9 Essential Tips For Vermin Proofing Your Shed

Vermin love to get out of the elements and make a home for themselves in sheds. Less trafficked than the home, there’s more room for them to scurry about, nest, and breed, and before you know it, you’ve got a real problem and infestation in there.

Vermin aren’t just uncomfortable to look at. They can cause real damage to a shed, whether that be through staining or gnawing whatever you’re storing inside, or causing bite and burrow damage to the structure of the shed itself. Once you’ve got an infestation, the natural response – and indeed the only way to really remove the threat – is to call infestation specialists, who will most likely use pesticides or chemicals to remove the infestation. This, of course, comes with a range of costs.

Thankfully, there’s a lot that you can do with the shed to help keep the vermin out before you get to that critical point, and prevent an infestation from happening in the first place.

1. Invest in the right wall and roof sheeting

Most critical of all is to construct your shed from the right materials from the outset. Building the shed using wall and roof sheeting that fits well together and won’t warp, crack, or otherwise create a crevice or gap for vermin to squeeze through is your first line of defence against allowing mice, cockroaches, or whatever else into your home. Titan Lite material, for example, has been expressly designed to create a tight fitting, robust, and lasting barrier with both the walls and ceiling that vermin find impenetrable.

2.  As you’re building your shed, keep testing it for gaps

Remember that vermin can squeeze into the smallest of gaps and crevices, so on every joint in the building, test it thoroughly for cracks or gaps, and thoroughly seal everything. Remember that vermin are also very good at widening gaps they do find until they can squeeze through. With Titan Lite you don’t need to worry about them breaking through the material itself, as our walls and roofs are made of exceedingly strong metal material, but it’s also important to install vermin proofing between the wall sheeting.

Vermin proofing material is also critical in keeping out pests that can exploit the most minute of cracks; you don’t want ants infesting your shed any more than you do mice, which should give you a sense of just how small you’re looking at with regards to the gaps that you need to seal.

3. Keep everything within the shed sealed too

If vermin should find their way into your shed or garage, your next line of defence is to make sure everything important in the space is also sealed away. This particularly applies to anything mice or other vermin might use as bedding, nesting, or food. The more barren you can make the environment inside the shed, the better.

4. Repair leaks immediately

A leaky roof or drain will encourage mice and other vermin by providing them with a critical source of water inside the shed. Again, you want it to be a desert in there, as far as the vermin is concerned. One thing you can do is make sure the roof is constructed of a robust, waterproof material that won’t leak. Once the shed has been constructed, continue to monitor it and if you find a leak, repair it immediately. Not only will it protect what you’re storing in the shed from potential water damage, but it’s denying those vermin a hospitable environment.

5. Repair cracks in the concrete immediately

Vermin can also come up from underneath; they burrow and exploit cracks in the concrete floor incredibly well. Repairing concrete can be a DIY job, despite its reputation for being a challenging task, and as an added layer of resistance, once it has been repaired, put down a new coat of paint, which will further discourage pests.

6. Clear out the area around the shed

Sheds often end up becoming a dumping ground of sorts around the home, but removing clutter, such as disused or refuse building materials, and the household bins, is a useful trick in keeping the vermin away. Bins, especially, provide a source of food for vermin, and if placed near the shed, can become an attractive environment to settle down in. Invest in good bins that keep smells locked in and are sealed themselves, and where possible keep them distant to both the home and the shed, with a significant amount of open (i.e. unsafe) space for the vermin to travel between all three places.

7. Introduce some predators to the environment

This applies more for mice and rats than anything else, but having natural predators to the vermin in the area tends to keep them away. For pets you can choose a cat like a Maine Coon or a dog like a Jack Russell, which are specialists in hunting small, furry animals. But it doesn’t need to be a pet, either. If you’ve got a garden, then having a nice, big tree might invite large birds to take up residence, and those are remarkably good hunters of mice. If you observe signs of rodents hanging around, work out what kind of rodent it is, and then you’ll know what kind of predator you need to bring onto your property.

8. Clean regularly

It’s so easy to forget to clean the shed; particularly if you use it for storage and don’t keep everyday items in there, but it’s important to regularly go through and clean and sweep it out. Not only does that give you a chance to spot the start of vermin activity before it becomes an infestation, but equally importantly, the simple act of cleaning will make the space appear trafficked to many vermin, which tends to deter them from making a home of the space.

9. Use (preferably humane) traps

If you see the start of vermin activity in your shed, you might be able to deal with it before it becomes a critical infestation. There are many traps available on the market for just about any kind of vermin you can imagine. You’re probably not going to worry yourself too much over traps that kill cockroaches, but if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of using deadly force on mice (if only for the cleanup afterwards), then it’s worth noting that there are a lot of “catch and release” traps that are now on the market that let you get rid of the mouse or rat out of your shed without having to deal with a dead animal in the process.

As with most things, when it comes to vermin control in your shed, prevention is an infinitely preferable solution to a cure. With sheds, prevention is as simple as choosing the right materials for your walls and ceiling, making sure that you’ve made the connections airtight, and made good use of further anti-vermin material in sealing the joints. For more information on vermin-proofing your shed or garage, and the best strategies for it, contact our friendly team of experts at Titan Lite.