Basement Problem
4/18/2013 at 3:56:12 PM
We have purchased our house in August 2011. We love it. It has a big yard, house is good size for us, and we love the layout. We do need to update our kitchen and main floor floors, but this is more a dream than necessity. Our basement is unfinished and so far we have the fiberglass insulation with the thermo foil over covering only part of the wall. There are no studs, no sealing and a very basic cement floor.
We had a home inspector going through the house. He pointed some good things to us like need to replace roof soon (house is 14 years old), master bath shower problem (which my dear husband redid it - very well and beautiful), and some minor problems like washing machine connectors, etc, which we fixed.
What he did not mentions about (I am sure he had to see it) was a problem in the basement. This is disgusting... previous owners had a cat in the basement, and would keep one window opened for the cat to get out... which we think would allow other "tenants" in. Mice were coming in directly into the fiberglass. We have tunnels, mouse droppings, urine, and smells like decomposed carcases in that fiberglass insulation. We have not seen any mice evidence anywhere else.
My children like to play in the basement, but I am worried that they might develop allergies by being exposed to this. We could remove all this mess ourselves, but we are both working full time and with the two kids (and their endless activities) we just simply do not have time.
Could any one tell me if there is a service that would remove this? Is there a chance to get financial help for this type of job from Government, or can we file for reimbursement from Insurance? We are tight with finances (since all our savings went for the down payment), and we really need to remove the mess and at least insulate to the level it was before.
Could I please have an idea of how much it could cost before I start contacting contractors. If it is in a totally different budget that I am hoping for, I will be just wasting mine and their time.
Thank you all very much.
Hate mice...
4/18/2013 at 6:15:19 PM
Hi,
Sometimes things seem bigger then they look. Your roof might still be under warranty and I don't
understand why your building inspector did not inform you before negotiations of making a offer on your house. These repairs are usually deduct from the asking price.
Having said that check the warranty on the roofing and far as your basement, masks and thick gloves and well covered clothing with big thick garbage bags and one really good shop vac. Find baby sitter and take a few hours and remove all your insulation. Cost your labor and time. Once all removed take bleach or any germ killer and spray it. Kills is a product used by painters to seal and illuminates any last bit of smell left behind. And make sure you have proper venting when rolling on the Kills.
This product is expensive usually a 5 gallon pail is about 140.00 with insulation and cleaning products your cost should be under 1000.00. Usually two packs of 10 R14s will work and make sure your studs are 2x4 or 2x6 this will matter when purchasing your insulation.
I hope this helps.
5/9/2013 at 1:04:58 PM
Hi Ella
We just encountered a similar situation here in Ottawa. To solve the problems we removed ALL materials, because the smell permeates everything. The lady we worked for had her car in the next attached garage and even it had taken on the smell of dead or rotting material. It was disgusting.
Remember to use a Level 4 mask with carbon filter, gloves and wear white overalls over all parts of your body. Once your certain everything that was touched is removed heavily spray hydrogen peroxide using a sprayer on every surface and drench it real good. Then use a shop vac to remove all remaining materials. Try to keep all dust down to a low level as it is full of rat, mice and other animal feces. Do a very thorough job. Then drench again and repeat the process of picking up all waste and materials. Then I would power wash the entire area and let is dry out before spraying again with hydrogen peroxide. Open windows and use fans to dry out.
Hydrogen Peroxide is a natural occurring product and is not like bleach. It will not exasperate any allergies as it is not a chemical.
Good luck
Norm from Ottawa
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