Rat/Mouse droppings found while house viewing

skotak29

Hi All,

We are looking to buy a house. We liked one house however during second viewing we spotted mouse/rat dropping on bed under quilt in 2 bed rooms.

apart from that we like the house and area etc. and price is just about right.

We are not sure if the problem is just in the house or through out the street.

Would it be okay to go ahead with the house or would that be a deal-breaker?

All suggestions and options welcome.

Thanks in advance for the replies.

Regards.

Callie22

Why were you lifting the bed covers during a viewing? And how do you know it was a mouse dropping? If there's that serious a rodent infestation that there's droppings in the beds then you're much more likely to be noticing a smell of urine and smears along the skirting boards than a couple of droppings - there would be fairly obvious 'runs' around the house and garden. If I did see small black things in a bed then I'd be more concerned about bed bugs, which can be more of a pain to deal with than rodents. But I'm not sure I'd be looking in the beds in the first place ...

elsien

If you discounted all the houses who've had occasional problems with mice coming in, you're probably ruling out half the houses you look at.
I get them every winter, however hard I try to keep them out. I did get dropping on (not in) the bed in the unused spare room, but generally it's along the skirtings and on the stairs.
Unless you're looking at an unoccupied house, I'd find it very odd to see rodent droppings in a bed that was being used on a daily basis. Unless you're looking to buy a squat.
You could always ask the sellers, but then of course you'd have to explain what you were doing under their duvets.....

RedRuby_2

If I noticed an active rodent infestation I was interested in I would discount it immediately. It would be a deal breaker for me because I believe rodent infestations are really hard to get rid of and I hate them.

blckbrd

I had mice that I brought ih from the workshop in the garden.

Having acquired a kitten a little later, I now have no mice. The only traumas were the 'presents' and seeing kitty 'play' with her erstwhile friends. :eek:

googler

How do you know they're not from the owner's pets?

Guinea Pig? Hamster? Ferret?

Could you reliably tell them apart by their droppings?

AlexMac

Mice are an almost inevitable hazard in some types of house- especially Victorian terraces with suspended floors and lots of hidey-holes and hollow spaces. Get a cat, and they go next door. My (now) wife refused to move in til I got a cat when I lived in a 100-year-old building. It works - altho' as blkbrd sez, the cats do sometimes bring 'em in to play with or to proudly present to you. Ditto pigeons in my experience. And as cats turn 20, they get a bit senile and leaky. Mice are almost preferable

Old_Git

I have never lived in a house that didnt have mice at sometime.
A nice dose off sticky stuff catch them live and the bin it.

Dukesy

Rodents would never stop me buying a house I really wanted. Frankly, I doubt there are many older houses which haven't had mice at some point.

When we moved in to our place there was a clear mouse problem. A couple of days later, and our dog had dealt with them all very efficiently. My parents had the same issue in their house when they bought it. A cat was duly acquired and in thirty years, we have never seen a mouse in that house.

hazyjo

Personally, I think this is a late April Fool's... nobody (well, most people!) would lift up the duvets on a viewing, and the likelihood of there being something like mice droppings there are pretty remote. If it was that bad, there'd be all over the place, or at least very obvious there was a problem of sorts.

Obvious wind-up surely. One post from a newbie? Hmmm.

Jx

skotak29

Hi All,

No, it's not an April Fool's joke.

The house has been unoccupied for past 4 months. Basically I confirmed with the agent if I could check the bed for bed bugs and while checking that found the droppings on the bed.

Apart from that didn't see it anywhere in the house and no weird smell as well.

Is it possible to do a pest control and then make the house rodent proof?

Thanks.