How do I choose a rodent control provider?
Licensing, a written plan, and exclusion. Those three separate good Lehi providers from the rest. Ask how they seal gaps and what materials they use. If the answer is foam or caulk alone, keep looking. Metal mesh and hardware cloth are what hold.
How do I know if I have mice or rats?
Size is the tell. Mouse droppings are rice-sized and pointed; rat droppings are raisin-sized. In Lehi homes, mice are usually in the kitchen and walls, while rats tend to be in the attic, crawlspace, or garage. Rat gnaw marks are larger, and their rub marks are heavier.
What is exclusion and why does it cost so much?
Exclusion is sealing every opening a rodent could use in a Lehi home with materials they cannot chew: copper mesh, hardware cloth, sheet metal, mortar. It costs more than trapping because it is slow, awkward labor. In Lehi homes, it is also the only step that stops the problem from returning.
Are rats a bigger problem than mice?
Rats cause more damage and take longer to control. Their gnawing is heavier, they need daily water, and they can enter a Lehi home through sewer lines. Mice are less destructive per animal but multiply quickly. Both need trapping and exclusion; rats also often need exterior stations.
Do ultrasonic repellers work?
They do not solve rodent problems. A Lehi home with an active mouse population will still have one after plugging in a repeller. Save the money for snap traps and hardware cloth, or put it toward a Lehi inspection that finds the actual entry points.
Are rodent problems in U.S. homes getting worse?
Not noticeably, on the national numbers. One figure Lehi homeowners tend to underestimate: rodent contact has stayed steady: roughly 11.8% of occupied U.S. homes reported signs in the previous year, calculated from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 American Housing Survey (AHS) rounded counts, almost identical to 2019 and, like that figure, a tally of reports, not confirmed infestations. Lehi homeowners comparing quotes should ask each provider which of these patterns they see locally and why.
Where in the house are mice most often found?
The kitchen leads. Lehi is not an outlier on this point: for homeowners deciding where to look first, the kitchen is a leading spot: 37% of U.S. homeowners who had encountered rodents named it in the 2022 NPMA/Harris Poll, a multi-select answer from a lifetime survey rather than an infestation rate. Providers serving Lehi should be able to explain how their recommendation fits what they actually found on your property.