My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2 story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner had a
problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents (mice &/or
rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the infestation,
as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however the rodents
nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it up & pulling
it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a few dead ones
in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space, which can be
smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own independent
inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are closed & that
there really are no rodents present, then have the insulation and other
debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're heading into the warm
months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early fall to have new
insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a good time to air out.
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, and if so what they think
of my plan. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan

Dan wrote:

My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2 story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner had a
problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents (mice &/or
rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the infestation,
as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however the rodents
nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it up & pulling
it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a few dead ones
in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space, which can be
smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own independent
inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are closed & that
there really are no rodents present, then have the insulation and other
debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're heading into the warm
months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early fall to have new
insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a good time to air out.
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, and if so what they think
of my plan. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan



Not a (helpful) answer to your query, but I was
working at a house w/crawl which had been infested.
The owner assured me that the exterminators had been
thorough in eradicating the rodents.

I had been working in the crawl, sprawled out on
the earthen floor, for maybe 10 minutes when the
ground began to shift and collapse! I got out the
scuttle hole as fast as I could.

Nothing more happened and we later figured out that
the rats had made numerous tunnels in the earthen floor,
which then had collapsed under my weight.

shudder

Jim

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:07:21 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:

Dan wrote:

My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2 story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner had a
problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents (mice &/or
rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the infestation,
as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however the rodents
nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it up & pulling
it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a few dead ones
in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space, which can be
smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own independent
inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are closed & that
there really are no rodents present, then have the insulation and other
debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're heading into the warm
months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early fall to have new
insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a good time to air out.
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, and if so what they think
of my plan. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan



Not a (helpful) answer to your query, but I was
working at a house w/crawl which had been infested.
The owner assured me that the exterminators had been
thorough in eradicating the rodents.

I had been working in the crawl, sprawled out on
the earthen floor, for maybe 10 minutes when the
ground began to shift and collapse! I got out the
scuttle hole as fast as I could.

Nothing more happened and we later figured out that
the rats had made numerous tunnels in the earthen floor,
which then had collapsed under my weight.

shudder

Jim

I don't have an answer myself. If this is and earthen floor I would at
a minimum, make a mixture of sudsy ammonia (heavy) and water to spray
into the space. Hopefully I could reduce the smell; since the space
is about to heat up. It would reduce the smell in the cook space above
(Imo).

The repair guy might appreciate it later; if nothing else!

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Are you sure that an ammonia mixture is right for this situation. The urine
produces an ammonia smell, it sounds that it would only add to the problem.
I think you need some pet odour neutralizer or possibly pinesol or dettol
mixture sprayed around to help kill the smell.

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:07:21 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:

Dan wrote:

My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2
story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner had a
problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents (mice
&/or
rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the
infestation,
as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however the rodents
nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it up &
pulling
it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a few dead
ones
in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space, which can be
smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own independent
inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are closed &
that
there really are no rodents present, then have the insulation and other
debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're heading into the
warm
months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early fall to have new
insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a good time to air
out.
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, and if so what they
think
of my plan. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan



Not a (helpful) answer to your query, but I was
working at a house w/crawl which had been infested.
The owner assured me that the exterminators had been
thorough in eradicating the rodents.

I had been working in the crawl, sprawled out on
the earthen floor, for maybe 10 minutes when the
ground began to shift and collapse! I got out the
scuttle hole as fast as I could.

Nothing more happened and we later figured out that
the rats had made numerous tunnels in the earthen floor,
which then had collapsed under my weight.

shudder

Jim

I don't have an answer myself. If this is and earthen floor I would at
a minimum, make a mixture of sudsy ammonia (heavy) and water to spray
into the space. Hopefully I could reduce the smell; since the space
is about to heat up. It would reduce the smell in the cook space above
(Imo).

The repair guy might appreciate it later; if nothing else!

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

In article , "Dan" wrote:
My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2 story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot.

Many homes have crawl spaces with inadequate ventilation.
Have your inspector check that there is sufficient. It
needs to be rodent proof, of course!

