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Question DetailsAsked on 10/31/2013

Should all attic insulation be removed if only a few mice droppings found? Urine Presence? Pheromones?

I purchased an Angie's Deal for inspection of my attic and areas around my home where mice could have entered. I viewed my attic insulation with the contractor. It did not appear to be a major infestation but
the contractor said I would need to have all my insulation removed due to presence of pheromones and mice urine/droppings and have all new insulation installed. He quoted me a price of $7,000.00 which I thought was very high. So I am looking for less expensive but effective methods to resolve this issue.

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2 Answers

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If you go on to the CDC website and look up attic rodent infestations they recommend removing soiled insulation. There are products available such as Steri-Fab which are used to sanitize the attic and will take care of urine etc. The product can be sprayed or applied by a fogging machine which would kill any bacteria which may be present. This would stop you from having to replace all the insulation and is a much cheaper option.

I would remove all heavily soiled insulation, vacuum up any additional xxxx with a Hepa filter vacuum and then sterilize everything with Steri-Fab. You could probably have the sterilization part done for around $500.

Good Luck.

Mark Carran.

mark@nozzlenolen.com

Nozzle Nolen

South Florida.

Answered 6 years ago by Mark Carran

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Removed only the soiled areas of insulation. Depending on your climate area and amount of existing insulation, you may want to bring the R value up to current DOE recommendations as well as have air sealing and soffit ventilation to prevent heat loss and moisture from the below living area. Blown-in cellulose over the existing fiberglass is the most cost effective.. And.... MICE HATE CELLULOSE< THEY LOVE FIBERGLASS

Answered 6 years ago by hosey

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$7,000 !!!

Removal and replacement of attic insulation, INCLUDING sealing penetrations from below (assuming you already have the standard vapor barrier on top of the topfloor ceiling drywall), should run in the $1-2/SF range in a normally accessible attic - if low headroom (less than 5 feet or so down the middle, or low headroom flat roof) then closer to $3/SF. Unless you have a giant house, that should put you in the ballpark of about half the $7000 number even if you did decide to do the entire attic.

Once you decide on your approach, get 3 quotes from well-rated insulation contractors.

Answered 6 years ago by LCD




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