What Kind of Damage Is Caused by Mice in the Attic?

Mice not only are capable of spreading disease if they manage to get into your home, but they can also cause a considerable amount of damage to your residence. Mice cause damage no matter where they end up in your home, including in your attic. There are a number of different types of damage that mice can cause in the attic of your home.

Destroy Insulation

A primary type of damage mice cause in an attic is the destruction of insulation. Mice tend to damage insulation in an attic in one of two ways.

First, mice will chew and burrow into the insulation to build nests for themselves and their offspring. Second, mice will chew up insulation to use for building nests elsewhere the attic or the residence.

Insulation is vital to maintaining appropriate temperatures in a residence. When insulation is destroyed by mice, its effectiveness is impaired, and oftentimes significantly so. This results in an increase in money expended to heat and cool a residence. Replacing insulation damaged by mice can prove to be a costly endeavor.

Even a “smaller” mice infestation in an attic can wreak havoc on insulation in almost no time at all. Indeed, you may become aware of a mice infestation when it’s too late to save the insulation if you are not diligent about regularly checking the state of affairs in your home. In other words, you should regularly check out your attic to ensure that nothing is amiss in the way of a mice infestation or any other type of problem.

Destroy Insulation Around Wires

Another major type of damage caused by mice in an attic is the destruction of the insulation around wires in that space. The typical attic is the site of what can amount to a considerable amount of exposed wires. These can all prove inviting to mice.

The destruction of insulation can cause electrical or other problems in a residence. As is discussed shortly, the destruction of insulation around wires in an attic can also result in fire.

Damage Electrical Appliances in Attic

Your attic may be the site of different types of electrical appliances. For example, an air HVAC unit may be associated with or connected to your attic.

Mice have a tendency to get inside these types of equipment and build nests. When they do this, their activity can result in damage to these appliances.

Damage Structure of Residence

A major type of damage caused by mice in attics is structural. Mice will go to work on everything from walls to the ceiling to support beams found in an attic. Over time, the gnawing by mice on these structural items can result in significant damage to a residence. Indeed, you may end up having to understand substantial repair work at a significant cost to address the level of damage mice can cause in an attic.

Rat urine can also cause structural damage to an attic and your home. (This is in addition to the possibility rat feces and urine can also prove responsible for spreading disease when humans come into contact with this type of waste.)

Open Passages Into Main Part of Residence

Having mice in your attic is a bad enough problem. You certainly want to avoid having mice infesting other places in your home, specifically living areas.

Yet another type of damage mice cause in an attic is gnawing open passages to other parts of your residence, including living spaces. For example, mice can take what is a small hole somewhere in your attack, gnaw on it, and turn it into a primary portal through which mice will enter the livable spaces in your residence.

Mice will be highly inclined to cause this type of damage in an effort to gain access to parts of your home in which food can be found. When this occurs, and it will ultimately happen, the mice infestation problem in your home will increase significantly. This will result in even more damage to your home and the exposure of you and your family to the risk of diseases that can be carried by mice.

Damage Items Stored in Attic

Like many homeowners, you store at least some items in your attic. Things that you store in your attic are at risk for damage and destruction caused by mice. Items like clothing, furniture, and a multitude of other types of items oftentimes stowed in an attic can end up targeted and damaged or destroyed by mice.

Cause Fires

Finally, a very serious type of damage caused by mice in attics is fire. When mice destroy insulation around wiring, when mice build nests in electrical appliances connected to an attic, the ultimate result can be fire. A fire in an attic can spread quickly, prove difficult to contain, and result in major and even total destruction of a residence.