LESLIE: Chad in Florida is on the line and needs some help sealing a home. What’s going on?
CHAD: Yeah, I am actually calling about a – the underside of a modular home. It has a crawlspace. And wanting to see the best way to seal it off to – so rodents and animals cannot get underneath the home.
TOM: OK. Is it wide open right now?
CHAD: Well, it has, you know, some wood plats (ph) for actually décor that go around the bottom. But there is a large amount of space for any animal to crawl through, so it’s not really sealed off. It just has an aesthetic around the bottom that’s just for appearance only.
TOM: Alright. Well, obviously, you’re going to have to change all of that. And I guess you’ve got some options. I think you want to consider, also, the durability and the weather-resistance of whatever product you put down there.
But one thing that comes to mind is PVC lattice. Now, that’s not going to keep the small animals out but it would keep the big ones out.
CHAD: OK.
TOM: I think that the PVC lattice is pretty attractive these days. Not inexpensive but the spaces – the space between the lattice – what do you think, Leslie? About an inch, inch-and-a-half at most?
LESLIE: It depends. There is that more petite lattice and then there’s that wider one that maybe is like a 3×3 square. But you can get both. I mean there’s – you shouldn’t have a hard time finding either option at the home center. And it really does look pretty nice.
TOM: Yeah. And you want to make sure that you create some sort of a frame structure so that it’s well attached. Because it doesn’t have any strength in and of itself. So I would focus on the frame first and then you can attach the lattice to it.
CHAD: Yeah. Makes sense. Put a frame out and then just attach the lattice to it and …
TOM: Yeah. And I would use screws when I put it together. Because this way, you can take it apart in the event you have to get under there to do any maintenance: fix a pipe leak or something of that nature.
CHAD: Exactly, exactly. Well, that makes perfect sense. And it’s kind of where I was leaning. I was looking at some different manufacturers and companies that make different items and – but that’s exactly what I was thinking.
TOM: Well, alright. Well, great minds think alike. We hope that helps you out and good luck with that project.
CHAD: Alrighty. Thank you so much.
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