If you have household pets and pests, chances are, you have discovered chewed electrical wires in your home. Dogs tend to play with exposed electrical wires and chew on them. Rats and mice are worse because they chew on even the electrical wires that are carefully laid out of sight. They tend to chew because they have to prevent their front teeth from growing and electrical wires are perfect for wearing their teeth down.

It is when they have gnawed the coatings and exposed electrical wires that it becomes really dangerous. While this may not cause a fire on its own, exposed wires are fire hazards, and you wouldn't want to take chances and ignore them. Here's what you should do when you discovered chewed electrical wires.

Call Your Trusted Electrician

If you don't have previous knowledge and experience of repairing electrical wires, do not attempt to do so because it can be dangerous. Call your trusted technician to check on the rest of your house's electrical wirings. He will know what if other wires have been gnawed and which among them need to be replaced. He can also choose the type of wire coating materials that are best to drive away pests. Perhaps he can also rearrange your house's electrical wiring system to avoid having exposed electrical wires that your pets are likely to play with and chew on. The list as to how your trusted electrician can help you with this problem goes on.

Do Pest Control

If this problem has been recurring for an extended period of time, it is about time to do pest control. Contact a local pest control service provider to permanently solve your problem about rodents chewing on your electrical wires. Be wary, though, that rats and mites tend to chew even more when they are poisoned. Hence, pest control must be done properly because it may cause more damage if done wrong.

Protect Your Wires

Just to be sure, you also need to protect your wires. One option is to armor the cords with vinyl tubing. Another option is to cover your electrical cords with spiral wrap, which is a better choice if you need to protect multiple exposed cords together. In larger areas, you can protect your wires by putting them beneath a thin layer of concrete.

Call your trusted electrician, do pest control, and protect your electrical cords immediately after you discover chewed electrical wires at home. These steps will not only repair the damaged wire but will solve your problem permanently.