How to Get Rid of Rodents for Good

Step 1

Exclusion is the only path to permanent control

Exclusion means sealing your home so rodents cannot get in. It is the single most important step for lasting control, and it is the part most homeowners skip. Without it, you will trap rodents forever, because new ones simply follow the same path inside.

Inspect your home slowly and carefully. Look at the foundation, the roofline, vents, pipes, and the garage. Seal small openings with steel wool set in sealant, and cover larger ones with metal mesh or flashing. Rodents are strong chewers, so soft materials like foam will not hold.

Pay close attention to the roof and upper walls, because roof rats prefer to enter from above. Check the gaps where roof lines meet, around chimney flashing, and at vent screens that may be torn or loose. Down low, look at the foundation, crawl space vents, and the base of the garage door, where worn weather strips leave a clear gap.

Step 2

Take away the food and water supply

Even a sealed home can attract rodents if food is easy to reach. Store dry goods in sealed glass or metal containers, and keep counters and floors free of crumbs. Take out the trash regularly and use bins with tight lids. Pet food is a common overlooked source, so store it in closed containers and pick up bowls overnight.

Water is just as important as food. Rodents can survive on very little, so fix dripping faucets, leaky pipes, and standing water around the property. In the yard, empty plant saucers and clear clogged gutters. When food and water both become hard to find, your home loses its appeal.

Think about the whole property, not just the kitchen. Garages and sheds often hold forgotten bags of pet food, birdseed, or grass seed that feed rodents quietly for months. Outdoor pet feeding stations, fallen birdseed under feeders, and unsecured trash cans can all keep a population well fed.

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  Seal food storage

  Use glass or metal containers for pantry goods, pet food, birdseed, and grass seed.

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  Control water sources

  Repair leaks, empty standing water, and clear clogged gutters around the property.

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  Clean garages and sheds

  Keep storage areas tidy and move supplies off the floor whenever possible.

Step 3

Clear out the rodents already inside

Sealing and cleaning stop new rodents, but you still need to remove the ones already living in your home. Snap traps are the most dependable tool for this. Set several at once along walls and in corners where you see droppings, and bait them with peanut butter. Check daily and reset as needed until you go several nights with no captures.

Be patient and thorough. Rodents are cautious around new objects, so it may take a few days before they approach traps. Keep at it until activity fully stops, not just until it slows. Stopping too soon is how infestations bounce back.

Keep a simple record of where and when you catch rodents. A few captures near the same wall or appliance points you toward a nest or an entry point you may have missed. Move traps to the most active spots and add more there. Several quiet nights in a row across all your traps is a reliable sign the indoor population has finally been cleared out.

Step 4

Keep up prevention so they never return

Permanent control does not end when the last rodent is gone. New mice and rats are always searching for shelter, especially as seasons change. Make prevention a habit. Re-check your seals a few times a year, keep the kitchen tidy, and stay on top of yard work.

In Glendora, roof rats travel from the canyons all summer, so trimming trees and clearing brush keeps them from reaching your roof. Removing fallen fruit and dense ground cover takes away their cover and their food. These small, steady efforts are what separate a one-time cleanup from a home that stays rodent-free for years.

Set a reminder to walk your property at the start of each season. Late summer is a key moment in Glendora, when roof rats leave the drying canyons and look for new homes. A short inspection then—checking seals, trimming branches, and clearing brush—can stop an infestation before it starts.

Professional Rodent Control

How a professional makes it last

Doing all of this alone is possible, but it is a lot of careful work, and one missed gap can undo it. This is where a professional plan pays off. A trained technician inspects every corner of your home, seals the entry points you cannot reach, removes the active rodents, and sets up monitoring so problems are caught early.

At Bellas Exterminator, we have spent more than two decades getting rodents out of San Gabriel Valley homes and keeping them out. As a family-owned, owner-operated company, we treat your home like our own and stand behind our work. If you are tired of the same problem returning, contact us to build a lasting plan for your home.

A professional plan also saves you time, mess, and worry. Instead of repeating the same partial fixes, you get a complete solution backed by experience and the right equipment. We handle the hard-to-reach attic and crawl space work, the careful sealing, and the cleanup, so you do not have to.

Just as important, a good company stands behind the work and checks back. Rodent pressure changes with the seasons, so a plan that includes follow-up keeps small issues from growing into new infestations.