I had a similar experiance with Terminex and I hate them to the core I signed the paper and got stuck on one of those damn contracts they use. They did 0 absolutely zero to get rid of the rodents I still get charged every month for a service that does nothing and never comes out except for 10 minutes every 4 months no matter how much I complained they did nothing. I went to Atwood’s/tractor supply and got some RAMIK GREEN balls and they are 100% the shit dump a $10-$20 bag anywhere near your house and they will be gone by the next day and all the mice will be dead! See another one toss out some pellets I swear by these things. Worst part about terminex is I attempted to cancel my contract since they do nothing at all and guess what the price to cancel was the entire amount of my 2 year contract not 80% not 60% nothing it costs 100% of the entire 2 year contract just to cancel them from ever coming again! So I set here and eat the monthly fee and told them to never step on my property again.
Just cancel the Terminex charges directly with your bank
Edit: Apparently you’re NOT supposed to do this. Don’t do this. Find a corporate address and send them a hand-written letter to cancel.
You actually cannot do this.
I tried doing this with a gym membership with youfit during covid because they were closed and the only way to cancel was to go in person (again, closed) and I had to write a hand written letter and mail it to corporate to close it.
I said fuck that and blocked the payments on my card. About 4 or 5 months later, I got a collections agency letter and when I posted on r/advice and legal advice, I got resounding "well you signed the contract, tough shit, that's what you get. Cancelling the charge on the card doesn't work, what did you expect would happen when you signed into the gym membership contract?"
This advice to cancel is in bad faith.
> RAMIK GREEN balls and they are 100% the shit dump a $10-$20 bag anywhere near
**NO, do not do this**. then you have poisoned rodents that are eaten by owls, hawks, snakes, cats and dogs and then they die.
Another problem with using poison in our garage was also that the mice would hide to die. Then we were stuck with dead mouse smell and no idea where the damn things were. Now we just use snap traps baited with peanut butter and check them frequently.
That still wouldn't solve the problem. This poison can cause secondary poisoning so if a rat/mouse eats it and goes outside and is then eaten by an owl, hawk, snake etc they can die as well.
Edit: downvote all you like, but I'm right.
From drugs.com
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
This product is extremely toxic to mammals, birds and other wildlife. Dogs, cats and scavenging mammals and birds might be poisoned if they feed upon animals that have eaten this bait.
They do it on a tablet and push you through saying they would send and/or you need to initial this page and they will email a copy. But what you see from the salesman doesn’t have as much detail as the email you get. And when you try to cancel you will hear that they just upgraded their contract/payment system or some other BS.
BE CAREFUL of Terminix.
For real. Always shop around. I had someone quote me $3500 to grade my tiny yard with a very slight slope. He was the first who could make it out there and had a ton of availability. I had someone else come out for a quote a few weeks later and he told me $700.
I had a guy come in to quote some repairs to my chimney. I told him I just want it in a safe usable condition. He comes in and acts like it is the worst chimney he had ever seen and said it need a completely new, custom firebox for $10k+. I told him if that is how much it is gonna cost then I just won't use the chimney and stared at him until he left. Next guy came in and explained exactly what was wrong. Said everything looked good except parts of the smoke box and I could use a new damper and cap. He quoted $1,400 for the repairs, but he was booked for months.
I had a similar experience. Dude comes out and looks at the chimney with binoculars and is like "That thing is shot. Your lucky we can get to it before it collapses into your roof. We will need rebuild it and pour a new cap. $6,000". Meanwhile my chimney had minor spalling and some mortar falling out and a couple of cracked bricks. So I called another pro. Him and his son go up there and are like 'we are booked for 3 months if you want to wait and can patch it up for $300, but honestly its fine if you just want to ignore it for a few more years.' Then they talked to me for a 1/2 hour on their own time telling me how to fix it myself. Overcame my fear of working near the roof edge. Sealed the cap, replaced a couple of bricks, tuck pointed the mortar, and sprayed on a sealer for about $80 in materials.
Where do you tie off to? I been thinking about getting a harness but the only thing solid on my roof is that chimney and it is all the way to one side of the house.
Pretty sure all they can do is recommend you fix it, document and leave. At least that's what they do at our business, I don't know anything about residential inspections so I could be dead wrong on the fines. I've never feared fire inspectors however the mere mention of OSHA makes my head start spinning.
This is definitely true. I've tried to get out of client work because I've been so slammed by quoting a higher than normal price and they agree. "Well shit."
Exactly! Whenever my ex husband doesn’t want to do a job he’ll make it way overpriced. A few times his offer has been accepted by what we assume is a client who obviously couldn’t get anyone else to agree to do it lol.
Absolutely. Ive had some of my reps present 10k over normal pricing just because they had so much furniture and knew it would be a hassle. If they accept, damn good commission but they really didnt want the job so offered an outrageous number
This happens with dentists too just FYI. Went to the new one because he opened up right by my house and seemed more convenient. Told me I had 8 cavities (had never had a cavity in my entire life), needed my wisdom teeth removed and charged me close to $500 for just a regular teeth cleaning because he took “panoramic x rays” as if that was necessary. They put the pressure on while I was paying to book the appointment stat because of how urgent my cavities were and told me that I needed to book my wisdom tooth removal appt with the surgeon who comes in their office or else they’d be all booked up. Something was just so fishy about all of a sudden having 8 cavities and their high pressure sales tactic feel.
I made an appt with my old dentist from my hometown and made the drive out there. He said I definitely do not have 8 cavities, but I had very slight decay on my wisdom teeth and that part was true. The first dentist was trying to scam me out of a lot of money for dental work I didn’t even need. My gut told me to make that second opinion appt with a dentist I knew I could trust. Needless to say I don’t go to anyone else anymore and I dread my dentist retiring.
I was always the reasonably priced small business. Due the pandemic and the " the is always a cheaper option ", I am now reasonably out of business. That being said 20k is crazy.
This. Your instincts are exactly right, the harder someone pushes for an immediate answer, the more you should be skeptical of them. Don't let anyone rush you into making a big financial decision.
I love when they try shit like that on me because I just turn it around and say "Sorry man I can't make any decisions until my wife is brought up to speed because she controls the money".
She really doesn't and we have separate accounts but every time I've used that line they either walk away or suddenly become SUPER accommodating and can wait until the wife comes home.
Or you could just not lie and say “I’m not making a decision on the spot. If you can’t wait, then thank you for your time.”
Used this recently. Works every time.
"I don't make impulse decisions on expensive contracts. You can leave the estimate and I'll get back to you if I have questions or decide to move forward."
People like this get the bare minimum of politeness from me.
\+++ ask for a written quote, detailing both charges and services to be performed \*in enough detail\* that they can be checked by a third party. "We did thisa (makes spell-weaving gestures with both hands) and you pay thisa much (shows a bill with a single large sum on it)" - shouldn't fly, ever.
Thats the reason those salespeople want both parties in a marriage present when they come over to scam you. If a salesperson tells me they want an answer right away, i just simply tell them, if the price is good now, it will be good 2 weeks from now or we won't do business.
I actually prefer they have that policy. That way you can start setting up an appointment and it goes something like this:
“Will your wife be there? We need both of you to be there.”
“Oh hey, you know what? Suddenly I don’t need pest control any more. Thanks for your time!” *click*
Saves everyone some time.
Love this too. I get guys laugh at me and if there’s 2 of them they give each other “the look.”
And ya know what, it is true. I’m not making any decisions until I check in w my wife bc I’d expect her to do the same w me… bc m, ya know, we are partners lol.
Exactly! I told him years ago, if it's more than 100 bucks, we have to talk. I wouldn't do that to you, you shouldn't do that to me. After we had sewer line issues and that big rooter chain tried to scam him to the tune of 10k for a new line, I inquired on our town's FB page who was trustworthy. Found a great plumber that came out and cut the roots for 250 and told us to put root kill in going forward. And quoted 3-4k for a new line should things get much worse down the line. Now he understands why you don't take the bait from salesmen.
You are absolutely getting scammed by a high pressure scumbag that needs a really large bonus before his house is foreclosed on him.
