Can mice get thru 1/4" hardware cloth?

[Caulki...@work.com]

I'm getting a used trailer house for guests and storage on my farm.
From past experience I found that trailer houses attract mice. Once
they get into the insulation under the floor, the damage begins. I
considered covering the entire underside of the trailer with sheet
steel, but it would be very costly, and probably difficult to install
too. Someone said they knew someone who used window screen and said it
worked, but that they had to regularly check for loose edges because
mice and other critters would loosen it. I got to thinking about that
1/4" hardware cloth. That stuff is comparable in price to window
screen, but much more durable. Probably easier to attach too, because
it can be nailed with roofing nails, not just staples, and it can be
folded at the edges to go under the skirting flange along the edges of
the trailer. Plus, it can be screwed in place in spots where it might
need to be removed, such as by pipes. And it can be wired together if
there is no solid wood in spots, along seams. Plus, I'm sure it will
last much longer than screen.

The question is whether mice can get thru the 1/4" holes. I know they
can manage to get into small holes, but that size seems to be a little
too small. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[David L. Martel]

Gunn,

While I have no idea what size the mice and voles get to be at your place
I suspect that 1/4" will be ok. If you are't sure, they have finer mesh wire
cloths.
Wire cloth is sold in 2' wide rolls here. That seems narrow for this
task.

Dave M.

[Bob_Villa]

On Wednesday, October 16, 2013 3:28:01 AM UTC-5, Caulki...@work.com wrote:
> I'm getting a used trailer house...

Where I'm from they call this a camper...what you need to do is caulk all the areas where plumbing and wires go through the floor. Using mesh would be a daunting task and a nightmare to maintain.

[philo]

I assure you they will easily be able to get through that...
even if the holes are small they will easily expand the size and come
through.

I had a mouse problem a while back with my own house and used that
expandable foam insulation to fill the holes. Never had a mouse again.

[Don Phillipson]

<Caulki...@work.com> wrote in message
news:qcis59d6m7nht8epp...@4ax.com...

> I'm getting a used trailer house for guests and storage on my farm.

> . . . I got to thinking about that

> 1/4" hardware cloth. That stuff is comparable in price to window

> screen, but much more durable. . . .

> The question is whether mice can get thru the 1/4" holes.

Mesh size is less important than what the netting is made of.
Mice happily nibble through plastic and nylon (hard or soft),
but not through metal flyscreen sheet. (They could if they
tried, but presumably the first bite on metal dissuades them
in ways nylon/plastic do not.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[IGot2P]

No, they can't get through a 1/4" square but chances are they will get
through the seams as the hardware cloth that I am familiar with only
comes in widths of approximately 2' and how you could make the seams
"mouse proof" is beyond me.

[Alan Meyer]

On 10/16/2013 04:28 AM, Caulki...@work.com wrote:

> The question is whether mice can get thru the 1/4" holes. I know they
> can manage to get into small holes, but that size seems to be a little
> too small. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?

I haven't tried it but I did a Google search to find mouse measurements.
The most relevant page I found was this one that shows the
measurements of mouse skulls.

http://craniofacial.jax.org/characteristics.html

In the measurements this guy made, the minimum height and width of an 8
week old mouse of the types he measured was a female of one of the types
that appeared to me (by subtracting the +/- from the average) to have a
skull height of around 8.6 mm and a width of around 9.7 mm, with most
mice being a bit larger than that.

Maybe something else in the mouse is more limiting than the skull size,
though they seem to be pretty good at squeezing their bodies into small
spaces.

1/4 inch = 6.35 mm. Could a mouse get through that?

Maybe one younger than 8 weeks could. Maybe a strong one that could bow
out the wire a bit could. Maybe a smart one that found an irregularity
in the mesh could.

Or maybe not.

I would think that the vast majority of mice couldn't get through but
the margin of error here seems to me to be such that you wouldn't be
100% guaranteed to exclude every one of them.

Alan

http://web.ncsu.edu/abstract/science/is-this-mouse-a-pirate/

[Norminn]

I would be inclined to use both alum. screen and hardware cloth, with
screen protecting the h.c. Would keep bugs out and would be a real
challenge for mice to get through. Fasten strips of something hard
around the edges to hold edges fast to the frame of the trailer. Leave
something "homier" in the yard for the neighborhood critters, like a box
of sand with an insulated cover :o) Really, they don't need much...they
nest in my son's mower every year and he tries not to hurt them....this
fall, he evicted the mother before he found the babies, then put the
babies on the ground and the mother came back for them. Keeping the
trailer free of food (unless in hard, sealed containers) should help.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Caulki...@work.com:

>From past experience I found that trailer houses attract mice. Once
>they get into the insulation under the floor, the damage begins. I

>considered covering...

