Animal Kingdom: Inspect The Space Under Your Mobile Home Regularly

If you're thinking about buying a mobile home and are trying to decide between models that will fit on a concrete slab versus raised models that will require a skirt, keep animal issues in mind. Small animals tend to hide under mobile homes for shelter and protection.

The dark, enclosed area provides a cozy nest for a new animal family, and predators typically don't get in there unless you're talking about small ones like cats. Still, what's good for the furballs isn't good for you because of the mess, damage, and smell, especially if one dies. If you eventually go with a raised house that needs a skirt, keep some things in mind.

Repeat Problem

If your home made a good hiding place once, it will make a good hiding place again. Animals aren't going to avoid homes that other animals were previously hiding under. So, if you find one animal, you must inspect the skirting and the land under it to ensure there are no other holes or tunnels that the animals can use to get in. You might have to contact a pest control company that specializes in mobile home issues because, if your home is large, you might not be able to cover all of the ground yourself.

Animals can rip into the under-floor insulation under a mobile home. Always get the underside of the house inspected if you've removed an animal because you don't want to seal up damaged insulation that will make your house very cold the next winter. Of course, it's better to keep the skirting intact so that no holes open up to begin with.

Actionable Steps

Get the skirting inspected regularly, even if it's just you walking around the house and ensuring that there are no holes and gaps. Keep plants next to the skirting well-trimmed so nothing can hide in there, and so the plants themselves don't hide any gaps.

Check the skirting after heat waves and cold snaps. The material can warp in more extreme temperatures. If there's a quake or high winds, check after those, too, to ensure the ground movement didn't break anything, or that the debris blown by the wind didn't crack the skirting.

If you find holes or gaps, temporarily cover them immediately, but don't cover them permanently yet. You must look for additional animals under the house before sealing off the space underneath. The last thing you want is to seal in a bunch of quiet baby animals waiting for Mom to come back with food. Animals may seem like pests at times, but you want to approach this as humanely as you can. Plus, if those baby animals die, you'll have to remove the skirting again anyway to remove the dead animals.

After you get the all-clear -- no animals -- seal up the hole or gap permanently. If the gap was due to erosion of land under the skirting during rain, amend the land so that the erosion risk is lessened. Many times planting things that have extensive lateral root systems can help, but it's best to have a professional landscaping company evaluate the land first so you know what needs to be done to stop the specific cause of your land's erosion.

Persistence Pays

Don't get lazy on this -- if you miss an gap and an animal dies under your home, the smell will not be something you can live with, even for a day. Keep inspecting and keep the skirting and land intact. That's the best way to ensure you don't have trouble with animals under your mobile home. Contact a company like Roca Sales & Services Ltd for more information.


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