Suspect Gophers In The Basement?

Question:

I believe I have gophers/gopher, in my basement, what do I do?

Answer:

It would almost make you wish for a flooded basement to drown the little critters – except then you would have a literal ton of mud. The first sign of gophers in the basement usually is a pile of dirt, a pile of dirt that can be the size of a small car.

Once you have hauled the dirt away, you want to make sure the gophers can’t come back in. Make sure that basement windows are intact, and closed shut. A gap as narrow as 1/2″ (12 mm) can let in gophers, and a gap of just 1/4″ (6 mm) can admit mice. It is also important to make the places pipes and utility lines enter your home are all sealed.

It is also necessary to make sure all utility connections that come through your basement wall are sealed. Gas pipes, water pipes, electric lines, telephone lines, and cable need to be calked so there is no way gophers can wiggle inside.

These, however, are short-term measures. You don’t just need to get the gophers out. You need to make sure they don’t come back. This means checking for gopher burrows in close proximity (3-4 feet, about a meter or a little more) to the foundation of your house, following the recommendations in my gophers article How to Get Rid of Gophers.

The good news? If you only “believe” you have gophers in your basement, you may have time to stop the problems easily. It only takes a few days to a week for gopher damage in your basement to be very, very evident.