My #1 daughter has a half-dozen "barn" cats: semi-wild things that just
live in the barn to control mice. They don't have that long a life
expectancy (mainly because of getting kicked by horses), but they
apparently make a significant dent in the mouse population.

I wonder if one or more "trailer cats" might help.
--
Pete Cresswell

[Bob F]

IGot2P wrote:
> No, they can't get through a 1/4" square but chances are they will get
> through the seams as the hardware cloth that I am familiar with only
> comes in widths of approximately 2' and how you could make the seams
> "mouse proof" is beyond me.

I got a roll of 4' wide 1/4" hardware cloth in my garage, so 2' is not the
limit.

[Bob F]

1/4" should keep them out, but you could go to 1/8". They both seem to be made
in 48" widths.

https://www.google.com/search?q=1%2F8%22+hardware+cloth+x+48%22&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1#q=+1%2F8%22+hardware+cloth+x+48%22&rls=com.microsoft:en-us

It won't be a pleasant job.

[denni...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, October 16, 2013 9:16:57 AM UTC-4, Bob_Villa wrote:
> On Wednesday, October 16, 2013 3:28:01 AM UTC-5, Caulki...@work.com wrote:
>
> > I'm getting a used trailer house...
>
>
>
> Where I'm from they call this a camper...

No, this is far more than a camper.

It's up to 14' wide and up to 70' long. They also call them "single wides" and they're very common in "redneck" culture.

These are the kinds of homes you see in a "trailer park" right before the tornado hits.

Closely related to the "double wide" trailer, about which a popular country song was written.

[Alan Meyer]

On 10/16/2013 02:57 PM, Bob F wrote:

> 1/4" should keep them out, but you could go to 1/8". They both seem to be made
> in 48" widths.

According to my calculations based on mouse skull size, 1/4" should keep
out all but the very young, very strong (enough to deform the wire) or
very smart (enough to find an irregularity if there is one) mice.

But I see no conceivable way any of them could wiggle through 1/8".

Alan

[Harry K]

I used the same stuff to plug up holes in concrete block where pipes used to run. 8" thick by 8x8". Mouse hole appeared almost instantly in all of them.

Harry K

[philo]

On 10/16/2013 03:09 PM, Harry K wrote:
>

<snip>

>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I assure you they will easily be able to get through that...
>>
>> even if the holes are small they will easily expand the size and come
>>
>> through.
>>
>>
>>
>> I had a mouse problem a while back with my own house and used that
>>
>> expandable foam insulation to fill the holes. Never had a mouse again.
>
> I used the same stuff to plug up holes in concrete block where pipes used to run. 8" thick by 8x8". Mouse hole appeared almost instantly in all of them.
>
> Harry K
>

Yes, considering they can gnaw through wood and even concrete, that
expandable foam would be very easy to gnaw through. In my situation I
was lucky in that once there were no visible holes anywhere they left me
alone. In my neighborhood, there must have been plenty of other easy to
access areas.

[rick]

Forget the hardware cloth, you just need to elevate your guest quarters a bit.

http://missouritrailertrash.com/highlife.jpg

<img src="http://missouritrailertrash.com/highlife.jpg">

[Dean Hoffman]

Someone else mentioned the expandable foam. I've had good
luck using that to seal holes where pipes etc come in.
Another suggestion would be the good old smelly moth balls.
Supposedly mice don't like the smell of them any better than we do.
I put moth balls out in our barn. That seems to keep even the skunks out.

[philo]

On 10/16/2013 07:39 PM, Dean Hoffman > wrote:
<

<snip>

>>
>>
> Someone else mentioned the expandable foam. I've had good
> luck using that to seal holes where pipes etc come in.
> Another suggestion would be the good old smelly moth balls.
> Supposedly mice don't like the smell of them any better than we do.
> I put moth balls out in our barn. That seems to keep even the skunks out.

That was me...and it worked...but someone else mentioned it did no good
for them.

[micky]

On Wed, 16 Oct 2013 03:28:01 -0500, Caulki...@work.com wrote:

>
>The question is whether mice can get thru the 1/4" holes. I know they
>can manage to get into small holes, but that size seems to be a little
>too small. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?
>
>Thanks
>

How big are baby mice when they leave home?

