Rodent Proofing & Pest Exclusion
in Burquitlam, BC

Burquitlam sits at the boundary of Burnaby and Coquitlam, in the Como Lake area — one of the Lower Mainland's older suburban communities, with housing stock dating from the 1950s and 1960s. The neighbourhood has been experiencing rapid densification around the Burquitlam SkyTrain station, with high-rise development replacing some of the older single-family housing. What remains of the original residential stock has crawlspace foundations that are 50 to 70 years old and have had limited or no professional attention in many cases.

Rodents find crawlspaces attractive for the same reasons moisture does well there: it's dark, protected, relatively warm, and — in homes without proper exclusion — easy to get into. Rats (particularly Norway rats, common throughout Surrey and the Fraser Valley) and house mice can squeeze through gaps as small as a quarter-inch. They enter through uncapped foundation vents, gaps around utility penetrations, deteriorated sill plate joints, and even through the condenser lines of HVAC systems if protective screens are missing or corroded.

Our rodent-proofing process starts with a perimeter audit: we walk the exterior of the foundation looking for every possible entry point, then we move inside the crawlspace to identify any gaps that weren't visible from outside. Foundation vents are fitted with heavy-gauge galvanized steel mesh or replaced with sealed covers. Gaps around plumbing and electrical penetrations are packed with stainless steel wool and sealed with caulk or foam. Damaged sill plates are repaired. If the foundation vent openings are large or irregularly shaped, we use pre-formed steel exclusion panels rather than flexible mesh, which rodents can push past over time.