TLDR: Rodent control works in four steps: (1) inspect to find where they’re active and what they’re eating, (2) knock the population down, with bait stations for mice and snap traps for rats inside the house, (3) seal entry points once activity drops (a mouse fits through a gap the size of a dime), and (4) keep checking so they don’t come back. Full attic re-insulation is rarely needed. Lower-level baiting usually does the job.
Good rodent control is a plan, not a product. Here’s the short version of the plan we use on mice and rats in Northern Virginia homes:
- Inspect. Find where the activity is heaviest, what they’re eating, and how they’re getting in.
- Reduce the population. Bait stations for mice. Snap traps for rats inside the house.
- Seal entry points. Do this after activity drops, not before, or you can trap them inside.
- Monitor. Follow-up checks and fresh bait catch the next wave early.
Each step gets its own section below. Further down, I cover how to spot an infestation, when DIY makes sense, and what a rodent control plan costs. Rodents are one of the most common calls we get, especially around Old Town Alexandria, and this is the four-step protocol we built from those jobs.
The CDC’s rodent control guidance comes down to three jobs: trap up, seal up, and clean up. The University of California adds the order that matters: house mice can squeeze under a gap ¼ inch tall, so sealing is key, but if dead mice inside the walls would cause an odor problem, trapping may be the better first move than poison.
Step 1: Inspect Before You Treat
Most failed rodent jobs I see skipped this step. Someone put out a few traps where they saw a mouse once, and nothing changed.
An inspection answers three questions. Is it mice or rats? Where are they most active? And what are they eating? That last one matters more than people think. Daren, one of our registered technicians, starts every rodent call inside the house, looking at the pantry and for dog food left out. As he puts it, if there’s another food source, “they ain’t gonna take our cheeseburger in a box of filet mignon.” Bait only works when it’s the best meal around.
Inside, we look for droppings, chew marks, and grease rub marks along walls in kitchens, basements, garages, and attics. We note plumbing leaks and clutter that gives them cover. Then we go outside and walk the house for entry points: gaps around pipes and utility lines, garage door corners, vents, and the soffit. For more on telling the two apart, see our guide on field mice vs house mice and our mice vs rats comparison.
Give the cleanup a week before you judge anything else. Bait and traps work much better once the easy food is gone.
Step 2: Bait for Mice, Snap Traps for Rats
Once you know what you’re dealing with, you pick the tool for that animal.
For mice, we use bait. We set tamper-resistant bait stations along the walls and in the spots where the inspection found the most activity. Mice don’t travel far. University of California researchers note they seldom venture more than 30 feet from their nest and food, so placement matters more than the number of stations. Our best mouse bait guide covers the formulas.
For rats inside the house, we use snap traps. We don’t bait for rats indoors. Poisoned rodents often die inside the structure, and the University of California flags that odor as a reason to trap instead. With a rat-sized carcass in a wall, that smell is hard to live with. Snap traps let us take them out. Outside, bait stations around the foundation still have a place.
We check each station on every visit. Eaten bait tells us where they’re still feeding, and untouched bait tells us an area has gone quiet.
- Precision: Bait stations let us target rodents where they eat, sleep, and hide.
- Reduced Risk: Children and pets (like your family dog) can’t reach the bait because it’s locked inside a tamper-resistant station.
- Long-Term Impact: Keep them maintained, and you keep the mouse population down for the long haul.
- Versatility: We can switch out bait formulas based on how the rodents respond.
If you’re doing this yourself, know what’s on the shelf. The EPA restricts consumer rodenticides to ready-to-use bait stations with block or paste bait. Loose pellets are no longer sold to homeowners. The strongest anticoagulant baits are registered only for professional pest control.
One more thing we hear a lot. Other companies sometimes tell homeowners they need their entire attic re-insulated. In my experience that’s rarely needed and very expensive, and a lot of the attic work being proposed doesn’t do much. The lower-level baiting is what makes the rodent approach work.
Step 3: Seal Entry Points (After Activity Drops)
Homeowners often ask, “Do I just seal the openings right away?”
We bring the population down first, then seal. The gaps are smaller than most people expect. Daren’s rule of thumb: if you can fit the tip of your pinky finger in a gap, a mouse can get in. That’s about the size of a dime. For rats it’s about a thumb’s width. University of California guidance backs that up: rats, especially young ones, can get under a door with only a ½-inch gap. Our guide on how small a hole a mouse can fit through goes deeper.
Use copper mesh, ¼-inch hardware cloth, sheet metal, or cement. Steel wool works as a stuffing under sealant, though it has limits on its own (see can mice chew through steel wool).