[The Daring Dufas]

Heck, around here, The rats and even the mice carry wire cutters. ^_^

TDD

[Bart...@thebar.com]

Yes, they do sell 4' wide rolls. I checked online and called a few
stores today. It's cheaper to buy a 100 foot roll, which I'd need two
rolls plus another 25 feet or so. I wish they made it 6 foot wide
though. Of course I'll use metal. I know mice can and do chew thru all
plastics. For the seams, I figure putting some sort of metal strapping,
such as flattened drywall corner bead, or mayb some of that metal stuff
used for banding together square metal duct work. And there are
numerous strips made for edging roofs which are galvanized and fairly
cheap. I believe they are called drip edges. Either way, I'm sure it
will be a pain in the ass to install, but worth the time and cost if it
keeps mice out. It's hard to imagine that a small mouse can do so much
damage, not to mention I cant stand having them in the house.

And yes, I do have several barn cats, and still see lots of mice. I was
told that female cats are better mousers, and all my barn cats are
females except for two young male kittens that one of them had. Those
will either be neutered, or found another home, to eliminate having many
litters of kittens yearly. Of course there is always a feral tom cat
who comes along anyhow. I cant keep cats indoors though. That litter
odor is something I cant handle, even thought I like the cats.

[TimR]

There is no way they're getting through 1/4 inch mesh. That's plenty small enough.

If you leave any gaps though they'll find them, or pry them open bigger. 1/2 inch is like a highway to them.

Something you may not have thought of: You're probably using several different metals, outside in a moist atmosphere. There may be steel nails, aluminum screen, copper pipes and wire, metal siding, etc. Any time two different metals are connected you have the potential (pun) for galvanic corrosion. You can eat a hole surprisingly fast.

http://corrosion.ksc.nasa.gov/galcorr.htm

[micky]

On Wed, 16 Oct 2013 14:03:08 -0400, Alan Meyer <ame...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>On 10/16/2013 04:28 AM, Caulki...@work.com wrote:
>
>> The question is whether mice can get thru the 1/4" holes. I know they
>> can manage to get into small holes, but that size seems to be a little
>> too small. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?
>
>I haven't tried it but I did a Google search to find mouse measurements.

Minnie Mouse's measurements were 6 1/4 - 4 - 5. But they played that
down in most of her movies.

[Stormin Mormon]

On 10/17/2013 9:02 AM, micky wrote:

> Minnie Mouse's measurements were
> 6 1/4 - 4 - 5. But they played that
> down in most of her movies.

As I remember, Micky, you had a crush on
Minnie?


.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

[philo]

As one who has had mice...I assure you they can get through almost
anything. Even if the hole is seemingly too small to get through, they
will gnaw or force it open if they want to get in.

The best way is to /not/ have any holes at all that could draw their
attention. If there is not a hole, they may not smell potential food inside.

BTW: I think I might have used fine steel wool to plug the holes I had
prior to the use of foam.

[micky]

On Thu, 17 Oct 2013 09:34:47 -0400, Stormin Mormon
<cayo...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On 10/17/2013 9:02 AM, micky wrote:

>>>I haven't tried it but I did a Google search to find mouse measurements.
>>

>> Minnie Mouse's measurements were
> > 6 1/4 - 4 - 5. But they played that
>> down in most of her movies.
>
>As I remember, Micky, you had a crush on
>Minnie?

Good one. I didnt' even think of that.

That was my cousin, Micky Mouse.

I'm Micky Lion.

[The Daring Dufas]

Some years ago when I had a business, there was a problem with rats and
mice in my warehouse. I put out rat traps for the rats and round plastic
ant bait containers. The ants ate the peanut butter off the rat traps
and the rats and mice ate the ant bait. I tuned the rat traps until the
things had a hair trigger. One day, I found a mouse caught in one of the
big traps. The bar came down on its hind quarters and the look on
mouse's face was hysterical. Its mouth was wide open and I could
imagine it screaming "AHHHHHHHH!" ^_^

TDD

[Bob F]