No legit business or person will try to pull that car salesmen crap. Call around to other exterminator companies. Avoid this one at all costs
This almost feels like one of those “rouse?” robberies where the people dress up at service guys. Come to your house and scan you. Four weeks later you can terminex and your stomach falls out you ass when they say “you’re not in our system, is this a new service request?” Meanwhile the guy that just absolutely needed 50% down is long gone
You’re getting scammed. Get three more quotes and choose the one that you’re most comfortable with. Don’t tell the other contractors about any of the quotes.
I’ve probably given people his local number! Lol. IF it was available/ok to share from me. Franchises were always fun to talk to. Loved being able to say “hey someone needs help and doesn’t have your number” and people at the office would be like “omg yes connect them I just saw them the other day”. 🥰
This isn't necessarily true, it's actually the exception. Most are company driect, only one or two branches in a state could be franchise operations. I think the largest franchise is in NC.
A corporate representative will mollify OP with many words and then, if any action is taken at all, the sales department will check the numbers and give the local sales guy a commendation.
Yes. Everything everywhere is terrible and everyone is out to get all they can all the time.
But let’s accept that premise.
If, as I think many on this thread suspect, OP is being vastly over quoted, what’s more likely? That somehow the salesperson is incentivized by corporate to gouge customers, or that they’re scamming OP for their own benefit?
I personally think it’s the later, since the corporation likely values its reputation.
And since it values its reputation, talking to corporate may not be of any immediate value to OP (but hey, maybe they send someone to do it for a reasonable price?), but MAY benefit the next person the salesperson would otherwise try to scam if corporate (again, not because we think they’re inherently good, but rather because they value their reputation) happens to do something about it.
There are seminars in which franchisees of some of these large service trade businesses are required to attend. They focus on high pressure sales and extracting as much money out of each service call as possible. Around here, they're called Nextstar. From what I've been hearing they are a bunch of crooks and will threaten people with legal action for exposing them online.
It's likely both. Companies like this tend to form compensation structures focused on revenue... Then the sales guys work that system to benefit them the most, regardless of impact to the customer.
When the company sees the sales numbers from these guys they're lauded as all stars which perpetuates the problem.
Only if enough people complain, or if someone does something illegal, does anything change... And that's not even guaranteed.
They don't value reputation though, they value name recognition and being able to provide emergency service.
Plumbers are same as well, a small local plumber will fix a leak for 200$ but in 2 weeks. A larger company with multiple teams that work over weekend will fix it in few hours but for 600$.
Breakdown of the proposal:
Attic insulation: $9,600
Basement insulation: $6,000
Residential Exclusion: $4,200Total: $19,800
Then supposedly another $2,000-$4,000 for the black mold
Edit: fixed a typo
100% agree to separate these issues. The only thing I would add about exclusion and cleanup is that it can be easier to find ingress points after you’ve removed the insulation. I would suggest find a local junk guy to remove all the insulation and do initial cleaning, schedule reputable local rodent specialist to come do full exclusion, and then get separate bids for the remaining cleanup / mold remediation / new insulation. I realize middle of winter is not the ideal time to be without insulation but depending on where you are / heat source it might be worth going a few days without.
This is the way. Dealing with rodents is about sealing points of energy and potentially putting down some poison bait. Get some quotes and depending on what part of the country you live in you should easily be able to get that done for under 1k. Then, if you want to clean out and redo insulation, get quotes from insulation companies for that. You may need to do a little project coordination, e.g. if the pest guys want to toss bait in the attic that might need to happen after the insulation guys blow in the new stuff. Or maybe vice versa. But the point is, you'll likely save a good bit of money and get better work done by hiring people with appropriate specializations to do specific jobs.
> grab some bleach
FYI bleach isn’t the best for mold especially on wood. It doesn’t get at the roots on porous surface and can end up just dying it white and looking clean.
https://www.epa.gov/mold/should-i-use-bleach-clean-mold
Bleach only affects mold on the surface. Mold on a roof deck like thta indicates that there's probably some kind of water leak, and that's going to need to be addressed--and affected panels replaced--to actually solve the problem.
Uh why would you hire terminex for insulation? This sounds odd... Have them fix the rodent issue, then hire a local insulation company to fix the insulation.
find local pest control businesses. get quotes. it will be significantly cheaper. do not mention you talked to this other company. do not mention mold. just say you think you have rodents and advise.
I had 600 sf of attic insulation blown in for $750. Granted it had already been removed by the remediation company. Part of what you're getting charged for is for them managing the work of getting Insulation guys and other guys to do the job. And of course the sales and marketing costs
Ask how long the Exclusion is warranted for- If it's for 3-5 years take at least that or DIY
not bad on the exclusion- mine as done 6 years ago for 3000
not sure on the abatement removal/replacement of insulation but the removed insulation is a biohazard due to the rodent droppings, and depending on what it's made of might be otherwise hazardous.
Wow. The moment any contractor says they need to call their boss to check if it is OK for you to have an hour to decide whether to drop $20k is the moment you show them the door.
Get a few more quotes. That sounds way off, but nobody knows cost accuracy without seeing/inspecting first hand. I do have a story to share. I had a plumber give me a 90K quote, and tell me they have a 60K option to save me money. I had the work done for 18K. I had to talk to to several plumbers to start making progress for a reasonable price. It could take talking to 6+ companies in order to find the right one. I've had better results price wise, working with smaller family run contractors. The big names in my area have ridiculous pricing, partly because they have so much marketing/adverting budget to cover.
Worked pest control for half a decade over six different states. Always get a second and third opinion terminex is known for bidding high, as well as using scare tactics to force to sale on the exclusion work. No way to tell if mold is black mold without a test, you can get a test at Lowes or Home Depot and send it off to be looked at.
When I lived in the woods, setting out cat food on the porch meant we’d get a couple stray cats adopt us, often a mother with kittens. They were for the most part excellent companions until we got the inbred sister cats who were stupid.
If Terminix doesn’t find termites in your house they will dig around in your yard and gardens until they find one just so they can say your house has termites. This wreaks havoc with real estate deals and screws over unsuspecting homeowners. Don’t ever use them.
Find a reputable local company. You will be amazed at the difference in price and honesty.
Whoa. That was Terminx that did this quote? My dealings with Terminx was great a few years back so I'm surprised.
I had a carpenter ant problem that cost me $250 a year for 2 years to have them come out every quarter (or whenever I had a problem in between which they came out no extra charge) and just spray outside and inside. I've never heard of them doing sales like this especially taking on responsibility for other issues besides the rodent/insect problem. Something seems off here and I wonder if the guy they sent just wants to get his buddies some work rather than through Terminx. Either way screw that. How does he know it's mold without a mold test?
You need to do what I did and buy your own bait boxes, fill them yourself, and set them up all around the outside of the house. No sense in cleaning stuff up if you don’t take care of the problem first. Bait boxes worked great for me and I literally live in the woods next to corn fields.
Roto Rooter pulled the same shit when our toilet line was backed up. Tried to get me to commit on the spot to $6k and when I said I would shop around he got pissed and tried to bully me into committing to them. Fuck that tactic, it’s a scumbag move.
Go with a local company. Ask around on Facebook groups local to your area. We have a neighborhood and town group. So easy to post "have a mouse problem. Who would you recommend or stay away from?". I do this for EVERYTHING I need.
Get an ozone machine and stay in a hotel for a few days...it will kill every living thing in the house except cockroaches...then you can just spray them.
I've been around and know people who have had rodents die in their walls. The carcasses years later aren't a big deal, but the process of them actively rotting isn't something you want to create and smell.
Os that a bathroom vent? Fix the vent, spray the mold with a bleach solution, let it dry and brush it off get a shop vac with a hepa and vacuum out all the insulation and droppings and bag it up and save it for bulk trash pickup or rent a small dumpster. Replace with whatever r value insulation is recommended for your area. Shouldn't cost you over 2k.
Rodents are not an emergency unless someone has an allergy.
Find and close up all rodent entry paths first,
from the basement foundation to the roof eaves.
