Replace floor insulation over crawlspace before sale? Or.. (price, inspectors, expensive)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
... ignore it and let buyer deal with it if they want to?
Background: My house (3500 sq ft) has an 800 sq ft, one level addition over a crawlspace. The addition floor was uninsulated when I moved in so I did it. In the 22 years since then mice have tunneled through and destroyed the insulation, so it needs to be done again. House is otherwise in good/excellent shape (recent paint, new furnace, new roof, new deck, new driveway, various other fixes).
I figure the insulation is maybe a $1500 job, but it's a pain. Access is through a small interior hatch and it would make a mess. An inspector would likely comment that it should be done (if they looked down there at all), but it's certainly not a pressing defect like a bad roof.
Think I should just do it or ignore and pass it on to the buyer, maybe with an allowance? Thanks!
Every house has some defects or repair and maintenance issues that must be dealt with by the owner. There are likely other issues that you are not aware of -- will you assume indefinite responsibility for those as well?
Unless you are planning to re-insulate the crawl space anyway, (an expense that you are unlikely to recoup in a sale), you may want to wait until you have an actual buyer/offer and scheduled inspection, to deal with this. If the inspector discovers this 'need', you will have some room to negotiate -- If not, you can decide at that point how much you might want to contribute to that repair.
Listen to jghorton.
Let the inspector find it. It will be considered huge.
Everyone wins.
1. The inspector is a hero for reporting it.
2. The buyer wins because they have a club to hit you with.
3. You win because you already budgeted to fix it and you won't be fixing some other issues.
Yes. But they are very, very hard to control completely. It's a semi-rural environment and they come in from the outside. They can be minimized but never really eliminated.
I like these ideas in general. The only thing I'm thinking about is will some people be scared of mice and worried they're in the floor and house, especially the way some home inspectors can blow things out of proportion, and just want to rule it out because of that. People can be funny about mice or any pest. On the other hand, they may expect something like that in your rural area.
I like these ideas in general. The only thing I'm thinking about is will some people be scared of mice and worried they're in the floor and house, especially the way some home inspectors can blow things out of proportion, and just want to rule it out because of that. People can be funny about mice or any pest. On the other hand, they may expect something like that in your rural area.
The short answer is, anybody with a fear of mice won't be looking in my town. Ditto fears of well/septic. Local inspectors know the score.
There are actually a couple of seperate issues on this topic.
First I personally have met some EXCELLENT home inspectors that lay out "just the facts" for potential buyers and do it in a way that will help them understand the trade-offs that come with any house. Sadly they are in the MINORITY as too many folks mix opionion / conjecture with facts -- in a way I can't blame them as it is part of human nature to crawl through a filthy rodent infested confined space and mutter to yourself "these bozos did not know how to do this the right way and I don't want to go up into the hot attic and find racoon poop or a colony of rabies carrying bats up there too"...
The FACT is that insulation that has been infested with rodents IS A POTENTIAL vector for disease transmission, it can lead to odors and accelerted ROT of wood framing. There are methods to MINIMIZE the this sort of problem. If you are "DIY" type person you might not know about all the products / techniques that can help. If you hired contractors that did not warn you that this would likely happen that is not really anyones fault. I will tell you right now that the crawl space should NOT have a dirt floor. Minimally there should be LOADS of coarse gravel with by itself help to discourage rodents. Beyond gravel a poured concrete floor makes the whole space much cleaner / safer. I have personally seen some folks go so far as to use lightweight aluminum soffit panels to keep vermin out of the insulated floor joist bays. Of course various kinds of "hardware cloth / wire mesh" are also effective.
Unlike the more "cosmetic" issues I tend to recommend that people FIX THIS YUCK FACTOR PROBLEMS! First, unlike cosmetic issues there is really no "taste issue" -- no sane person would prefer mice in their crawlspace. Second there is a fairly standard "perscription" -- you will not get any argument from contractors about products to use -- basically you HAVE TO USE either a fiberglass batt with appropriate vapor barrier OR expanding spray foam. Either product will work, one is a "Cadillac priced" the often more like a Chevy but they both do the job. Third -- if you do not do this you might very well get a "creeped out" buyer that walks -- heaven forbid if you get some "horror story" type home inspector that starts in the "oh lady if you has kids with the asthma this house will kill your little baby, they mouse turds have like the hooooontah virus and there ain't no cure for that...". Seriously NOT WORTH THE RISK!!!
Frankly this is one of those things that "conscienctious homeowners" ought to deal with. Like I said there is often a progression -- first time it happen you maybe re-do it just like it was or staple up some chicken wire / hardware cloth. Second time you have to redo you amp up the preventive efforts with upgraded crawlspace floor. If it still happens you go "full metal jacket" and resort to using the aluminum soffit to make it all but impossible for critters to make a nest...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