Bart...@thebar.com wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:46:13 -0700, "Bob F" <bobn...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> IGot2P wrote:
>>> No, they can't get through a 1/4" square but chances are they will
>>> get through the seams as the hardware cloth that I am familiar with
>>> only comes in widths of approximately 2' and how you could make the
>>> seams "mouse proof" is beyond me.
>>
>> I got a roll of 4' wide 1/4" hardware cloth in my garage, so 2' is
>> not the limit.
>>
>
> Yes, they do sell 4' wide rolls. I checked online and called a few
> stores today. It's cheaper to buy a 100 foot roll, which I'd need two
> rolls plus another 25 feet or so. I wish they made it 6 foot wide
> though. Of course I'll use metal. I know mice can and do chew thru
> all plastics. For the seams, I figure putting some sort of metal
> strapping, such as flattened drywall corner bead,

You can just stich the seams together with small hard wire, like fine baling
wire. Or you could build a frame of 1x2 with the appropriate spacing, nail it to
the bottom, and staple the hardware cloth to that. That would help electrically
isolate the cloth from other metals is might contact to avoid corrosion
problems. You could also fold the cloth over the edges of that frame if needed
to keep the mice away from the wood.

For stitching, just bend the end of the wire into a curve, and loop it up
through the two layers and back out every few inches. Then stretch it tight from
the ends.

[Bob F]

And what if their home is your home?

[Bart...@thebar.com]

That sounds like a plan.....
I just got an email back from a company that I contacted, and they can
special order 60 inch wide rolls of this stuff. I like that idea, less
seams to contend with. There is really no way to electrically isolate
the mesh from the frame, because the trailers all have metal beams under
them, and the mesh will have to be pushed over the top of these beams by
lifting the "belly", which is the insulation. I do intend to fold the
cloth over the edges of the frame, and attach it along the edges of the
walls where the skirting goes. That way it's sealed all the way around.

[k...@attt.bizz]

On Thu, 17 Oct 2013 09:34:47 -0400, Stormin Mormon
<cayo...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On 10/17/2013 9:02 AM, micky wrote:
>
>> Minnie Mouse's measurements were
> > 6 1/4 - 4 - 5. But they played that
>> down in most of her movies.
>
>As I remember, Micky, you had a crush on
>Minnie?

Oh, hell no. He's fuckin' Goofy.

[Stormin Mormon]

Ah, love that double entendre. Thanks for
the laugh.

[Bob_Villa]

On Thursday, October 17, 2013 6:51:06 PM UTC-5, Stormin Mormon wrote:

>
> > Oh, hell no. He's fuckin' Goofy.
>
> >
>
> Ah, love that double entendre. Thanks for
>
> the laugh.
>

Definitely not Stormy...bottom posted and expressed the cognition of "2X entendre"! WTF!

[Stormin Mormon]

You should definitely not use sexual inuendo.
Why, the bible says.... hellbound is he who
is into S and M. The modern perverse world
whips up the passions.

(that better?)

.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

[Oren]

Yet some believe the OP is not Home Guy, and they never saw him change
his moniker in THIS SAME EXACT thread. Home Guy hates America, but
then comes here to ask for advice he can find out otherwise.

Amazing!

Brighten up.

--
"As someone who is dumb, you’re very biased." -- Gavin McInnes

[ChairMan]

Oren <Or...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Oct 2013 17:16:55 -0700 (PDT), Bob_Villa
> <pheeh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thursday, October 17, 2013 6:51:06 PM UTC-5, Stormin
>> Mormon wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>> Oh, hell no. He's fuckin' Goofy.
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Ah, love that double entendre. Thanks for
>>>
>>> the laugh.
>>>
>>
>> Definitely not Stormy...bottom posted and expressed the
>> cognition of
>> "2X entendre"! WTF!
>>
>
> Yet some believe the OP is not Home Guy, and they never
> saw him change
> his moniker in THIS SAME EXACT thread. Home Guy hates
> America, but
> then comes here to ask for advice he can find out
> otherwise.
>
> Amazing!
>
> Brighten up.

I can't believe how many don't see it.
I can spot home boi just by the nic ever time

[Doug Miller]

philo  <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in news:l3m69a$j6q$1...@dont-email.me:

> I assure you they will easily be able to get through that...

BS. A mouse canNOT fit through a 1/4" hole.

> even if the holes are small they will easily expand the size and come
> through.

Possibly they can chew through the wires. More likely, they'll look for something easier,
somewhere else.

>
> I had a mouse problem a while back with my own house and used that
> expandable foam insulation to fill the holes. Never had a mouse again.

You're just a fountain of bad advice today. Mice will chew through that stuff in seconds. If you
really want to stuff a crevice with something to keep mice out, use steel wool.

