How to Get Rid of Mice in Your House: 7 Steps That Work

Mice in the house is one of those problems that never fixes itself: a single breeding pair can turn into dozens of mice in a few months, all while chewing wiring and contaminating your kitchen. The internet is full of half-measures; here's the complete sequence that actually works, in the order that matters.

Step 1: Confirm what you're dealing with

Before anything else, verify it's mice and find where they're active. Mouse droppings are rice-grain sized with pointed ends (rat droppings are much larger); you'll find them along baseboards, in cupboards, and under sinks. Fresh droppings are dark and soft, old ones grey and crumbly; that difference tells you whether activity is current. Note where you find droppings and gnawing; those locations guide everything that follows.

Steps 2 & 3: Find the entry points, then seal them

Walk the outside of your house slowly and check everywhere a mouse could enter: gaps around gas and utility lines, dryer vents, garage door seals, foundation cracks, and under exterior doors. A mouse fits through anything the size of a dime. Seal what you find with steel wool packed tight and backed with caulking, or with metal flashing for bigger gaps, since mice chew through foam sealant alone. Sealing is the single highest-value step on this list: skip it, and every mouse you catch is replaced by a new one from outside.

Steps 4 & 5: Remove food and nesting material

Move pantry staples, pet food, and birdseed into sealed glass or metal containers: a bag of dog food in the garage is a mouse buffet. Clean under appliances where crumbs collect, and don't leave dishes out overnight. Then remove shelter: declutter storage areas, get cardboard boxes off the floor, and keep firewood and debris away from exterior walls. Mice settle where food and cover sit close together; separate the two and your house gets much less inviting.

Steps 6 & 7: Trap strategically, then monitor

Place snap traps perpendicular to walls, trigger-end against the baseboard, in the areas where you found droppings, since mice hug walls and rarely cross open floors. Bait with peanut butter, use more traps than feels necessary (a dozen is reasonable for a small infestation), and check them daily. After activity stops, keep a few traps out for two weeks and watch for new droppings. No new signs after two clean weeks usually means you got them.

When to call a professional

If traps keep filling for more than a couple of weeks, if you hear activity inside walls or ceilings, if you smell dead mice you can't locate, or if droppings appear in a home with young kids or someone immunocompromised, bring in a professional. At that point the colony is established somewhere you can't reach, and a pro's inspection, tamper-resistant baiting, and exclusion work finishes the job faster and more safely than another round of hardware-store traps.

Fortify Pest Control handles mice removal and exclusion for homes across Winnipeg and Manitoba, with a satisfaction guarantee. If the DIY route has stalled, book a free inspection and we'll find what was missed.