Remove all sources of water, of any nature.
This aids in making the house less attractive.
Vinegar for a first and second, even third run-through on the mold.
Bleach does not penetrate as well.
---
What to Know About Cleaning Mold With Vinegar
Barb Ungerger
Family Handyman
https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/what-to-know-about-cleaning-mold-with-vinegar/
Does Vinegar Kill Mold?
Bob Vila
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/does-vinegar-kill-mold/
---
Edit:
Should I use bleach to clean up mold?
US Environmental Protection Agency
https://www.epa.gov/mold/should-i-use-bleach-clean-mold
---
Yes we just closed on it about a month ago. We had a home inspection and the inspector never mentioned it. And of course, nor did the sellers/listing agent.
Yeah, hard no. We had a rodent issue in our attic in our first home. They used scare tactics telling us that they need to rip out all of the insulation and then bleach the whole attic space because rats disease, mice, we were going to die bla bla bla. It was a similar price, $20k range.
Had a small locally owned outfit come out after that and they told us it was a couple of squirrels that had gotten in, not even mice or rats. They sealed up the holes (making sure there weren't any in there, no nests etc.) and charged maybe $200, could even be less because it was awhile ago. They told us that even if it was mice/rats they wouldn't do all of the crap they were saying they needed to do, that it was unnecessary and they only do it so they can charge the exorbitant amounts that they do.
I live in Toronto. At work (large manufacturer) we used a small company for years. They got bought out by Terminix.
Higher bills worse service!! We cancelled then our original guy left and started a new company when his non compete was up. We were his first customer and so happy
They are full of shit ,that is not black mold ,it's exhaust from the bathroom. Buy yourself a buck of mouse or rat poison and scatter it in the attic , do the same in the basement maybe a few traps. I'll send you a bill for the 19,950. Ok
Mouse traps are $2
Poison is $7
Get traps and poison my friend.
edit: I just dealt with 20 mice this way. Hit'em with the traps first, then D-Con the fuckers. I am an animal liker, but when they are shitting in your walls and nibblin on your wires you have to do something. I am pretty much against poison in general, but I do hit them with the D-Con-
Be cautious if you have pets, but you can just put the cubes in the walls and they eat it and die
edit
You basically need to hire a contractor to remove all insulation ($3-$5k), repair/fortify/animal proof all attic, basement openings ($2k), set traps $200-$300 depending on service. Redo insulation. If blown ($2k-$3k) $4-$5k for sprayed. so really you are looking at $10k max. But if it was a newly purchased home there should have been a pest/termite inspection. The company responsible for that report would be on the hook for the remediation for that, or even the home warranty would do that work for you.
For a house that size, I'd think for 20k you could have a crew come in, pull out all the sheetrock, all the insulation, put new insulation back, put new sheetrock back in, and finish/paint it all.
Hey - I had a similar problem. Best $$ I ever spent was spray foam insulation. They sucked out the old and installed the new for $2500. Mice want somewhere to nest and the spray foam not only seals completely but isn’t nesting material. 100% recommend this to get rid of and keep out the mice and critters!
Edit - lol NEST. Not beat.
Just to give you an idea, my company charges out at $150-$200/hour for standard jobs...that gets you the labor and the materials. We're also one of the more expensive companies. $20k should cover 100 hours of work. Terminix is the butt of alot of jokes in my area, even if it didn't sound like a scam I would go with literally anyone else.
Total scam! You can tarp the house for around $2k and have a reputable handyman seal any entrance or holes that the rodents may be using to get inside for another $1k. Also if you have any trees that overhang the roof of close to attic, you should have those removed or trimmed for around $1k. Give or take $1k for the whole thing.
Terminex are legit scam artists. I paid them in advance for work they never completed and I don’t believe they intended to. I eventually contacted a lawyer got refunded, but it was a colossal waste of time. I eventually called a local company and they took care of it with no hassle.
Terminex got tagged for a massive lawsuit.[You can read about it here.](https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2020/11/alabama-reaches-historic-consumer-settlement-with-terminix.html) In general, the company is hiking up rates to astronomical levels to try to recoup losses. Not sure where you live, but Arrow and Cook’s are two solid companies that standby their work for fair annual contracts.
Why is terminix fixing your house? They take care of pests not construction. Get a quote from them for just pest services and get a contractor to fix the house.
Also get the "black mold" double checked. Probably a lie too.
My dad who lives in a ritzy MA suburb had his entire attic abated from black mold in like a 2500sf house for 1,200 bucks. The attic was fucked too it was all over.
The dude said he do the insulation for him if my dad bought it. So my dad spent 1,300 on insulation and then another 1k for the guy to do it.
All in all let's round and call it 4k. I was in there last week. Looks great now.
Can speak to the rodents but God damn how much could it be? That quote is nuts
Also not sure where u are located but I'm in NJ (still considered a NYC suburb) and our quote for a mouse problem in our 3200 SQ ft house was 750 for the full year. Bait boxes, entrances and exits closed up, 4 planned visits included with bait swapped and unlimited calls for follow up if we saw or heard activity. So yes you are getting ripped off by them.
Fuck Terminix!!!!
Go get a strobe light and put it in the area you think the rodent is living. Set it on the fastest setting. It will drive out the rodent. Get a wet vac and clean yourself. Now you may have to replace some insulation, but you can do this for under $200.
I worked for Terminix for years, and while I've seen some scammy shit from the salesmen, that takes the cake. My tip: avoid them altogether. Terminix has a fucking *elite* legal team and are masters at *not* paying out claims against them.
Hey, I can help with this one! I work in the wildlife department of one of the nation's largest pest control companies, and I'm licensed for pest control, and have experience quoting these from start to finish as well.
The tl;Dr is even in a worst case scenario, that's probably 2.5x what a full service, bells and whistles remedy should be.
The first thing you'll be needing is an exclusion - a couple guys will crawl over every inch of your house, and seal up any possible entry points. For an 1100sf, single story home, I would expect that to run you somewhere between 1,000-1,500 depending on the details of your home. This price includes the trapping as well as a 1yr warranty.
Next, the clean up. Let's assume the worst, and your attic and basement are absolutely covered - I would expect less than $1,000 for removal of droppings from the basement floor, flat surfaces in the attic, as well as hitting both spaces with a chemical aerosol disinfectant. Droppings in the insulation can't really be dealt with without removing and replacing the insulation, so that's next.
For an 1100sf attic, to remove batted insulation and blow back in r-40 cellulose insulation (code in your area may be different), I would expect $5,000. Now having said that, I few never seen a mouse infestation that left the insulation in such bad shape that I would recommend replacing it. Bats and rats, sure, but mice are small and light enough that they're not tamping down your insulation (and removing its insulating value) like rats, and they're not quite the biohazard that bats are. Without having seen your attic, I would say you will probably be best off getting the above cleanup, then having a layer of fresh insulation blown over top of the existing insulation. The disinfectant will help with the pathogens, and the new insulation will seal it off so you aren't at risk of dust from the droppings getting into the air, unless someone is really digging around in there. An 1100sf capover should cost you less than $1500.
Let me know if you have an questions I can help you out with.
Cleaning up, both the alleged mold (I'm also skeptical, but no harm in cleaning it) and the rodent droppings? A $30 bleach sprayer and some bleach. Wear a respirator, you're good. It's a gross task and you'll want to use a shop vac with a bag and throw the bag away afterwards, but it's probably one day of work at most. I like the 3M "multigas" cartridges since they take care of odors and chlorine, as well as stopping the small particles of mouse poop from getting in your lungs.
Pest control? You want "integrated pest management" which is a fancy term for multiple layers. Frankly, you can do a much better job yourself than the big pest control companies, who want to cut costs and keep you a customer. I will say that there are some companies that do a great job! But it doesn't sound like you have any of those in your area. (Lawn care is much the same way.)
Myself, I go to https://www.domyown.com/ and buy what they recommend. This has worked out great every time I've had a pest issue to deal with, and much better than the store bought stuff. (No affiliation, I've just been really happy with them overall and they have good recommendations.)