The more you have, the sooner the smells will be gone.
And more will help prevent other moisture problems in the
future.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:24:31 -0400, "EXT"
wrote:

Are you sure that an ammonia mixture is right for this situation. The urine
produces an ammonia smell, it sounds that it would only add to the problem.
I think you need some pet odour neutralizer or possibly pinesol or dettol
mixture sprayed around to help kill the smell.

Anything sprayed into the space too clear the kitchen smell. A mixture
of SUSDY ammonia from the dollar store will reduce the stench; added
to water. Inside or Outside. A cleaning solution, not smelling of
ammonia, given fragrances now.

Leaving ammonia out, I would water hose the space. The spaces stink,
according to the OP. Perhaps, a water down would reduce the present
smell!

Cat poo reeks of ammonia; find me a rodent that hangs around long?

Long, enough to tear up a crawl space......


"Oren" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:07:21 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:

Dan wrote:

My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2
story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner had a
problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents (mice
&/or
rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the
infestation,
as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however the rodents
nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it up &
pulling
it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a few dead
ones
in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space, which can be
smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own independent
inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are closed &
that
there really are no rodents present, then have the insulation and other
debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're heading into the
warm
months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early fall to have new
insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a good time to air
out.
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, and if so what they
think
of my plan. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan



Not a (helpful) answer to your query, but I was
working at a house w/crawl which had been infested.
The owner assured me that the exterminators had been
thorough in eradicating the rodents.

I had been working in the crawl, sprawled out on
the earthen floor, for maybe 10 minutes when the
ground began to shift and collapse! I got out the
scuttle hole as fast as I could.

Nothing more happened and we later figured out that
the rats had made numerous tunnels in the earthen floor,
which then had collapsed under my weight.

shudder

Jim

I don't have an answer myself. If this is and earthen floor I would at
a minimum, make a mixture of sudsy ammonia (heavy) and water to spray
into the space. Hopefully I could reduce the smell; since the space
is about to heat up. It would reduce the smell in the cook space above
(Imo).

The repair guy might appreciate it later; if nothing else!

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

lime

"Dan" wrote in message
. ..
My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2
story, about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner
had a problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents
(mice &/or rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the
infestation, as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however
the rodents nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it
up & pulling it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a
few dead ones in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space,
which can be smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own
independent inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are
closed & that there really are no rodents present, then have the
insulation and other debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're
heading into the warm months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early
fall to have new insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a
good time to air out. I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this,
and if so what they think of my plan. Any helpful suggestions
appreciated.

TIA

Dan

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:59:23 -0700, "Dan" wrote:

My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2 story,
about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner had a
problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents (mice &/or
rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the infestation,
as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however the rodents
nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it up & pulling
it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a few dead ones
in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space, which can be
smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own independent
inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are closed & that
there really are no rodents present, then have the insulation and other
debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're heading into the warm
months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early fall to have new
insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a good time to air out.
I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this, and if so what they think
of my plan. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

TIA

Dan


Burning the place down is about the only way.

However, I 've found that painting will get rid of most of the odor.
Wear a mask.

"Dan" wrote in message
. ..
My wife & I have just bought a house in the Seattle area. House is 2
story, about 3000 sq', on a 1 acre very wooded lot. The previous owner
had a problem which I understand is fairly common around here; rodents
(mice &/or rats) in the crawl space. He had a local Terminex address the
infestation, as of last week Terminex claims "no new activity", however
the rodents nested in the insulation between the floor joists, ripping it
up & pulling it down in spots, as well as urinating/defecating/probably a
few dead ones in & around the fiberglass. This is stinking up the space,
which can be smelled in the kitchen area. My plan is to have my own
independent inspector go over the space, make sure all entry points are
closed & that there really are no rodents present, then have the
insulation and other debris removed & new plastic put down. Since we're
heading into the warm months, I thought I'd wait until late summer/early
fall to have new insulation put in, to give the subfloor/joists/etc. a
good time to air out. I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this,
and if so what they think of my plan. Any helpful suggestions
appreciated.

TIA

Dan

I think the insulation is probably where the majority of the stench is
coming from. if you remove it it should rapidly go away. of course
dead rats smell bad too. squirrels peeing in insulation make a horrible
stench. I imagine your getting the same smell.
Anyways. when its time to get insulated try getting a quote from Gale
services . I always see them all over the place ( im about a hour from
Seattle)
All the contractors are using them now