Mice residue above my kitchen cupboard?

TheGlossy

Hi all,

I moved into this rental almost two years ago and performed a thorough cleaning before fully moving in. The only thing I didn't clean was above the cupboards because they're very high and I didn't deem it necessary at the time.

However, today I decided to clean above the the cupboards only to notice a big hole into the wall above one of them. The hole is so deep anything can come in and out of there. Then, I saw some small brown/black particles (probably the size of cooked rice or slightly bigger). There were plenty of them (we're talking, the entire surface was covered). I took a look above the other two cupboards on the opposite sides of the kitchen and there was nothing there (no hole either).

I am now suspecting these brown particles are probably mice poop from before I moved in and the LL never bothered to clean it up. In fairness, I've never seen any mice (knock on wood, I won't ever see one).

How do I clean this safely? I'm now worried of cooking in this kitchen because it's quite nasty.

10-10-20

You might need to rationalise here - you have already cooked in the presence of these droppings and have survived! Houses have critters and not all householders will clean above cupboards before, during or after rentals.

Your first move is to ask the landlord to block off that hole as there is a chance that it's actually a ventilation hole required for gas appliances within the kitchen.

Then after, clean off the upper surfaces with kitchen towels and gloves to get rid of the droppings. Then work your way downwards.

Then use a sanitising spray and water to clean off the residue with more kitchen-towels, again working downwards.

Then go at it again with the same spray, top to bottom. Then 💥, you're done.

mrslancaster

Then get one of those plug in ultrasonic things that stops mice coming into the house - we used to get mice regularly, but no more.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119136539#Comment_119136539

They are really annoying. Not sure why. But I can hear them

TheGlossy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119136475#Comment_119136475

Thank you. I ended up cleaning it as suggested. I'll keep an eye and hope never to find them again!