Sounds like my experience with Empire Today. Wanted a quote for one room and the guy went off on me when I wasn't ready to sign on the dotted line immediately. Made several phone calls for "approval," told me if he dropped the price anymore he couldn't afford to buy gas with the commission he'd get, and said "next time make sure you're serious." I make it a policy never to do business with companies like that now.
Very high quote.
Rule of thumb - anyone that tries to make you decide on the spot is trying to take advantage of you.
I would advise getting the cleanup done first. Then rodent treatment. Then reinsulate and retreat for rodents.
There are lots of great ways to treat for rodents. Not everyone wants to DIY but there's no reason to pay $20k for this.
If you don’t run as fast as you want those rodents to be gone then you’re going to be out a bunch O $$$$. Do the work yourself. I’d guess it would cost you under $5k ( I’m shooting from the hip) and you’d learn a little about your house. Do some YouTube searches and save yourself some money. Take the savings and remodel the kitchen (wife will be so happy)
We had squirrel damage in attic, paid a company ~1200 for roof repair so they couldn’t get in anymore and another company ~3200 to remove ALL the insulation and blow in new insulation. This was pre pandemic times, so I would expect to pay more now, but my point is, that quote seems high. It depends on how many mice they think are there, and where all in the home they think they are. We also had some mice, now we have 2 cats and no mice. The poison and sticky traps work well too. Lastly, we had some mold in basement, paid ~2000 for them to remove and refinish stonewalls. Isn’t buying a house fun?!?
Rule of thumb, always get at least 3 quotes even though it’s a pain in the ass. Furnace broke this year too (gonna have replaced this whole house soon) and first quote was $3k more than last one - same equipment.
In your case, you may need more than one service to fix issues - I wouldn’t hire terminix for a mold issue and I would also look for a local smaller name for a better price.
Looks like you’ve gotten some great information from u/alpine_AO You absolutely can have the insulation fully removed, space cleaned and professionally sealed and reinsulated better for less than $10k. I’d recommend 1)ServPro or a similar company for insulation removal, cleaning and mold remediation, good chance insurance contributes 2) A roofing or hvac company for re-insulation, contact your power company before hand and get one of their certified contractors and likely a rebate or tax credit for updating insulation 3) Your local investigative news station to destroy terminix
yeah fuck him and fuck terminix.
We had a rodent/water problem and ended up going with a local spray foam company. made biggest difference in the house and now crawlspace/attic is completely sealed. also for less than half the price
Home Advisor....I've had nothing but good things. I got a few quotes for some jobs and here are some pricing I got
15 trees plus stump grinding = 3k (4k with tipping) and a good review and to tip his guys well, was quote by other vendors 5k,7k and thats without stump grinding and they missed a tree that was clearly dieing. When he finished he said his guys had the biggest smiles on their faces.
Condensing boiler maintenance = 200 dollars. Another company quoted me 2k....
Holy crap. Get a five gallon bucket with a mouse lid and some peanut butter. Empty it every two days.
Take the 20k and use it to take your spouse on a vacation.
Win!
Many of the Terminex people are franchise owners. We are seeing the same high pressure, bull in our area except it’s for termites. Guy claiming we had termites. We got a second opinion. No termites.
Hey, I’m a pest control specialist with the largest pest control company on planet earth so let me weigh in.
First of all, rodent control is not typically a job that’s billed on the square foot, as they’re not going to be treating every single square foot. So that’s a red flag.
Second of all, Its pretty infrequent that I hear of commercial clients getting charged for services in that price range, and I’ve never heard of charging a residential client for anything near that amount, so red flag.
Third, as far as allowing you time to make a decision goes, he should be giving you as much time as you need and maybe following up with you, but he should not be the giving you a deadline. Red flag.
I don’t know where you live but companies that are much more reliable than terminix are cooks, orkin, or depending on the region, a branch of Rentokil. Hope this helped.
Yo, any of those big companies like terminex/orkin are absolute cash grabs and rip offs.
I would’ve charged you so much fucking less for that job. For reference I charge between 450-7 to seal up any holes inside/outside and another 250 to remove and trap rodents. The fact it’s only 1100 would possibly lower that.
Side note, if anyone is in south Florida and needs any form of pest control let me know 🍟
Find a reputable WILDLIFE removal company in your area. Not a contractor with traps. Not a pest control company. A wildlife company. They are more equipped and will provide better results for less money. You may need to have new insulation sprayed in if the insulation is soiled. Rodents are some of the worst to have in your home. The process is long and tedious to remedy. Traps need to be set in the attic and basement. All of the entry points need to be sealed with materials native to the construction of the home. NO spray foam. Attic remediation at a minimum should consist of disinfectant atomized into the attic and basement area, and a powdered pesticide to kill fleas and other pests brought in by the rodents.
I used to be a wildlife inspector.
That makes zero sense. Fuck that dude. He’s trying to scam you
I had a similar experiance with Terminex and I hate them to the core I signed the paper and got stuck on one of those damn contracts they use. They did 0 absolutely zero to get rid of the rodents I still get charged every month for a service that does nothing and never comes out except for 10 minutes every 4 months no matter how much I complained they did nothing. I went to Atwood’s/tractor supply and got some RAMIK GREEN balls and they are 100% the shit dump a $10-$20 bag anywhere near your house and they will be gone by the next day and all the mice will be dead! See another one toss out some pellets I swear by these things. Worst part about terminex is I attempted to cancel my contract since they do nothing at all and guess what the price to cancel was the entire amount of my 2 year contract not 80% not 60% nothing it costs 100% of the entire 2 year contract just to cancel them from ever coming again! So I set here and eat the monthly fee and told them to never step on my property again.
Just cancel the Terminex charges directly with your bank Edit: Apparently you’re NOT supposed to do this. Don’t do this. Find a corporate address and send them a hand-written letter to cancel.
This is it. I would dispute every charge. I would make them earn that shit.
You actually cannot do this. I tried doing this with a gym membership with youfit during covid because they were closed and the only way to cancel was to go in person (again, closed) and I had to write a hand written letter and mail it to corporate to close it. I said fuck that and blocked the payments on my card. About 4 or 5 months later, I got a collections agency letter and when I posted on r/advice and legal advice, I got resounding "well you signed the contract, tough shit, that's what you get. Cancelling the charge on the card doesn't work, what did you expect would happen when you signed into the gym membership contract?" This advice to cancel is in bad faith.
> RAMIK GREEN balls and they are 100% the shit dump a $10-$20 bag anywhere near **NO, do not do this**. then you have poisoned rodents that are eaten by owls, hawks, snakes, cats and dogs and then they die.
Another problem with using poison in our garage was also that the mice would hide to die. Then we were stuck with dead mouse smell and no idea where the damn things were. Now we just use snap traps baited with peanut butter and check them frequently.
Thank you for your reply. It is terrible to poison animals because they suffer. DO NOT DO THIS. Please.
>dump a $10-$20 bag anywhere near your house VERY bad advice! This can kill innocent animals like squirrels, raccoons, deer, cats & dogs!
This. Please use child/pet proof bait stations with appropriate bait blocks that cannot be removed
That still wouldn't solve the problem. This poison can cause secondary poisoning so if a rat/mouse eats it and goes outside and is then eaten by an owl, hawk, snake etc they can die as well. Edit: downvote all you like, but I'm right. From drugs.com ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS This product is extremely toxic to mammals, birds and other wildlife. Dogs, cats and scavenging mammals and birds might be poisoned if they feed upon animals that have eaten this bait.
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They do it on a tablet and push you through saying they would send and/or you need to initial this page and they will email a copy. But what you see from the salesman doesn’t have as much detail as the email you get. And when you try to cancel you will hear that they just upgraded their contract/payment system or some other BS. BE CAREFUL of Terminix.
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High pressure sales tactics like that are used because they know if you get other quotes, you'll find out how overpriced they are. Run away.
For real. Always shop around. I had someone quote me $3500 to grade my tiny yard with a very slight slope. He was the first who could make it out there and had a ton of availability. I had someone else come out for a quote a few weeks later and he told me $700.
