mice !!

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Hey all
Got a call last week power out in one portion of a condo unit. Was told of mice.... eeks
I cut a hole were I thought the problem was. I found lots of chewed wires. Mice tracks everywhere. They chewed the length of the cable , chewed the insulation off the conductors. This is not a old place. I thought there was a chemical in the plastic that mice don't like?

The real question is how much demo do we do. The whole place could be affected.
I don't intend to use junction boxes and just replace wires box to box. That is unless the insurance refuses.
 

GerryB

Senior Member
Had a job a few years ago were mice or squirrels chewed up lots of wires in an attic. We could see everything though and apparently they had enough to munch on up there without going down the walls. I guess I would document what you do and if another problem occurs elsewhere it just another job. (had a crawl space panel with one ko missing. About 8 dead mice inside. One little guy had his paw stuck to the breaker. They think it was a mice-icide.)
 

Galt

Senior Member
Location
Wis.
Occupation
master electrician and refrigeration service tech.
I think mice cause more fires than anything else especially in rural areas and farm buildings.I have been battling them for years. One half inch knockout left open and they will pack it full of whatever is available . They seem to love UF cable chew all the insulation off.bad news.
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
Hey allGot a call last week power out in one portion of a condo unit. Was told of mice.... eeks I cut a hole were I thought the problem was. I found lots of chewed wires. Mice tracks everywhere. They chewed the length of the cable , chewed the insulation off the conductors. This is not a old place. I thought there was a chemical in the plastic that mice don't like?The real question is how much demo do we do. The whole place could be affected.I don't intend to use junction boxes and just replace wires box to box. That is unless the insurance refuses.
First off are you sure this is mice damage and not squirrel damage? I went to a house like this ( not a year old) and the squirrels had stripped the wire on one side of the attic. The first thing is to get a qualified exterminator on the job. This was a new house $3-400K price range and the exterminator found many openings where squirrels could get in and two different groups of squirrels living in the attic. One group had young that were teething and chewing the insulation off the wiring. The insurance would not cover this work but luckily the builder was on the hook for it because the house wasn't even a year old and they did a poor job of sealing up the attic ( the place was wide open to all sorts of varmints ).
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
Hey allGot a call last week power out in one portion of a condo unit. Was told of mice.... eeks This is not a old place. I thought there was a chemical in the plastic that mice don't like?
Does it really make a difference if mice or squirrel?
Yes it does matter. If they have squirrels there were openings left when the house was built that must be sealed to prevent another infestation. It's just as important to keeps the problem from happening in the future as it is to repair damage that's already happened. Insurance is probably not going to cover this so it's not one of those things a homeowner needs happening all the time.With squirrels the first thing is extermination, then sealing of the house and then electrical repairs. That keep the problem from happening again.
 

Sierrasparky

Senior Member
Location
USA
Occupation
Electrician ,contractor
Yes it does matter. If they have squirrels there were openings left when the house was built that must be sealed to prevent another infestation. It's just as important to keeps the problem from happening in the future as it is to repair damage that's already happened. Insurance is probably not going to cover this so it's not one of those things a homeowner needs happening all the time.With squirrels the first thing is extermination, then sealing of the house and then electrical repairs. That keep the problem from happening again.

You've never seen a squrrel dig under a foundation?
Same for mice.


We have PHD varmints out here on the west coast!
 
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