How Animals Can Negatively Impact Your Foundation
You may love to watch the animals outside your window, and enjoy the cute critters that visit or live in your neighborhood, but when it comes to foundation and crawl space pest prevention in Denver, many wildlife animals can pose a serious threat. While squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, prairie dogs, and raccoons can be charming, they can cause damage to your home without you even noticing! Here at Van Matre, your local Denver crawl space and foundation pest prevention and repair experts, we’ve seen the destruction that these little critters can cause. And we’re here to help you prevent these types of problems.
Many animals love to dig and burrow, and every animal is always on the lookout for a safe place to make a home. Dark and dry enclosed areas like residential houses can be tempting to these critters, especially because humans tend to have an abundance of food around. For burrowing animals like prairie dogs, gophers, and voles, the ground around your home is appealing, and these animals can end up chewing into your crawl space or damaging the soil around your foundation. The more animals that dig around your home, the less stable the soil becomes, which increases the potential for water to pool around your foundation. Over time, this can result in water intrusion into your basement or crawl space, which can cause the concrete of your foundation to crack, along with other potential structural issues.
Other animals like snakes, spiders, bats, and mice can squeeze through tiny cracks or holes in your foundation and will ruin electrical wiring, clog drains, and could potentially transmit disease through ducts and other airways.
Overall, wildlife and your home do not mix! Here are a few ways to prevent animal-related foundation damage:
- Patch holes and cracks around your home! Shore up your siding, and caulk wherever possible.
- Consider installing a wildlife-resistant fence around your yard.
- Keep tempting food sources, especially pet food, inside and sealed up.
- Have your foundation inspected by a professional like Van Matre, to identify weak spots.
If you want to protect your investment and keep animals from ruining your home’s foundation, don’t delay. The sooner you can act and take preventative measures, the better. Get in touch with our team of crawl space and foundation pest prevention experts in Denver at Van Matre today to set up your foundation inspection.