[Red Green]

philo  <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in news:l3nc2f$fa7$1...@dont-email.me:

Specific foam for mice & pests.

http://greatstuff.dow.com/products/pestblock/

GREAT STUFF™ Pestblock is the bitter-tasting foam sealant that blocks
critters and bugs – from spiders and ants to mice and rats – from entering
your home through gaps, cracks and holes.

[DerbyDad03]

I wonder if Minnie was ever slipped a Micky.

[hrho...@sbcglobal.net]

I haven't seen the new Pestblock expanding foam yet at my local Menards and Home Depot. Sounds like just the thing to use though.

[philo]

On 10/18/2013 02:08 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
> philo <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in news:l3m69a$j6q$1...@dont-email.me:
>
>> I assure you they will easily be able to get through that...
>
> BS. A mouse canNOT fit through a 1/4" hole.

You seem to have not read the rest of my reply:

>
>> even if the holes are small they will easily expand the size and come
>> through.
>
> Possibly they can chew through the wires. More likely, they'll look for something easier,
> somewhere else.
>>
>> I had a mouse problem a while back with my own house and used that
>> expandable foam insulation to fill the holes. Never had a mouse again.
>
> You're just a fountain of bad advice today. Mice will chew through that stuff in seconds. If you
> really want to stuff a crevice with something to keep mice out, use steel wool.
>

I already suggested steel wool on another response.

Twice now you've failed to read.

[Doug Miller]

philo  <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in
news:l3u6gj$cf2$1...@dont-email.me:

> On 10/18/2013 02:08 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
>> philo <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in
>> news:l3m69a$j6q$1...@dont-email.me:
>>
>>> I assure you they will easily be able to get through that...
>>
>> BS. A mouse canNOT fit through a 1/4" hole.
>
> You seem to have not read the rest of my reply:

Obviously I *did* read all of it, since I responded to *both*
pieces of bad advice; apparently you didn't everything I wrote.

>
>>
>>> even if the holes are small they will easily expand the size
>>> and come through.
>>
>> Possibly they can chew through the wires. More likely, they'll
>> look for something easier, somewhere else.
>>>
>>> I had a mouse problem a while back with my own house and used
>>> that expandable foam insulation to fill the holes. Never had a
>>> mouse again.
>>
>> You're just a fountain of bad advice today. Mice will chew
>> through that stuff in seconds. If you really want to stuff a
>> crevice with something to keep mice out, use steel wool.
>>
>
>
> I already suggested steel wool on another response.

Not in this post, you didn't.

>
> Twice now you've failed to read.

Ummm.... it's not me that's failing to read.

[Steven L.]

On 10/16/2013 4:09 PM, Harry K wrote:
> On Wednesday, October 16, 2013 7:02:18 AM UTC-7, philo wrote:
>> On 10/16/2013 03:28 AM, Caulki...@work.com wrote:
>>
>>> I'm getting a used trailer house for guests and storage on my farm.
>>
>>> From past experience I found that trailer houses attract mice. Once
>>
>>> they get into the insulation under the floor, the damage begins. I
>>
>>> considered covering the entire underside of the trailer with sheet
>>
>>> steel, but it would be very costly, and probably difficult to install
>>
>>> too. Someone said they knew someone who used window screen and said it
>>
>>> worked, but that they had to regularly check for loose edges because
>>
>>> mice and other critters would loosen it. I got to thinking about that
>>
>>> 1/4" hardware cloth. That stuff is comparable in price to window
>>
>>> screen, but much more durable. Probably easier to attach too, because
>>
>>> it can be nailed with roofing nails, not just staples, and it can be
>>
>>> folded at the edges to go under the skirting flange along the edges of
>>
>>> the trailer. Plus, it can be screwed in place in spots where it might
>>
>>> need to be removed, such as by pipes. And it can be wired together if
>>
>>> there is no solid wood in spots, along seams. Plus, I'm sure it will
>>
>>> last much longer than screen.

>>
>>>
>>
>>> The question is whether mice can get thru the 1/4" holes. I know they
>>
>>> can manage to get into small holes, but that size seems to be a little
>>
>>> too small. Has anyone tried this? Any other suggestions?
>>
>>>
>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

>> I assure you they will easily be able to get through that...
>>

>> even if the holes are small they will easily expand the size and come
>>
>> through.
>>
>>
>>

>> I had a mouse problem a while back with my own house and used that
>>
>> expandable foam insulation to fill the holes. Never had a mouse again.
>

> I used the same stuff to plug up holes in concrete block where pipes used to run. 8" thick by 8x8". Mouse hole appeared almost instantly in all of them.
>
> Harry K

When I was a kid, my mom used to use broken glass for that purpose.