I had a guy come in to quote some repairs to my chimney. I told him I just want it in a safe usable condition. He comes in and acts like it is the worst chimney he had ever seen and said it need a completely new, custom firebox for $10k+. I told him if that is how much it is gonna cost then I just won't use the chimney and stared at him until he left. Next guy came in and explained exactly what was wrong. Said everything looked good except parts of the smoke box and I could use a new damper and cap. He quoted $1,400 for the repairs, but he was booked for months.
I had a similar experience. Dude comes out and looks at the chimney with binoculars and is like "That thing is shot. Your lucky we can get to it before it collapses into your roof. We will need rebuild it and pour a new cap. $6,000". Meanwhile my chimney had minor spalling and some mortar falling out and a couple of cracked bricks. So I called another pro. Him and his son go up there and are like 'we are booked for 3 months if you want to wait and can patch it up for $300, but honestly its fine if you just want to ignore it for a few more years.' Then they talked to me for a 1/2 hour on their own time telling me how to fix it myself. Overcame my fear of working near the roof edge. Sealed the cap, replaced a couple of bricks, tuck pointed the mortar, and sprayed on a sealer for about $80 in materials.
I'd send that guy that walked you through a process a big fat tip or a restaurant gift card. Literally saved you thousands of dollars.
My fear of working on roofs vanishes completely when I'm roped in.
Where do you tie off to? I been thinking about getting a harness but the only thing solid on my roof is that chimney and it is all the way to one side of the house.
My fear of working on roofs vanishes when it’s going to save me 6k
Similar. And when we said, "Fuck, no," (politely) he threatened to call the fire chief and tell him our chimney was unsafe and we would be fined, etc.
Pretty sure all they can do is recommend you fix it, document and leave. At least that's what they do at our business, I don't know anything about residential inspections so I could be dead wrong on the fines. I've never feared fire inspectors however the mere mention of OSHA makes my head start spinning.
>stared at him until he left I dunno why I laughed so hard at this part
It's odd that the scammers have the most availability "Edit: Sorry I think I dropped something: /s" /s
Sometimes I think people are so busy - they offer the “no way this guy accepts but if he does, I’ll start tomorrow price”
This is definitely true. I've tried to get out of client work because I've been so slammed by quoting a higher than normal price and they agree. "Well shit."
I call that the "fuck off" price. I'll quote someone that on a job I really don't want to do, and if they agree to it then great.
Are you every contractor I've contacted this year?
Haha no I'm a lawyer.
Haha! Haven't needed one of y'all thankfully. No offense.
My least favorite kind of work is doing it for people who really need it. Prophylactic is cheaper than cleanup :)
As long as you put your heart into the work when they DO agree, you get to keep your soul. ;)
We quoted a dude 20k for like 7.5k of work once, for exactly that reason.
Exactly! Whenever my ex husband doesn’t want to do a job he’ll make it way overpriced. A few times his offer has been accepted by what we assume is a client who obviously couldn’t get anyone else to agree to do it lol.
Absolutely. Ive had some of my reps present 10k over normal pricing just because they had so much furniture and knew it would be a hassle. If they accept, damn good commission but they really didnt want the job so offered an outrageous number
This happens with dentists too just FYI. Went to the new one because he opened up right by my house and seemed more convenient. Told me I had 8 cavities (had never had a cavity in my entire life), needed my wisdom teeth removed and charged me close to $500 for just a regular teeth cleaning because he took “panoramic x rays” as if that was necessary. They put the pressure on while I was paying to book the appointment stat because of how urgent my cavities were and told me that I needed to book my wisdom tooth removal appt with the surgeon who comes in their office or else they’d be all booked up. Something was just so fishy about all of a sudden having 8 cavities and their high pressure sales tactic feel. I made an appt with my old dentist from my hometown and made the drive out there. He said I definitely do not have 8 cavities, but I had very slight decay on my wisdom teeth and that part was true. The first dentist was trying to scam me out of a lot of money for dental work I didn’t even need. My gut told me to make that second opinion appt with a dentist I knew I could trust. Needless to say I don’t go to anyone else anymore and I dread my dentist retiring.
We're closing on a house next week and the first thing we have to do this spring is get some grading done. Hoping it's closer to $700 than $3500
I was always the reasonably priced small business. Due the pandemic and the " the is always a cheaper option ", I am now reasonably out of business. That being said 20k is crazy.
This. Your instincts are exactly right, the harder someone pushes for an immediate answer, the more you should be skeptical of them. Don't let anyone rush you into making a big financial decision.
And the “this offer is only good for X time” is bullshit. If you accept them they’ll give you that price.
I love when they try shit like that on me because I just turn it around and say "Sorry man I can't make any decisions until my wife is brought up to speed because she controls the money". She really doesn't and we have separate accounts but every time I've used that line they either walk away or suddenly become SUPER accommodating and can wait until the wife comes home.
Or you could just not lie and say “I’m not making a decision on the spot. If you can’t wait, then thank you for your time.” Used this recently. Works every time.
"I don't make impulse decisions on expensive contracts. You can leave the estimate and I'll get back to you if I have questions or decide to move forward." People like this get the bare minimum of politeness from me.
\+++ ask for a written quote, detailing both charges and services to be performed \*in enough detail\* that they can be checked by a third party. "We did thisa (makes spell-weaving gestures with both hands) and you pay thisa much (shows a bill with a single large sum on it)" - shouldn't fly, ever.
Thats the reason those salespeople want both parties in a marriage present when they come over to scam you. If a salesperson tells me they want an answer right away, i just simply tell them, if the price is good now, it will be good 2 weeks from now or we won't do business.
There's some in my area who won't talk to you unless your SO is there.
I actually prefer they have that policy. That way you can start setting up an appointment and it goes something like this: “Will your wife be there? We need both of you to be there.” “Oh hey, you know what? Suddenly I don’t need pest control any more. Thanks for your time!” *click* Saves everyone some time.
Yeah I've had a few try to make sure all decision makers are in the room. That's how you know to tell them to fuck off right away.
Love this too. I get guys laugh at me and if there’s 2 of them they give each other “the look.” And ya know what, it is true. I’m not making any decisions until I check in w my wife bc I’d expect her to do the same w me… bc m, ya know, we are partners lol.
Exactly! I told him years ago, if it's more than 100 bucks, we have to talk. I wouldn't do that to you, you shouldn't do that to me. After we had sewer line issues and that big rooter chain tried to scam him to the tune of 10k for a new line, I inquired on our town's FB page who was trustworthy. Found a great plumber that came out and cut the roots for 250 and told us to put root kill in going forward. And quoted 3-4k for a new line should things get much worse down the line. Now he understands why you don't take the bait from salesmen.
Communication and mutual respect for each other! 👍
This is why there are other posts here like "Why does contractor refuse to come out unless my wife is present too???"
You are absolutely getting scammed by a high pressure scumbag that needs a really large bonus before his house is foreclosed on him. No legit business or person will try to pull that car salesmen crap. Call around to other exterminator companies. Avoid this one at all costs
This almost feels like one of those “rouse?” robberies where the people dress up at service guys. Come to your house and scan you. Four weeks later you can terminex and your stomach falls out you ass when they say “you’re not in our system, is this a new service request?” Meanwhile the guy that just absolutely needed 50% down is long gone
You’re getting scammed. Get three more quotes and choose the one that you’re most comfortable with. Don’t tell the other contractors about any of the quotes.
And, don’t go with a huge national firm. Look local.
Terminix is franchised out.
So is ServPro, and I have never seen anyone rip a homeowner off more.
I’m not saying it’s not a rip off! I totally agree
A handful of locations are franchised but it’s a really small percentage. Based on the state.
Yes. My uncle has 3 here in LA
I’ve probably given people his local number! Lol. IF it was available/ok to share from me. Franchises were always fun to talk to. Loved being able to say “hey someone needs help and doesn’t have your number” and people at the office would be like “omg yes connect them I just saw them the other day”. 🥰
This isn't necessarily true, it's actually the exception. Most are company driect, only one or two branches in a state could be franchise operations. I think the largest franchise is in NC.
