Rodent Control in Beacon Hill and Five Points

Beacon Hill and Five Points are older neighborhoods just north of downtown, close to San Pedro Springs Park. The housing runs from Victorian cottages to bungalows and small frame houses, many of them close to a century old. A lot of them sit up on pier-and-beam foundations with a crawl space underneath.

Old frame houses on piers give rodents more ways in than a newer house on a slab. Norway rats and mice like the crawl space. Roof rats use the trees and the old wood trim to reach the attic.

Under the House

Crawl space skirting takes a beating. Boards rot, lattice breaks, and somebody pulls a panel off to get at the plumbing and never puts it back. Any gap lets rats and mice set up under the floor. From there they follow pipes up into the walls and kitchen cabinets.

A tech can close the skirting with hardware cloth buried a few inches into the soil, so rats can't just dig under it. Leave a way to get in for plumbing work, with an access panel that latches.

• Broken lattice and missing skirting panels
• Gaps where pipes come up through the floor
• Old foundation vents with missing screens

Restoring an Old House

If you're fixing up an old place here, rodent-proofing is cheaper to do while the walls and floors are open. Seal pipe holes with metal, add screens to vents, and replace soiled insulation. An inspection before the work starts tells your contractor where the problems are.

Landmarks and streets: San Pedro Springs Park · Fredericksburg Rd. · N. Flores St. · St. Mary's St. · Five Points (ZIP 78201, 78212)

Other parts of town: Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills, Stone Oak, Timberwood Park, Leon Valley, Castle Hills and Shavano Park, Medical Center, Windcrest, Live Oak and Universal City, Leon Springs and Fair Oaks Ranch, South Side and the Missions.