Daren had one house where this step took two years. When he took it over from another company, they’d been using snap traps and glue boards with no bait. He set bait, and on the follow-up every bit was gone. He sealed every entry point he could find, even got on a ladder to seal around the soffit, and the house went four months with no activity. Then it came back. He kept looking and spotted a twig sticking out above where he’d sealed. Squirrels had chewed a hole in the soffit, birds had nested in it, and the mice were using the same hole. Once that was sealed, it went quiet.
Townhouses are harder. In connected homes, the firewall between units isn’t always intact, especially in older rows. Mice and rats can move unit to unit. Daren tells townhouse owners to seal everything they can and give it four to six months. If they’re still getting activity after that, the rodents are likely coming from next door.
Step 4: Monitor and Follow Up
We usually check back about one and three weeks after the first treatment. If the bait is still being eaten, there are still rodents feeding. If it’s untouched and the droppings stop, the population is down. After that, routine visits (often three times a year) keep the stations fresh and catch new activity before it builds.
Why Mice and Rats Are a Serious Issue
A mouse running across your kitchen is more than a nuisance. Rodents spread disease, chew wires, and breed fast.
Mice eat practically anything, from leftover dog kibble in the bowl to dried fruit in the pantry. The University of California reports a single female house mouse may have 5 to 10 litters a year of about 5 or 6 pups each, and those pups can breed within 5 to 6 weeks. That’s how one mouse in October becomes a problem by January. If you want the real odds of getting sick, read our post on the chances of getting sick from mouse droppings. Rabies is a different story. Small rodents are almost never infected, and we explain why in do mice carry rabies.
Spotting a Mouse Problem or Rat Infestation
Rodents are sneaky, so you’ll often see clues before you see them.
- Chewing Damage: Gnaw marks on furniture, baseboards, or food containers. Rodents chew constantly.
- Odd Noises: Skittering or scratching in the walls, attic, or crawl spaces, especially at night.
- Droppings: Rat droppings are larger and capsule-shaped. Mouse droppings are smaller, like grains of rice.
- Nests: Shredded paper and fabric behind appliances or inside walls.
- Strange Odors: A musty smell, or a sharper one if a rodent died somewhere hidden.
Rats live longer than most people think, which is one reason a rat problem doesn’t fade on its own. See rat lifespan: how long they live and why it matters.
DIY Rodent Control or Call a Pro?
DIY makes sense for a small, new problem: a mouse or two in the garage, caught early. Set traps along the walls, clear out the food, and seal the small gaps once the activity stops. For more on that, read our tips to keep mice out.
Call a pro when:
- You still see fresh droppings two or three weeks after starting.
- You hear rats in the walls, attic, or crawl space.
- You live in a townhouse or row house and can’t tell where they’re coming from.
- You can’t find the entry point.
Here’s why that last one matters. Daren’s worst rat job was an old row house off Edison Street in Del Ray, right when COVID hit. A music theater behind the row shut down, the rats lost their food, and they moved into the houses. Near the end he had 15 to 20 snap traps in the crawl space and was going every week. They removed at least 40 or 50 rats, probably more. The rats were moving between units through gaps in the old firewalls, so sealing one house couldn’t fix it. Problems like that need the whole row sealed, which is hard to get neighbors to do.
That plan looks different depending on where you live, which is why we run mouse and rat control in Northern Virginia by area, from the older homes inside the Beltway to rodent control in Ashburn and Loudoun County, where newer builds back up to fields and stream corridors. Here is why we might be a good fit.
What a Rodent Control Plan Costs
One of the top questions we hear is, “How much does it cost to get rid of rodents?”
Recurring rodent plan: Starts around $49 per month plus a one-time $200 setup fee on the first visit. The plan includes bait stations or snap traps as needed, follow-up visits, and unlimited callbacks. If you see new rodent activity, call us and we’ll come back out at no extra charge. We do not sell standalone rodent jobs.
Exclusion work (sealing entry points) is quoted after the inspection, because it depends on how many gaps your house has. Learn more about our rodent control service.
How We Got Here
We’ve been part of the DC Metro community since 1968, across three generations of the Schulz family. Over the years we built an internal research team and removed 9 of the harshest chemicals often used in our industry. Our products include Essentria, EcoVia, Sentricon, and borate-based solutions. We’ve helped over 100,000 homes deal with mice, rats, and other pests, and the four steps above come from that work.
When you call 703-683-2000, you’ll speak with a person, not a phone tree. We’ll ask what you’re seeing and hearing, then set up an inspection. If you’re not seeing results on a plan, call us for a re-treatment at no extra charge. You can cancel anytime with 30 days’ notice. That kind of service has earned us over 1,800 reviews. You can also browse our pest library to read up on other pests.
Your Next Step
Start with Step 1 tonight: pick up the pet food, put the cereal in a sealed bin, and look for droppings along the kitchen baseboards and under the sink. If you find fresh ones, or you hear scratching in the walls, call us at 703-683-2000 or email info@bettertermite.com to schedule an inspection.