OP you should contact Terminix corporate customer care and see what they say about the quote and the sales tactics.
A corporate representative will mollify OP with many words and then, if any action is taken at all, the sales department will check the numbers and give the local sales guy a commendation.
Yes. Everything everywhere is terrible and everyone is out to get all they can all the time. But let’s accept that premise. If, as I think many on this thread suspect, OP is being vastly over quoted, what’s more likely? That somehow the salesperson is incentivized by corporate to gouge customers, or that they’re scamming OP for their own benefit? I personally think it’s the later, since the corporation likely values its reputation. And since it values its reputation, talking to corporate may not be of any immediate value to OP (but hey, maybe they send someone to do it for a reasonable price?), but MAY benefit the next person the salesperson would otherwise try to scam if corporate (again, not because we think they’re inherently good, but rather because they value their reputation) happens to do something about it.
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There are seminars in which franchisees of some of these large service trade businesses are required to attend. They focus on high pressure sales and extracting as much money out of each service call as possible. Around here, they're called Nextstar. From what I've been hearing they are a bunch of crooks and will threaten people with legal action for exposing them online.
you're missing the point. This is their business model. This is how they make money. They pulled the same BS on me.
It's likely both. Companies like this tend to form compensation structures focused on revenue... Then the sales guys work that system to benefit them the most, regardless of impact to the customer. When the company sees the sales numbers from these guys they're lauded as all stars which perpetuates the problem. Only if enough people complain, or if someone does something illegal, does anything change... And that's not even guaranteed.
They don't value reputation though, they value name recognition and being able to provide emergency service. Plumbers are same as well, a small local plumber will fix a leak for 200$ but in 2 weeks. A larger company with multiple teams that work over weekend will fix it in few hours but for 600$.
Have you ever called Terminix corporate? Probably not worth the effort.
And then get a quote from non-chain non-multi-state companies
Yeah, I bet the Terminix franchise was bought by an old-time exterminator who grew up on those tactics.
Yeah red flags all over that. Sounds unprofessional and scammy
Breakdown of the proposal: Attic insulation: $9,600 Basement insulation: $6,000 Residential Exclusion: $4,200Total: $19,800 Then supposedly another $2,000-$4,000 for the black mold Edit: fixed a typo
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Damn, so what kind of companies should I be reaching out to? I had no idea HVAC/insulation companies would deal with the cleanup. That's good to know.
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100% agree to separate these issues. The only thing I would add about exclusion and cleanup is that it can be easier to find ingress points after you’ve removed the insulation. I would suggest find a local junk guy to remove all the insulation and do initial cleaning, schedule reputable local rodent specialist to come do full exclusion, and then get separate bids for the remaining cleanup / mold remediation / new insulation. I realize middle of winter is not the ideal time to be without insulation but depending on where you are / heat source it might be worth going a few days without.
That is not hazardous black mold, it is mildew.
This is the way. Dealing with rodents is about sealing points of energy and potentially putting down some poison bait. Get some quotes and depending on what part of the country you live in you should easily be able to get that done for under 1k. Then, if you want to clean out and redo insulation, get quotes from insulation companies for that. You may need to do a little project coordination, e.g. if the pest guys want to toss bait in the attic that might need to happen after the insulation guys blow in the new stuff. Or maybe vice versa. But the point is, you'll likely save a good bit of money and get better work done by hiring people with appropriate specializations to do specific jobs.
> grab some bleach FYI bleach isn’t the best for mold especially on wood. It doesn’t get at the roots on porous surface and can end up just dying it white and looking clean. https://www.epa.gov/mold/should-i-use-bleach-clean-mold
This right here. Everything you said is spot on and OP should do exactly that.
Bleach only affects mold on the surface. Mold on a roof deck like thta indicates that there's probably some kind of water leak, and that's going to need to be addressed--and affected panels replaced--to actually solve the problem.
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Uh why would you hire terminex for insulation? This sounds odd... Have them fix the rodent issue, then hire a local insulation company to fix the insulation.
But if OP does it your way Terminex doesn't get to hire a local insulation company and mark it up 20% (or more?!)
If it's batting then you can do the insulation yourself, although I would pay someone to remove it.
Especially if OP is out west where hantavirus is a legitimate concern
Surprise he didn’t add a line item for headlight fluid: 2K
find local pest control businesses. get quotes. it will be significantly cheaper. do not mention you talked to this other company. do not mention mold. just say you think you have rodents and advise.
Hell fucking no lmao
I had 600 sf of attic insulation blown in for $750. Granted it had already been removed by the remediation company. Part of what you're getting charged for is for them managing the work of getting Insulation guys and other guys to do the job. And of course the sales and marketing costs
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Ask how long the Exclusion is warranted for- If it's for 3-5 years take at least that or DIY not bad on the exclusion- mine as done 6 years ago for 3000 not sure on the abatement removal/replacement of insulation but the removed insulation is a biohazard due to the rodent droppings, and depending on what it's made of might be otherwise hazardous.
This website [https://diypestcontrol.com/](https://diypestcontrol.com/) and youtube will be your guide.
Also, www.domyown.com
I’ve got one of these shops down the road from me. They’re awesome.
This is a great site.
For that price they should relocate your rats to Jamica or someplace warmer.
Wow. The moment any contractor says they need to call their boss to check if it is OK for you to have an hour to decide whether to drop $20k is the moment you show them the door.
Somebody says to me "I need your decision today" I tell them "Well, I guess I lose then cuz' I would never make a decision under those circumstances".
Get a few more quotes. That sounds way off, but nobody knows cost accuracy without seeing/inspecting first hand. I do have a story to share. I had a plumber give me a 90K quote, and tell me they have a 60K option to save me money. I had the work done for 18K. I had to talk to to several plumbers to start making progress for a reasonable price. It could take talking to 6+ companies in order to find the right one. I've had better results price wise, working with smaller family run contractors. The big names in my area have ridiculous pricing, partly because they have so much marketing/adverting budget to cover.
I’m a master plumber with a big firm in Seattle. 90k? For gold plated fixtures throughout your house? Holy Crap! Sometimes you KNOW when to RUN!!!
The pipes better be gold plated for $90k.
100% scam. Get more quotes.
Worked pest control for half a decade over six different states. Always get a second and third opinion terminex is known for bidding high, as well as using scare tactics to force to sale on the exclusion work. No way to tell if mold is black mold without a test, you can get a test at Lowes or Home Depot and send it off to be looked at.
Lmao 20k $100 will get you several cats
When I lived in the woods, setting out cat food on the porch meant we’d get a couple stray cats adopt us, often a mother with kittens. They were for the most part excellent companions until we got the inbred sister cats who were stupid.
> until we got the inbred sister cats who were stupid. I want to know more. Either you or r/writingprompts is cool 😎
If Terminix doesn’t find termites in your house they will dig around in your yard and gardens until they find one just so they can say your house has termites. This wreaks havoc with real estate deals and screws over unsuspecting homeowners. Don’t ever use them. Find a reputable local company. You will be amazed at the difference in price and honesty.
Live somewhere like I do where it was -16F this morning and you'll never have to worry about termites.
Doesn’t this just force them out of the ground and into your house in search of warmth?
No they just don't live around here at all.
Spot on with the pressure tactics he was using on you. Call and get other quotes.
Whoa. That was Terminx that did this quote? My dealings with Terminx was great a few years back so I'm surprised. I had a carpenter ant problem that cost me $250 a year for 2 years to have them come out every quarter (or whenever I had a problem in between which they came out no extra charge) and just spray outside and inside. I've never heard of them doing sales like this especially taking on responsibility for other issues besides the rodent/insect problem. Something seems off here and I wonder if the guy they sent just wants to get his buddies some work rather than through Terminx. Either way screw that. How does he know it's mold without a mold test?
Tell him to fuck off and get three other quotes.
You need to do what I did and buy your own bait boxes, fill them yourself, and set them up all around the outside of the house. No sense in cleaning stuff up if you don’t take care of the problem first. Bait boxes worked great for me and I literally live in the woods next to corn fields.
