mice and similar animals love to chew polystyrene foam, fiberboard, chipboard, and penoizol. This must be taken into account when there is a high concentration of rodents.

What insulation materials can cause damage?

In addition to materials that are protected from penetration and consumption, there are also less safe ones. Mice settle in them and make passages in them, which can lead to drafts. These include:

basalt wool; EPS; self-expanding polyurethane foam; glass wool.

Read this article on how to protect polystyrene foam from mice and rats.

Mineral wool

The coating is considered completely environmentally friendly and safe. The material is excellent for the colonization and reproduction of mice. Therefore, if there are complaints about the dominance of rodents in your place of residence, it is undesirable to use it. The best choice for using basalt wool would be the thermal insulation of urban high-rise buildings, where rodents are extremely rare.

Important! Basalt wool is not used by small animals for food, but they can populate it or make passages in its thickness.

Extruded polystyrene foam

Eps is a synthetic material that has been used since 1941. It is often used for thermal insulation of plinths and plaster facades. Can be used for roof installation.

Unfortunately, mice love it as much as architects. Despite zero nutritional value, they are able to colonize in it, which leads to the appearance of an abundance of passages.

Self-expanding polyurethane foam

The material is much more often used for waterproofing floors. Despite the quality of the coating and its ability to resist the penetration of moisture into the house, rodents live in such coating for a long time. Therefore, it is worth using self-expanding polyurethane foam very carefully in regions with a dominance of mice and rats.

Glass wool

It is a well-known fact that mice live in glass wool. In addition, they are able to consume the insulation as food. Today it is rarely used, but when choosing it as insulation, you need to be careful during installation. If there is a prevalence of rodents in the region or there are many fields or warehouses nearby, animals may enter the house.

What is the reason

Mice even chew plastic, but the reason is not only the constant search for food: their front teeth grow throughout their lives, so they have to be ground down. Polyurethane foam is also included in their “therapy” due to its porous structure. It does not contain harmful substances, but has no nutritional function for mice: they gnaw building materials for other reasons. Among their “victims” we can mention a dozen seemingly durable raw materials:

Thick paper, cardboard;
Plastic and plastic;
Rubber, even the most durable;
Polyethylene and burlap;
Even bricks!

Firstly, many people naively fill the gaps between the door frame and the opening and the gaps around pipes facing the street with foam. This decision is wrong, because miniature rodents will quickly chew the material and get inside. But even this is not the most unpleasant thing: mice are distinguished by good intelligence, so they use foam crushed by sharp teeth to build a cozy nest.

Why polyurethane foam is attractive

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