This is technically one of the “people throw away the damndest things” files, but on sober reconsideration a landfill may not have been an inappropriate destination for this particular acquisition.
GC Guy wanted it off his property. I want more shelf space. Win/win. I’ve had a spot leveled for weeks, but GC had used it for his back-up/computer power supply and took a lot of time moving the gear elsewhere. Saturday I got the call to come take it away.
Alas, by the time he’d finished pulling things out of the walls the old metal shed was a very great deal less weather- and mouse-proof than advertised. And I really thought I had a can of expanding foam squirreled away, but I can’t find it. If I can get to town this afternoon, I’ll remedy that.
Two words for aspiring desert hermits who don’t like mice in their food supply: Expanding Foam.
GC Guy was so happy to be rid of it he actually paid me to haul it off, so he won’t get his nose out of joint if I end up breaking it down and repurposing the metal.
I found that foam alone doesn’t keep the mice out for long. But if you fill the hole with steel wool, THEN add foam… it seems to be permanent. The foam also keeps the steel wool from rusting, which is a real plus. Aluminum foil, crumpled and stuffed into the holes, works just as well and it doesn’t rust. I put foam in the hole, then insert a little foil, preferably on both sides if I can reach it. We have a LOT of mice here. Rotten things.
Looks like the sort of building that should have a half-moon carved out of one side, and a Sears catalog hanging within.
MamaLiberty’s recommendation of steel wool confirmed. Mom had an electrical service mast (that steel post entry from power pole to house) that was it cut through the buildings soffit to panel service below. That cut was an entry for mice, but we stuffed the hole with steel wool and mice ‘invasions’ were cut considerably.