Stephen Lagueux Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 One little mouse dropping won?t hurt much but when you can see droppings on the entire surface of the insulation in the attic, at what point would you consider replacing the insulation due to urine absorption and decomposing fluids from dead mice? I often recommend the services of an exterminator and leave that decision to him but I?m curious to see what you all think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Got Hanta virus in Quebec yet? It is in Washington state and spreading, mostly by way of deer mice, from what I've read. If I can smell it, it is bad enough to be a problem, but a lot of people will just ignore the stink in a crawlspace or attic, so who am I to tell them what to do? BTW, it is Norway rats here, and they are 10 times smarter than mice. If they were born in that house, they will be back. That's their home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 One little mouse dropping won?t hurt much but when you can see droppings on the entire surface of the insulation in the attic, at what point would you consider replacing the insulation due to urine absorption and decomposing fluids from dead mice? I often recommend the services of an exterminator and leave that decision to him but I?m curious to see what you all think. I can't quantify it in words, but I know it when I see it. At some point, I tell them to remove and discard all of the insulation. Other times I don't. It just depends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 In the words of Phillip...."If I can smell it, it goes in the report". It's easier to tell people they ought to strip it all out and replace it than it is to wait until someone else tells them they should. Let them ignore you if they want to; nothing lost except maybe a realtor referral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Certainly, there are times when a major clean up is called for. This crawlspace had many of the fiberglass batts pulled down from between the floor joists, either by the rats or by a cat going after them. Click to Enlarge 72.8 KB Click to Enlarge 47.4 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 That's my experience in crawlspaces....if the insulation is falling down, it means it's full of mice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Lots or rats and deer mice here. Literally 10% of the "rats" are genetically deer mice and the state claims that there testing found 14% of those carried Hanta Virus. Hanta Virus and deer mice aren't unique the northwest. I looked it up. Door mice are pretty much spread out across North America. Had a house Wednesday where 100% of the insulation in the attic was tamped down from about 8 inches thick to about 3 and was covered with rodent feces - in some places nearly a half inch thick. I routinely tell folks to have that stuff sucked out and replaced when it's covered with that crap (pun intended). There are a bunch of companies here that make a danged good living just cleaning up crawlspaces. When I saw what they get for that work I knew I was in the wrong business. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlparham Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 One little mouse dropping won?t hurt much but when you can see droppings on the entire surface of the insulation in the attic, at what point would you consider replacing the insulation due to urine absorption and decomposing fluids from dead mice? I often recommend the services of an exterminator and leave that decision to him but I?m curious to see what you all think. I had an attic a few years ago that was covered, and I mean covered, with turds that were bigger than those of my 50 pound dog. It turns out that a big old opossum was very comfortable in that attic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 One little mouse dropping won?t hurt much but when you can see droppings on the entire surface of the insulation in the attic, at what point would you consider replacing the insulation due to urine absorption and decomposing fluids from dead mice? I often recommend the services of an exterminator and leave that decision to him but I?m curious to see what you all think. I had an attic a few years ago that was covered, and I mean covered, with turds that were bigger than those of my 50 pound dog. It turns out that a big old opossum was very comfortable in that attic. Yeah, I did a bungalow about ten years ago where an elderly gent had passed on and the house was going to be sold at an estate auction and they wanted to know if there were any major issues. It was a 1-1/2 story bungalow. The old dude lived downstairs and apparently only used the bedrooms on the second level as storage. I was told he lived alone with a couple of Cocker Spaniels. Apparently, he'd not bothered to lock the closet doors on the upper level. The access to the kneewall attics above the living and dining room was through a hatch at the back of that closet. I entered the attic and found the joist bays full of years - probably decades - worth of doggie doo-doo. Once they'd filled one joist bay they moved over to a clean one and kept right on going. Can you imagine having to remove a 6 to 8 inch layer of dog turds in order to sell your house? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Lagueux Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Can you imagine having to remove a 6 to 8 inch layer of dog turds in order to sell your house? I wonder what is the R value of 8 inches of dog sh..t? [:-monkeyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Dog crap doesn't have R values; it has S values. OT - OF!!! M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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