• Arrakis@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    1 year ago

    If there is pee, there will also be poo. Have a gander and see if you see any droppings. They’re like little black pellets the shape of zeppelins (if you’ve ever had a hamster or gerbil, they’re similar), if you can’t find any I’d be very dubious about mice. In my experience from having them, you hear them scuttling at night. If you’re worried, you can get humane traps for pretty cheap - definitely cheaper than an exterminator.

    • nieceandtows@programming.devOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      I don’t remember seeing any poop. Maybe I’ll go up and check again. He also showed me some gaps in the insulation and said that’s made by mice to get around. . He also said the insulation is 12 inches which is low and to gave me a quote for $8000 to remove existing insulation and blow new insulation (because there would be rat poop inside). Or $6000 to blow on top of old insulation.

      • Arrakis@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        1 year ago

        I don’t know about how prices are in your area but that seems incredibly expensive.

        • nieceandtows@programming.devOPM
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah I have zero idea. I’m a first time homeowner. He didn’t find any actual issues, but ended up giving me a quote for $13000 total.

          • Arrakis@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            1 year ago

            So where I am we don’t use blown insulation like this, so please take this with a pinch of salt, but…

            I redid 50m^2 of roof insulation in my house to exceed the insulation standards in my area and the cost of all the (very high spec) insulation sheets and materials was just over £3000. I don’t know about loose insulation that gets blown like in your picture, but I just wanted to contextualise why I thought the price seemed high.

            If it was me, I’d set up a couple of cameras and mouse traps to see if you get anything. If not, add that company to your big book of Bullshit and chalk this down to a good lesson learned. Owning a home can be stressful and expensive enough without scamming dingbats making things more difficult.

            If you do end up with mice in the traps, it would be worth getting a quote from another company, juuuust in case.

            Good luck OP!