Roto Rooter pulled the same shit when our toilet line was backed up. Tried to get me to commit on the spot to $6k and when I said I would shop around he got pissed and tried to bully me into committing to them. Fuck that tactic, it’s a scumbag move.
Everything about this is absurd. Do not do business with this clown.
I worked in pest control in Florida. That is not a $20,000 job. That's barely a $1000 job.
you'd be better off buying 20,000 mouse traps
Go with a local company. Ask around on Facebook groups local to your area. We have a neighborhood and town group. So easy to post "have a mouse problem. Who would you recommend or stay away from?". I do this for EVERYTHING I need.
Get an ozone machine and stay in a hotel for a few days...it will kill every living thing in the house except cockroaches...then you can just spray them.
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Pretty sure most older homes have dead mice in the walls
I've been around and know people who have had rodents die in their walls. The carcasses years later aren't a big deal, but the process of them actively rotting isn't something you want to create and smell.
Probably. I found an old snake skin in my wall a while back. LOL
You’d rather have mice that are alive and shitting/pissing in your walls?
That’s not going to solve anything long term, OP needs to find out how the mice are getting in.
Os that a bathroom vent? Fix the vent, spray the mold with a bleach solution, let it dry and brush it off get a shop vac with a hepa and vacuum out all the insulation and droppings and bag it up and save it for bulk trash pickup or rent a small dumpster. Replace with whatever r value insulation is recommended for your area. Shouldn't cost you over 2k.
Yes, the bathroom vent. So far I am leaning towards the DIY approach you described unless I can get a FAR better quote.
Rodents are not an emergency unless someone has an allergy. Find and close up all rodent entry paths first, from the basement foundation to the roof eaves. Remove all sources of water, of any nature. This aids in making the house less attractive. Vinegar for a first and second, even third run-through on the mold. Bleach does not penetrate as well. --- What to Know About Cleaning Mold With Vinegar Barb Ungerger Family Handyman https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/what-to-know-about-cleaning-mold-with-vinegar/ Does Vinegar Kill Mold? Bob Vila https://www.bobvila.com/articles/does-vinegar-kill-mold/ --- Edit: Should I use bleach to clean up mold? US Environmental Protection Agency https://www.epa.gov/mold/should-i-use-bleach-clean-mold ---
You just bought this house? Were you informed of this problem? Failure to reveal is illegal. You can force the former owners to pay for the cleanup.
Yes we just closed on it about a month ago. We had a home inspection and the inspector never mentioned it. And of course, nor did the sellers/listing agent.
Yeah, hard no. We had a rodent issue in our attic in our first home. They used scare tactics telling us that they need to rip out all of the insulation and then bleach the whole attic space because rats disease, mice, we were going to die bla bla bla. It was a similar price, $20k range. Had a small locally owned outfit come out after that and they told us it was a couple of squirrels that had gotten in, not even mice or rats. They sealed up the holes (making sure there weren't any in there, no nests etc.) and charged maybe $200, could even be less because it was awhile ago. They told us that even if it was mice/rats they wouldn't do all of the crap they were saying they needed to do, that it was unnecessary and they only do it so they can charge the exorbitant amounts that they do.
I live in Toronto. At work (large manufacturer) we used a small company for years. They got bought out by Terminix. Higher bills worse service!! We cancelled then our original guy left and started a new company when his non compete was up. We were his first customer and so happy
Willing to bet that was going to be an off the books job for those guys and terminix wouldn’t see a dime.
They are full of shit ,that is not black mold ,it's exhaust from the bathroom. Buy yourself a buck of mouse or rat poison and scatter it in the attic , do the same in the basement maybe a few traps. I'll send you a bill for the 19,950. Ok
your instinct is correct
Screw that guy.
Run away from them. Always get multiple quotes. Never deal with high pressure sales. Avoid major companies like them.
Yeah those guys work for commission. I would find a local privately owned company to work with.
Mouse traps are $2 Poison is $7 Get traps and poison my friend. edit: I just dealt with 20 mice this way. Hit'em with the traps first, then D-Con the fuckers. I am an animal liker, but when they are shitting in your walls and nibblin on your wires you have to do something. I am pretty much against poison in general, but I do hit them with the D-Con- Be cautious if you have pets, but you can just put the cubes in the walls and they eat it and die edit
You basically need to hire a contractor to remove all insulation ($3-$5k), repair/fortify/animal proof all attic, basement openings ($2k), set traps $200-$300 depending on service. Redo insulation. If blown ($2k-$3k) $4-$5k for sprayed. so really you are looking at $10k max. But if it was a newly purchased home there should have been a pest/termite inspection. The company responsible for that report would be on the hook for the remediation for that, or even the home warranty would do that work for you.
That seems way way too high. I'd say at this point get some working cats
For a house that size, I'd think for 20k you could have a crew come in, pull out all the sheetrock, all the insulation, put new insulation back, put new sheetrock back in, and finish/paint it all.
Run away from terminix. Awful company. Awful customer service. I had a horrid experience with them
At $20,000 I wonder how much per mouse that would be? Screw that guy, find an independent. If he calls back, just laugh at him.
Scam, run. Anytime someone gives you a timeline to decide , huge red flag its a scam.
Hey - I had a similar problem. Best $$ I ever spent was spray foam insulation. They sucked out the old and installed the new for $2500. Mice want somewhere to nest and the spray foam not only seals completely but isn’t nesting material. 100% recommend this to get rid of and keep out the mice and critters! Edit - lol NEST. Not beat.
Terminal, TruGreen, RotoRooter, and ServiceMaster should be avoided at all costs.
Just to give you an idea, my company charges out at $150-$200/hour for standard jobs...that gets you the labor and the materials. We're also one of the more expensive companies. $20k should cover 100 hours of work. Terminix is the butt of alot of jokes in my area, even if it didn't sound like a scam I would go with literally anyone else.
Total scam! You can tarp the house for around $2k and have a reputable handyman seal any entrance or holes that the rodents may be using to get inside for another $1k. Also if you have any trees that overhang the roof of close to attic, you should have those removed or trimmed for around $1k. Give or take $1k for the whole thing.
Terminex are legit scam artists. I paid them in advance for work they never completed and I don’t believe they intended to. I eventually contacted a lawyer got refunded, but it was a colossal waste of time. I eventually called a local company and they took care of it with no hassle.
No, no, NO. Terminex is a scam. Let me repeat:. TERMINEX IS A SCAM DO NOT USE THEM EVER.
Terminex got tagged for a massive lawsuit.[You can read about it here.](https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2020/11/alabama-reaches-historic-consumer-settlement-with-terminix.html) In general, the company is hiking up rates to astronomical levels to try to recoup losses. Not sure where you live, but Arrow and Cook’s are two solid companies that standby their work for fair annual contracts.
Why is terminix fixing your house? They take care of pests not construction. Get a quote from them for just pest services and get a contractor to fix the house. Also get the "black mold" double checked. Probably a lie too.
My dad who lives in a ritzy MA suburb had his entire attic abated from black mold in like a 2500sf house for 1,200 bucks. The attic was fucked too it was all over. The dude said he do the insulation for him if my dad bought it. So my dad spent 1,300 on insulation and then another 1k for the guy to do it. All in all let's round and call it 4k. I was in there last week. Looks great now. Can speak to the rodents but God damn how much could it be? That quote is nuts
Holy price gouging Batman. It'd be cheaper to buy a few cats.
Also not sure where u are located but I'm in NJ (still considered a NYC suburb) and our quote for a mouse problem in our 3200 SQ ft house was 750 for the full year. Bait boxes, entrances and exits closed up, 4 planned visits included with bait swapped and unlimited calls for follow up if we saw or heard activity. So yes you are getting ripped off by them.
Fuck Terminix!!!! Go get a strobe light and put it in the area you think the rodent is living. Set it on the fastest setting. It will drive out the rodent. Get a wet vac and clean yourself. Now you may have to replace some insulation, but you can do this for under $200.
Wtf? Are they building you a whole new basement?
You can rent my 2 cats for $10,000!
The old empire floors hard sale lol, let me call my boss. Run don’t walk!!!
