Rodent exclusion in Santa Monica

Almost certainly material rather than placement. Within a mile of the water, salt air and marine layer humidity corrode galvanised steel and untreated steel wool far faster than inland conditions. We have returned to galvanised work that failed in under two years here. Copper mesh and stainless-blend fill are what hold in this exposure.

Different rather than worse. A raised foundation with open skirting means the crawl space is effectively an outdoor space, so the sealing line is the skirting and the floor penetrations rather than a slab perimeter. It is very workable, it just is not the same job as a slab property and should not be quoted as one.

It raises Norway rat likelihood considerably, so the inspection weights below-grade work first. On a canal-adjacent property we would start at the sewer lateral and cripple wall rather than the roofline, which is the reverse of how we would approach a Palisades job.

It is usually where we find the openings. Every junction between original and later construction is a potential gap, and on beach cottages that have been extended two or three times over a century, those junctions are numerous and mostly invisible without getting underneath the structure.