The terminator found a few mouse access holes where the plumbing and electrical come into the kitchen. He suggested using foam in a can to seal them up.
I thought moussee would just chew through the foam, I also remember somebody suggested steel wool, but steel wool and what? Think steel wool topped with joint compound would work? Is there anything better?
Thank.
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Replies
Avoid the steel wool. It rusts too quickly and will disintegrate in a few months. The rust can also bleed through the patching plaster and stain any thing, paint or wallpaper, over it. It is also flammable. A handy way of starting a fire is 00 steel wool and a 9v battery. Try it on a small ball. Be careful as the results may surprise you.
Use copper, stainless or bronze wool. Available at the big box or paint store. The thicker grades are like the metal scrubbers used to wash dishes. In fact, given a pinch or especially cheap price, those scrubbers work well. The thicker grades stuff into holes well, grip the surrounding surface and give something for the plaster to hold on to.
Rats, mice and bats won't, for the most part as rats can be pushy and, assuming they are after food, chew a hole in the wall beside the patched area, chew through these materials.
Lorn, thanks for the scrubber idea.
A handy way of starting a fire is 00 steel wool and a 9v battery. Try it on a small ball. Be careful as the results may surprise you.
Never thought that steel wool is flammable, is it because of the oil?
The oil helps but iron really likes oxygen and is just waiting for enough heat to make this reaction happen at a rapid rate. A lot of reactive metals, and some people don't think are reactive, are the same way. Grind them fine enough and they lack the thermal mass to cool a spark while they have a high surface area, exposure to oxygen in the air. Powdered aluminum is explosive. Added to common explosives and it increases the brissance, speed of the explosive reaction, of the original compound. Most firecrackers are filled with powdered magnesium instead of the gun powder most people think.
I hate to sound like a broken record (remember records?), but the bronze wool combined with canned foam becomes a very stable matrix on which to apply plaster. If the hole is small, the foam is not needed. Stainless scrubbers work well, too, and are available widely.Bill
Thanks Bill. Foam, bronze, brass, stainless steel wool and plaster, I'll make it work.
You should use brass or stainless wool instead of steel wool to plug the holes. Steelwool rusts very quickly and leace rust stains on everything. This I know.
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