I've had a mouse get into the apartment via an old-school radiator on a wooden floor, and so I'd like to block the area up in this one particular spot. Pic related is a good idea of the worksite. I have the idea to get a metal plate, cut a circular hole with tin snips or similar, and then adhere the plate to the wood (in two cut sections). I am soliciting general technique tips. Haven't had the actual problem for a while but I want the hole plugged up anyway as a further deterrent.Is the general idea sound? What's a good adhesive to stick a metal plate onto wood? Is there a preferred metal relative to a certain glue? How can I go about cutting/stamping the plate and getting the hole right? The tin snips I have on hand would produce a crude cut on an appropriately thick material, I think.
you could try packing the hole with steel wool, I've heard they don't like to chew through it because they get steel splinters in their gums.
Use something like pic related. It will harden to a rock like finish and tastes terrible so mice won't nibble on it and it's not going to care about the heat if you use the radiator. You are going to waste a lot of the material unless you have other things to plug up because it expands a lot and you are filling a tiny amount. But it fixed your problem for $20.
>>2786869google pipe collar unless you reall really reall want to /diy/ it
>>2786957this worksI sealed gaps in my shed with it and never got any mice again.
>>2786957this, but it would look nicer with a pipe collar or steel plate or something covering the stuff.
>>2787015
>>2786957One thing to be aware of with polyurethane spray foam: when it burns it creates cyanide gas. They do make fire resistant versions but it just slows the reaction, the gas will still be produced. Steel wool on the other hand is nontoxic. Just something to keep in mind especially for attics and other overhead spaces where fire and gases can spread rapidly.
>>2786869kek are the pipes that blown out?yknow it reminds me of this early 90s building i lived in, the neighbor upstairs dropped a used qtip on the floor like the subhuman trashman he is (a lawyer who rides around on a piaggio mp3 and picks up anything he sees next to a dumpster), it fell next to the radiator pipe, through the opening and got stuck hanging from OUR ceilingthey just didn't give so much of a shit but with some basic bitch plaster it would have been closed perfectly on the ceiling within 10 seconds too bad I was 11 when we moved outwas a comfy as fuck place otherwise
>>2786928I put a tiny bit down there (and I patched another hole this way, really corked that one up good, it was the mouse's main hole but I understand that steel wool can catch fire and the main pipe can get quite hot in winter so I won't be doing any more of that. While we're at it I wouldn't mind fishing out the bit that's down there, need some sort of grabber.I think I will avoid the stuff that has cyanide byproduct, thanks. All I really want is an aesthetic closure of the hole, these guys >>2786978 >>2787015 get it. Will look into a pipe collar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD3UfLoN0qg
>>2786869I just used a silicon caulk when I had to deal with a very similar problem (pipe going through floor with hole around)I used the fancy "caulk for high temperatures" stuff that's like "good up to 9000 degrees of heat" so it's not going to burn up from the steam if you move out or have to remove the stuff, it's not the worst to remove, some needle nose pliers and it comes out in a chonk or two for me it was bugs & things coming up, if it was bugs I and I had to do it again I'd blast that hole with the worst poison before sealing it. Food for thought mouse-wise if you want to dump some gifties down there before sealing
>>2787051You're out of your mind worrying about boogeymen.There's an incredible amount of shit in a house that will turn toxic if it burns. Fires smell terrible. Thats not a reason not to use pestblocker spray foam to fill holes to block pests in your home. Steel wool can work fine too, but get closer to the real world.
>>2787858Making the ingredients for dead things smelling in your wall cavities isnt a great idea either.Anon, that pipe may get hot, but its steam. Steam will never light anything on fire.Put whatever you want in the hole, id lave the spray foam there and get your pipe collar. Youll probably have to cut it in half to get it on, you really need to put those on as you assemble the plumbing.Personally,just care less would be my advice once the mouse problem is solved
>>2787995>>worryingTrue, but I'm thinking about a fully spray foam-insulated house burning down upwind of me.
>>2786869Fill the hole with mortar. Mix it up in a cup. ez. Mice can chew through Great Stuff and that sticky shit sucks anyway.
>>2787163It's the space between the floor and the pipe. If you can stick a sharpie in it, a mouse can fit.
>>2786869Fill the hole with steel wool, this actually works, they don't like it, just like I didn't like getting scrubbed with it when I was a child.
>>2787858>so it's not going to burn up from the steameuro radiators are like 40-60cyou'd want something that'll last through many hot/cold cycles>>2788822is what I meant, I guess radiator pipe holes being "30 and ready to settle down" is a more common sight than I thoughtwhat a pathetic oversight for something so easy to fill during construction, especially in an apartment building>If you can stick a sharpie in it, a mouse can fit.damn they are that flexible?
>>2789790>damn they are that flexible?https://www.youtube.com/@matthiaswandel/search?query=mouse
>>2789790>>2789793Fun fact is that there are smaller mice >>2788840Chop the steel wool with a pair of beater scissors first, the sharp edges deter them a lot more. Steel wool from the box usually has long strands so fewer pokey bits.
>>2788840OP here. As explained earlier in the thread, the pipe gets very hot and so I was concerned about the wool I put down there earlier (it can catch fire). I just got a good pipe grabber and fished out what I had put down there earlier. I also found a hinged pipe collar that is a perfect fit (1") , got the measurement right on the first try, snug fit. Flange is just big enough that it covers the hole. Will screw it down later and call it good. Thanks all for replies.I plugged another hole (not next to a heat source) with steel wool a while back and crammed caulk on top, then painted over it. Amateurish but it blends in fairly well and it solves the problem (that was the main mouse hole).There are one or two other spots in the unit where the wood slats don't quite meet the wall, and these are other potential points of entry. Might like to cover those up at some point. But the main thing is I've stopped living like a slob and since there's no food on the ground the mouse has no reason to be in here.
>>2790912Good work cleaning upThats steam in the pipe. It will explode burning you horribly before it lights things on fire. Any fire would come from the boiler that burns stuff to make that steam, not steel wool. It wont ignite.
