Yes, easily. Garage door gaskets compress, crack, and warp with age, and settling concrete lifts the corners.
Mice can fit through holes the size of a dime. This is not a comforting fact if you’re worried about rodents coming into your home, but it’s true. Worn garage door seals are not good barriers against mice.
To see if this is a problem for you, look at your garage door from the inside with the door closed and the lights off. Daylight along the bottom edge means a gap, and the corners are usually the worst.
Rubber also happens to be chewable. This matters a lot because gaskets can wear down quickly over the course of Massachusetts winters and open up small tears which mice can turn into bigger entrances. The side seals and the top seal fail the same way. So does the weatherstripping around a service door.
Replacing the bottom gasket is straightforward and worth doing with a profile matched to the contour of your garage floor. Add corner seals where settling has opened up daylight. Then take care of any other affected doors by adding door sweeps. If you notice daylight around plumbing or wiring penetrations, it’s wise to seal those up too.
Another thing you can do is make your garage less worth entering in the first place. You can do this by putting things like birdseed, grass seed, and pet food in heavy plastic or metal containers instead of paper bags. It’s also wise to keep a tight lid on trash cans. Basically, you’re denying rodents food.
One last word of advice: if mice are already inside, clear them before you seal. Sealing a garage with mice in it just keeps them there.
If mice are getting in under your garage door, Mosquito Squad of Chelmsford & Cambridge can help. Mosquito Squad finds how mice are getting in, clears them with traps and bait stations, and seals the entry points. Annual inspections will help you protect your home from the next round.