Those sharp glass shards deterred any mice trying to gnaw through.


--
Steven L.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmm,
No cat in the house?

[LG]

1/8 Galvanized Hardware Cloth is also available, which I would be more secure using, just to be thorough. I disagree with one comment suggesting that they can expand the material and get through - not so if it's galvanized or stainless steel, which it must be. You cannot use softer metals such as aluminum.
Here is a very comprehensive and informative document on proofing from those critters:
http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/rodentexclusion.asp
All the best & Good luck!

[mir...@gmail.com]

Oh my god. That may be the best answer I've ever seen in a forum. You researched mouse craniofacial measurements. That. Is. Fantastic.

Er... What about *voles?* :)

Off to go Google THAT....

On Wednesday, October 16, 2013 at 2:03:08 PM UTC-4, Alan Meyer wrote:

>
> I haven't tried it but I did a Google search to find mouse measurements.

> The most relevant page I found was this one that shows the
> measurements of mouse skulls.
>
> http://craniofacial.jax.org/characteristics.html
>
> In the measurements this guy made, the minimum height and width of an 8
> week old mouse of the types he measured was a female of one of the types
> that appeared to me (by subtracting the +/- from the average) to have a
> skull height of around 8.6 mm and a width of around 9.7 mm, with most
> mice being a bit larger than that.
>
> Maybe something else in the mouse is more limiting than the skull size,
> though they seem to be pretty good at squeezing their bodies into small
> spaces.
>
> 1/4 inch = 6.35 mm. Could a mouse get through that?
>
> Maybe one younger than 8 weeks could. Maybe a strong one that could bow
> out the wire a bit could. Maybe a smart one that found an irregularity
> in the mesh could.

[Jonny]

No, they cannot get through 1/4" hardware cloth. Even as some have said a youth could get through, they wouldn't because they don't live there. Adults cannot get through, therefore don't worry about smaller ones. No adults means no babies. if you are concerned that nothing can escape, you can build an exit only door somewhere. Just use common sense to come up with a design, or look online.
Secondly, a less expensive, yet as effective material is "galvanized lath", known by as many names as hardware cloth. Look up "galvanized lath, or "steel stucco netting". It is used to make mediums like stucco, cement and drywall mud even. However, it is sturdy and sharp at a fraction of hardware cloth cost. I is also easier to work with since it is lighter and less rigid. It's sharpness is enough to wart off varmints because it is real sharp and will cut their mouths, so wear gloves.You can get a roll 27" X 96" for just over $13 at Lowe's. When attaching one seam to the other, just use fence wire. You can't use zip ties because rats will eat through the plastic.

[gfre...@aol.com]

Rats will eat through hardware cloth too. An adult only needs to eat
out one cross piece to get through (1" x 1/2" hole).
I have experience with exactly that.
This guy ate a hole in this trap and got out in about 10 minutes.
http://gfretwell.com/wildlife/rattus%20rattus.jpg

[albert finney]

You might consider trying to add a deterrent if you put up wire. Biting through something nearby liberally sprayed with pepper juice like Tabasco or the now unfortunately discontinued Whisk, seems to have no appeal. I've used it long ago and heard the odd squeal but no mice signs after that.
The distasteful stuff would have to be applied to whatever surface is under the wire. And if you have a rodent problem in an enclosed space, not too large, I think electronic deterrents can work very well. I had squirrels making themselves at home in a small overhead space. Put one of these, maybe a 3 inch dome, up through a hole meant for a light fixture connected to an extension cord, and when I heard them I plugged it in. A very great deal of loud squealing and never heard from again.
Used a 'YardGuard' made maybe 20 years ago, unsure if new are same, in a tree coons were using to access my roof to destroy it. Left it there emitting the faint frequency a few days and since installing and turning it on, never heard them again either. I did hear neighbour's dog, across a driveway, whining to get inside. Didn't hear much from that howler again either.

Distasteful but otherwise harmless spray or soaked substances and frequencies have really worked for me. But if an area where you will be working, maybe put up reminders for yourself to protect against substances used. ONLY useful traps I have found are electronic. LITTLE mice are well able to enjoy cleaning out spring traps.