Rats and mice cause damage to every aspect of your home. From ripping holes in your siding to gnawing on your furniture, nothing is safe when you have a rodent infestation.

Call a professional team as soon as you see a rodent cause damage. Rodents multiply quickly and are difficult to exterminate without the proper tools and experience. They also bring disease into your home, creating an unsafe living environment.

It's worth noting that home insurance policies do not cover rodent issues. Insurance providers see small animal damage as preventable. The homeowner must pay for whatever damages the rodents cause.

Structural Damage

From the moment a rodent enters your home, it leaves many problems in its wake. A rodent will typically find a small hole or open area outside your house, such as in your vinyl siding. They will gnaw on the spot, loosening the overall structure until it's large enough to walk through.

They chew through your walls, leaving urine and droppings along the way. Their droppings communicate with other mice and rats, showing them the way and proving it's safe.

A rodent’s end goal is to find food and create nests. Rodents use any material they can find for their nests. No material is safe as rodents use any of the following:

Wood
Plastic
Insulation
Paper
Cloth

The nests don't affect your home’s structure alone. However, their acquiring the nesting materials gradually destroys your home from the inside out.

Electrical Wiring

The path rodents create opens your home to various issues, such as lowered insulation, excess moisture, and entryways for other pests. Once inside, they only cause more damage to homes.

Wires are especially unsafe. Rodents chew through the insulation covering your wiring and bring the material back to their nests. Damaged wiring poses many hazards, forcing you to redo your electrical work.

By chewing wires, rodents cause short circuits and fires. The damage is severe if left untreated, to the point the house may go up in flames. Electrical fires can cause significant injury or even death.

Plumbing and Piping

Plumbing is also a cause for concern. Modern builders commonly use plastic pipes, which rats can easily chew through. Damaged piping can cause in-house floods, destroying large areas of your property.

You may see a rodent cause gas leaks and affect your sewer lines. You cannot protect against rodent damage. They will build nests in your HVAC ducts, affecting the air inside your home and making it unfit to breathe with their bacteria, feces, and urine.

Food Sources

If you have not yet noticed the infestation, you will see rodents in your kitchen before long. Rats will destroy paper materials, such as napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper. They will search for food and gnaw through sealed packages to find it.

Cereal boxes, plastic bins of dry storage, bags of grains—the rats will find everything. While they only eat about three grams daily, they destroy everything they touch. Once opened by a rodent, it's unsafe to eat.

Rats urinate and defecate over everything, destroying entire shelves of food in one night. Because rodents carry disease, humans and pets cannot eat any food object they touch.

Living Areas

You can find rats and mice in the attic, where they tear up any important paperwork or family heirlooms hidden away. They don't always stay in the shadows. Many rodents will comfortably share your living room with you.

The pests will tear holes in your furniture and create nests in the fluff. They’ll leave the spot only to find more materials or gather food.

They'll bore holes in your bed, living underneath and coming out when you're asleep. They'll dig up your plants and eat the leaves and roots, harming them beyond repair.

Contact Urban Desert Pest Control If You Find Rodent Damage

If you see any of the following signs, it's time to call an exterminator:

Shredded paper, wood, and cloth
Signs of chewing, especially on packages of food
Small holes in your walls
Droppings and hair

You can stop many of these rodent infestations before it's too late. It's unlikely you're dealing with one rodent, as they tend to live in groups.

Attempting to exterminate them yourself is not always practical. If you wait too long, the damage will mount, especially since rodents reproduce quickly.

If you see a rodent cause damage to your home in Phoenix, AZ, call Urban Desert Pest Control at (602) 399-9629. Our exterminators will give you the help you need.