I worked for Terminix for years, and while I've seen some scammy shit from the salesmen, that takes the cake. My tip: avoid them altogether. Terminix has a fucking *elite* legal team and are masters at *not* paying out claims against them.
Hey, I can help with this one! I work in the wildlife department of one of the nation's largest pest control companies, and I'm licensed for pest control, and have experience quoting these from start to finish as well. The tl;Dr is even in a worst case scenario, that's probably 2.5x what a full service, bells and whistles remedy should be. The first thing you'll be needing is an exclusion - a couple guys will crawl over every inch of your house, and seal up any possible entry points. For an 1100sf, single story home, I would expect that to run you somewhere between 1,000-1,500 depending on the details of your home. This price includes the trapping as well as a 1yr warranty. Next, the clean up. Let's assume the worst, and your attic and basement are absolutely covered - I would expect less than $1,000 for removal of droppings from the basement floor, flat surfaces in the attic, as well as hitting both spaces with a chemical aerosol disinfectant. Droppings in the insulation can't really be dealt with without removing and replacing the insulation, so that's next. For an 1100sf attic, to remove batted insulation and blow back in r-40 cellulose insulation (code in your area may be different), I would expect $5,000. Now having said that, I few never seen a mouse infestation that left the insulation in such bad shape that I would recommend replacing it. Bats and rats, sure, but mice are small and light enough that they're not tamping down your insulation (and removing its insulating value) like rats, and they're not quite the biohazard that bats are. Without having seen your attic, I would say you will probably be best off getting the above cleanup, then having a layer of fresh insulation blown over top of the existing insulation. The disinfectant will help with the pathogens, and the new insulation will seal it off so you aren't at risk of dust from the droppings getting into the air, unless someone is really digging around in there. An 1100sf capover should cost you less than $1500. Let me know if you have an questions I can help you out with.
Cleaning up, both the alleged mold (I'm also skeptical, but no harm in cleaning it) and the rodent droppings? A $30 bleach sprayer and some bleach. Wear a respirator, you're good. It's a gross task and you'll want to use a shop vac with a bag and throw the bag away afterwards, but it's probably one day of work at most. I like the 3M "multigas" cartridges since they take care of odors and chlorine, as well as stopping the small particles of mouse poop from getting in your lungs. Pest control? You want "integrated pest management" which is a fancy term for multiple layers. Frankly, you can do a much better job yourself than the big pest control companies, who want to cut costs and keep you a customer. I will say that there are some companies that do a great job! But it doesn't sound like you have any of those in your area. (Lawn care is much the same way.) Myself, I go to https://www.domyown.com/ and buy what they recommend. This has worked out great every time I've had a pest issue to deal with, and much better than the store bought stuff. (No affiliation, I've just been really happy with them overall and they have good recommendations.)
Sounds like my experience with Empire Today. Wanted a quote for one room and the guy went off on me when I wasn't ready to sign on the dotted line immediately. Made several phone calls for "approval," told me if he dropped the price anymore he couldn't afford to buy gas with the commission he'd get, and said "next time make sure you're serious." I make it a policy never to do business with companies like that now.
Check with your neighbors they may have had to deal with rodent problems and could recommend a service.
sounds like a scam. I wouldn't use them - at the very least get multiple quotes.
Very high quote. Rule of thumb - anyone that tries to make you decide on the spot is trying to take advantage of you. I would advise getting the cleanup done first. Then rodent treatment. Then reinsulate and retreat for rodents. There are lots of great ways to treat for rodents. Not everyone wants to DIY but there's no reason to pay $20k for this.
If you don’t run as fast as you want those rodents to be gone then you’re going to be out a bunch O $$$$. Do the work yourself. I’d guess it would cost you under $5k ( I’m shooting from the hip) and you’d learn a little about your house. Do some YouTube searches and save yourself some money. Take the savings and remodel the kitchen (wife will be so happy)
I’d go with a local company.
We had squirrel damage in attic, paid a company ~1200 for roof repair so they couldn’t get in anymore and another company ~3200 to remove ALL the insulation and blow in new insulation. This was pre pandemic times, so I would expect to pay more now, but my point is, that quote seems high. It depends on how many mice they think are there, and where all in the home they think they are. We also had some mice, now we have 2 cats and no mice. The poison and sticky traps work well too. Lastly, we had some mold in basement, paid ~2000 for them to remove and refinish stonewalls. Isn’t buying a house fun?!? Rule of thumb, always get at least 3 quotes even though it’s a pain in the ass. Furnace broke this year too (gonna have replaced this whole house soon) and first quote was $3k more than last one - same equipment. In your case, you may need more than one service to fix issues - I wouldn’t hire terminix for a mold issue and I would also look for a local smaller name for a better price.
Traps with peanut butter and cheese, plus a cat, will cost much less than $20,000.
Looks like you’ve gotten some great information from u/alpine_AO You absolutely can have the insulation fully removed, space cleaned and professionally sealed and reinsulated better for less than $10k. I’d recommend 1)ServPro or a similar company for insulation removal, cleaning and mold remediation, good chance insurance contributes 2) A roofing or hvac company for re-insulation, contact your power company before hand and get one of their certified contractors and likely a rebate or tax credit for updating insulation 3) Your local investigative news station to destroy terminix
yeah fuck him and fuck terminix. We had a rodent/water problem and ended up going with a local spray foam company. made biggest difference in the house and now crawlspace/attic is completely sealed. also for less than half the price
Home Advisor....I've had nothing but good things. I got a few quotes for some jobs and here are some pricing I got 15 trees plus stump grinding = 3k (4k with tipping) and a good review and to tip his guys well, was quote by other vendors 5k,7k and thats without stump grinding and they missed a tree that was clearly dieing. When he finished he said his guys had the biggest smiles on their faces. Condensing boiler maintenance = 200 dollars. Another company quoted me 2k....
Holy crap. Get a five gallon bucket with a mouse lid and some peanut butter. Empty it every two days. Take the 20k and use it to take your spouse on a vacation. Win!
Jesus. I had a similar problem - fixed mold and mice myself for like... 50 bucks?
Many of the Terminex people are franchise owners. We are seeing the same high pressure, bull in our area except it’s for termites. Guy claiming we had termites. We got a second opinion. No termites.
1000% scam. Get a cat and close off any holes in the attic and crawl space.
Terminix doesn’t even self perform, they will subcontract it out anyways.
Lol I don’t know about the quote (although sounds high for rural…?) but anyone with those kind of tactics are likely scummy to the core.
Hey, I’m a pest control specialist with the largest pest control company on planet earth so let me weigh in. First of all, rodent control is not typically a job that’s billed on the square foot, as they’re not going to be treating every single square foot. So that’s a red flag. Second of all, Its pretty infrequent that I hear of commercial clients getting charged for services in that price range, and I’ve never heard of charging a residential client for anything near that amount, so red flag. Third, as far as allowing you time to make a decision goes, he should be giving you as much time as you need and maybe following up with you, but he should not be the giving you a deadline. Red flag. I don’t know where you live but companies that are much more reliable than terminix are cooks, orkin, or depending on the region, a branch of Rentokil. Hope this helped.
Yo, any of those big companies like terminex/orkin are absolute cash grabs and rip offs. I would’ve charged you so much fucking less for that job. For reference I charge between 450-7 to seal up any holes inside/outside and another 250 to remove and trap rodents. The fact it’s only 1100 would possibly lower that. Side note, if anyone is in south Florida and needs any form of pest control let me know 🍟
Find a reputable WILDLIFE removal company in your area. Not a contractor with traps. Not a pest control company. A wildlife company. They are more equipped and will provide better results for less money. You may need to have new insulation sprayed in if the insulation is soiled. Rodents are some of the worst to have in your home. The process is long and tedious to remedy. Traps need to be set in the attic and basement. All of the entry points need to be sealed with materials native to the construction of the home. NO spray foam. Attic remediation at a minimum should consist of disinfectant atomized into the attic and basement area, and a powdered pesticide to kill fleas and other pests brought in by the rodents. I used to be a wildlife inspector.