How Do You Get Rid of Mice in an Edgware Kitchen?

Ready to book?Need mouse control in Edgware? View our Mouse Control Edgware service →

Why the Kitchen

• Food, obviously — but three grams a day is enough, so crumbs count
• Warmth from appliances running most of the day
• The plinth void under fitted units, which is dark, undisturbed and continuous
• Water from a slow leak under the sink
• Service penetrations for waste, water and gas, all entering in one area
• In a terrace or conversion, that void may connect to next door

Step 1: Seal Every Food Source

• Everything into sealed containers — pasta, rice, cereal, flour, sugar, pet treats
• Cardboard packaging is not a barrier; mice chew straight through
• Pet food especially, and not left in the original bag
• No pet bowl down overnight
• Bin closed and emptied nightly
• Wipe surfaces before bed, not just after cooking
• Fruit bowl — deal with anything over-ripe

Step 2: Clear the Unit Voids

• Pull out the cooker, fridge, washing machine and dishwasher and clean behind and beneath
• Empty the base units nearest the sink and appliances
• Clean the plinth line where crumbs accumulate
• Look for droppings at the back of base units — the most reliable place to find them
• Check under the sink around the waste trap
• Fix any leak — mice need water too

Step 3: Close the Gaps

6mm. Keep that figure in mind while you look.

• Around pipes under the sink and behind the washing machine
• Where pipework enters through an external wall, inside and out
• At the back of base units, at the plinth line and the wall junction
• Airbricks — damaged or with a missing grille
• Under an external or back door
• Around a soil pipe
• Where an extension meets the original house
• Into a party wall cavity, if you can see one

Wire wool packed tight and capped with filler is the standard fix. Expanding foam alone is not — mice chew it.

Read nextRodent Proofing Edgware – What Does £180 Cover? →

Step 4: Treatment

Treatment placed in the voids and along the runs where the mice actually are, continued over follow-up visits. Tell us about pets and children — it changes placement, not price.

If the Kitchen Backs Onto a Neighbour

• Ask them. In a terrace, mice rarely occupy one kitchen only
• Kitchens are often back to back in this housing stock, sharing a wall and service runs
• A shared problem treated on one side moves back
• Above a shop or takeaway, the commercial kitchen below is a likely source — and their responsibility
• Proofing your own side is what works without anyone's cooperation

What Does Not Work

• One trap by the fridge. There are more mice than that, and they learn
• Ultrasonic repellers. No credible evidence; mice habituate
• Peppermint oil on an established problem
• Expanding foam alone. Mice chew through it
• A cat. May catch some, will not clear a population inside the units
• Treating without sealing the food — you are competing with your own kitchen
• Loose poison in a cupboard, particularly with pets or children

Glue Traps

Restricted in England, and their use by the general public is prohibited. They are also indiscriminate and inhumane. We do not use them.

Hygiene

• Mice contaminate far more than they eat and are incontinent as they travel
• Discard open food from an affected cupboard
• Wear gloves and dampen droppings before wiping — never sweep or vacuum dry
• Disinfect surfaces afterwards
• Wash any crockery or utensils left out

Related Questions

Why do I get mice every winter?

Because the gaps are still open. Mice move indoors as it gets cold; whether they get in is down to proofing.

How many are there?

More than you have seen. Mice are social and breed quickly.

Do I need to empty the whole kitchen?

No. We will tell you which cupboards to clear before the visit.