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please please don't try to do this yourself I agree with others that say rats can carry nasty viruses . Use the exterminator . Yes my life is worth more than the 2 thousand they want to do it ...also my cousin had bats in his attic and he and his daughter both got very sick from it and they had to get an exterminator to do this but they got very sick and it has left some lasting effects and you don't want those believe me . Good luck to you .
You need to compare how much your life is worth to the cost of an exterminator multiplied by the inverse of the odds of you getting the virus and the inverse of the odds of the virus killing you. For example, if there is a 1/100th chance of catching the disease and it kills 1/10th of those infected, you only should hire the $2,000 exterminator if you value your life at $2,000,000 or more. Or 2,000 * 100 *10.
Just had my local, and reputable pest control company that we have used for years, come by for an annual inspection. They found only one issue in our 1400 sq ft attic, some rat droppings. No other issues found except thin insulation over the 400 sq ft garage area. Our home is on the gulf coast of Florida.
They said they can add special pest repellent insulation to the soft area and spray rat treatment to have the rats not want to stay in the attic.
Now I have never seen or heard any rats. They also said being a "great customer" for years they could do the service for $2,000 and give me free pest treatment for a year ( $360 value). He did note that usually they can get into open areas, but he could not find any obvious ones, noting the common open areas that I sealed myself 2 years ago.
I have no experience to say if I have rats or not. However, this just seems like a bit much. It also seems like it is highly profitable for them. I am a very hands on person, so this seems like if I had some knowledge I could inspect and treat this myself.
Your thoughts?
Thanks!
When we sold our old house it turned out that at one point we had roof rats (They love Mango, which explains why they were always gone before we could eat them). For 1500 they (I don't remember who though) got rid of them, but they sealed all the openings. It wasn't anything we were doing; there was only one opening to that sub attic (Really high ceilings, so we only had these really small attic portions, at least that we could see. We never had any problems in the follow ups, and they cleaned the smell out.
Hantavirus is usually in mice. Here's a link to the Center for Disease Control site; they do mention "rice rats". CDC - Rodents in the U.S. that Carry Hantavirus - Hantavirus Honestly I don't think the virus just kind of floats through the air into your living room. The article mentions "close contact".
please please don't try to do this yourself I agree with others that say rats can carry nasty viruses . Use the exterminator Yes my life is worth more than the 2 thousand they want to do it.
Oh, please. It's not rocket science.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phonelady61
...also my cousin had bats in his attic and he and his daughter both got very sick from it and they had to get an exterminator to do this but they got very sick and it has left some lasting effects and you don't want those believe me . Good luck to you .
The exterminator didn't prevent them from getting sick.
That's pretty darn high. We have a 2300 sf attic and with new construction in the area, the rats are busy trying to find new homes. Trapped one in our attic, and had a reputable company come out. They set traps, fixed holes, came out two or three times for inspections, etc., etc. for less than $1300. Even caught a raccoon in the middle of everything -- turn out there was a hole in the soffit in a place that couldn't be viewed from a walk-around. With all the critters up there (suspected a squirrel, too), I was going to start charging admission! The company also comes out to reinspect every three months for a year, which is included in the price above.
But $1285 later, no more critters, and access points plugged. Much better.
Just had my local, and reputable pest control company that we have used for years, come by for an annual inspection. They found only one issue in our 1400 sq ft attic, some rat droppings. No other issues found except thin insulation over the 400 sq ft garage area. Our home is on the gulf coast of Florida.
They said they can add special pest repellent insulation to the soft area and spray rat treatment to have the rats not want to stay in the attic.
Now I have never seen or heard any rats. They also said being a "great customer" for years they could do the service for $2,000 and give me free pest treatment for a year ( $360 value). He did note that usually they can get into open areas, but he could not find any obvious ones, noting the common open areas that I sealed myself 2 years ago.
I have no experience to say if I have rats or not. However, this just seems like a bit much. It also seems like it is highly profitable for them. I am a very hands on person, so this seems like if I had some knowledge I could inspect and treat this myself.
Your thoughts?
Thanks!
The only thing that needs exterminating is these guys contract. You're the rat and they set the trap.
Call some other pest control. Hell call another 5. Have them do a inspection. DONT tell them anything. Just ask them to do a inspection for spiders termites mice rats ants. Then see what they say and what they charge.
$2000 bs. Setting up a few rat traps and coming back to check should be about $100 bucks and that should include the return visit
wow never said the exterminator kept them from getting sick re read the post.
I know. Yet you are encouraging the OP to get an exterminator to protect her from getting sick via doing it herself.
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