# Rat infested crawl space



## zootjeff (Jul 11, 2007)

I put an offer in on a house in Bellevue Washington. Inspection turned up a live rat infested crawl space. Inspector ran into live rats while down there.. Much of the r19 fiberglass under the subfloor was covered with rat poop when pulled down.. The attic smelt of rat urine. Had a contractor come out to bid on 1. Remove all the insulation and subfloor, 2. Have a pest control trap the current pests, 3. seal up all entry points and and new vapor barrier, 4. Come back in a week and re-insulate the sub floor with R30 and insulate main trunk line and water lines.. 

1700 sq feet of first story space 1996 home, original owner and a pretty easy crawl space at 4' high throughout. 

Bid was $6000. Sound reasonable?

How big of a problem is this?


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

It would have to be a lot more than that to get me down there, but I'm chicken.

My concerns would be any lingering urine smells. If that is a dirt floor I would want some excavating done and not rely on a new vapor barrier alone to cover the smell. At worst case you could install a Radon evacuation system even though Bellevue is rather low.

In addition to replacing the insulation, while you are in there you should do all of the needed air sealing. Something like half of the air people breathe comes from the basements and crawlspaces.

Also, I would suspect those critters ventured farther into the house than just the crawlspace. Plumbing chaseways offer an instant highway to the attic.

Bud


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## osium (Jun 22, 2016)

The price is not unreasonable, but for that kind of money I'd want a guarantee that the rats won't be coming back. Because, let's face it, there's a 1 in 3 chance that they will.


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## bob22 (May 28, 2008)

osium said:


> The price is not unreasonable, but for that kind of money I'd want a guarantee that the rats won't be coming back. Because, let's face it, there's a 1 in 3 chance that they will.


Curious how you came up with those odds?


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