New build not finished caused infestation

Oh_Daesu

Hi Guy's,
Not sure where I should put this discussion or what answer's Im looking for. However basically we moved in to a new build property and was fine the first sixteen months. Since then we have been infested with mice and it was due to a big hole left in the outside metre box where the builder has rectified the issue and we should no longer get any rodents in the property. We have had damage of about £6/7K in the property from them nesting in the sofa's to the carpets being chewed up etc.
We have brought this to the attention of the builder and the estate management company as they refused to do anything during this period to, However this has fallen on deaf ears at this moment.

Any help on what we could do would be appreciated?

tacpot12

You will have home insurance, and probably have legal cover as part of the home insurance policy. If you do, call the legal helpline provided as part of this cover and ask them for advice. If you don't have this cover, get it asap - you can't use it to deal with this issue if you don't already have cover, but as a property owner you will have legal issues in future, so get the cover in place now. (You will need to see a solicitor if you don't have this legal cover as part of your home insurance.) 

comeandgo

Mice only come in when there is food to eat.  If there was no food crumbs no mice.

sst1234

Leave the most honest review on trust pilot and google review. Tell others buyers to avoid this house builder. Post it on all review sites you can find. 

frogglet

Get some traps down.

Oh_Daesu

comeandgo said:

Mice only come in when there is food to eat.  If there was no food crumbs no mice.

I'm afraid not regardless if your house is clean (which ours is) they will come in for warmth and looking for a nesting place. We are at the end of the road now as we have it resolved in terms of what caused it but need to catch the rest and get the damaged rectified.

frogglet

If there really are a lot if them I would definitely check your kitchen cupboards. Mice have to eat. We had some which ate the tops off sesame and walnut oil bottles amongst other stuff. 

BooJewels

comeandgo said:

Mice only come in when there is food to eat.  If there was no food crumbs no mice.

That just isn't the case.  I've just de-moused a property I've inherited and they will eat all manner of things you wouldn't call 'food' - boxes of soap powder, kitchen roll, toilet roll, bedspreads, carpet, plants, carboard boxes, clothing, wooden ornaments, rolls of Christmas wrapping paper, electric cable etc. etc.  And they'll chew through seemingly impenetrable items to get at a tiny morsel inside - like the corner of a suitcase to get to a box of glucose tablets inside.  They can get into places you can't even see any access to.

The only things we've found that they really wouldn't touch were Ricola sweets and ground coffee.

[Deleted User]

What have you done to rid the house of the mice (besides blocking that one hole)? 

When I had a mice infestation, I used florescent powder to see how they were moving around in the house and laid wooden traps (all purchased from Amazon) on the trails against the walls.  The traps caught 12.  Wasn't pleasant but had to be done.  Wasn't a problem anymore. However I was not able to find out how they were getting in the house, it was an old house so it could have been a number of places. 

I also put all food in containers (and checked them regularly) and cleaned several times a day, including floors.  Clean under your fridge.., that's where I found lots of droppings when I moved it. All my furniture is raised off the floor (including sofas) no divan beds etc.  I move and clean under everything regularly ( even once a month - prevents moths as well as they tend to occur under low based sofas because people don't hoover under them). 

Basically I made it more trouble than it was worth to be in the house.  No food and traps.

You won't like me saying this, but to cause the amount of damage you claim, you must have seen it starting but done nothing, carpets don't get chewed to the tune of thousands of pounds overnight.  I suspect the house builder will wonder about the size of the claim.

AdrianC

Mice can come in through a hole the size of a pencil - they certainly don't need huge holes. The fact that you were resident for nearly a year and a half before they came in suggests the problem wasn't inherent.

They might come in for warmth and to escape the kind of disruption you get on ongoing building sites, but they don't stay unless there's food. Presumably you put traps down at the first signs of them...?

Another vote for claiming from your insurance.

RelievedSheff

If you do claim on your home insurance be prepared for them to ask how the damage has got to £6-7k worth.

They would expect you to limit the damage and £6-7k for mouse damage is a lot!!