About BaseShield™
BaseShield™ SubBase Defence is a sub-base barrier system designed to prevent rodent access beneath raised garden structures. It is a construction component — specified and installed at the build stage — not a pest control product.
What BaseShield is
BaseShield™ SubBase Defence is a rolled welded wire mesh barrier system with a 7.66mm clear mesh opening, 0.80mm wire diameter, and hot-dip galvanised finish applied after welding. Each roll is 1m wide by 25m long, covering 25m² — a format designed specifically for installation beneath domestic and light commercial raised structures before the floor frame is set.
It is installed flat at ground level, across the full footprint of the structure, as part of the foundation preparation sequence. Once the structure is built above it, the barrier requires no maintenance and is designed to last the lifetime of the building.
Why it was developed
Rodent access beneath raised garden structures is a well-documented problem with no adequate product solution in the UK construction market. Garden rooms, modular offices, raised decking and outbuildings all create open sub-base voids that are accessible at ground level. Once construction is complete, those voids are difficult to protect — the access to the full footprint is gone.
Existing responses — chicken wire scraps, foam sealant, pest control treatment — are all inadequate or reactive. Chicken wire has inconsistent apertures and corrodes rapidly. Foam sealant is gnawed through within days. Pest control treats the symptom, not the structural access point.
BaseShield was developed to fill that gap: a properly specified, correctly formatted product that can be installed in 15–30 minutes as part of any new raised structure build, without specialist tools or skills, and that provides reliable long-term protection from the ground up.
Part of the Forti Nova group
BaseShield is part of Forti Nova — a group focused on structural, waterproofing and system-based protection products for the UK construction industry. Forti Nova develops products that address specific, practical gaps in construction practice, with an emphasis on performance, specification-readiness, and real-world installation.
BaseShield sits within that framework as a substructure protection component: engineered for a specific application, specified at the design stage, and designed to perform without maintenance over the full building lifecycle.
Forti Nova — specialists in structural and waterproofing systems for the UK construction sector. BaseShield is developed with the same product rigour applied across the Forti Nova range: clear specification, correct material selection, and installation-first design.
Who BaseShield is for
Garden room companies
Garden room manufacturers and installation contractors who want to deliver a complete, protected product — and reduce post-build complaints around rodent access.
Modular building installers
Contractors delivering off-site structures to prepared foundations. Sub-base protection must be in place before the module is positioned — BaseShield integrates into the foundation preparation stage.
Ground screw and screw pile contractors
Foundation specialists who understand that screw pile systems leave a fully open sub-base. BaseShield provides a practical solution that installs around pile positions without complication.
Builders and self-builders
Anyone constructing a raised structure in a domestic setting — from a single garden shed to a full decking and garden room project — where sub-base protection should be part of the specification.
A practical product for a practical problem
BaseShield is not the result of a laboratory exercise. It was developed by looking at what actually happens on a typical garden building installation — the timeline, the available labour, the tools on site — and designing a product that fits into that workflow without friction.
The roll format was chosen because installation footprints are almost always roughly rectangular, and a 1m wide roll can be deployed in parallel runs with a single overlap per join. The 25m² coverage was chosen to match the most common garden room and decking footprints. The specification — mesh opening, wire gauge, galvanising process — was determined by the actual requirements of the application: excluding UK rodent species in permanent ground-contact conditions.
No specialist skills, tools or equipment are required. Two people can install BaseShield across a 25m² footprint in under 30 minutes. It is a substructure line item that belongs in every garden building specification — not a retrofit afterthought.
Specify BaseShield™ on your next project
Available for domestic and commercial projects. Contact us to discuss your requirements or request a quote.