Rat or Mouse (ID help) and remediation order?

Hey all,

So we just had fumigation last week and started smelling something around the sink/dishwasher. Pulled the dishwasher out several days ago and found this:



Sprayed down with bleach/water (1:9 or 1:10) with N95 masks and gloves and cleaned up.

Just pulled the toekick under the kitchen sink back and found this:





Not sure what these are... deer mice? I hope to God not. I don't know how long those were there and if they died before fumigation or from fumigation but we sprayed down with the same bleach/water solution + N95 and gloves. Not sure if I sprayed enough or let it soak/saturate for long enough either. I was constantly spraying as we were pulling stuff out though.

At this point I'm suspecting more nesting under the rest of the lower base cabinetry. Right now, the plan is just to have a contractor demo and rebuild. But clean-up I will probably have a damage remediation company handle. We are planning to get a pest control company out to assess/inspect and recommend areas to seal off. I was trying to get a pest company out ASAP but it's tough to get them booked right now. Earliest availability is Friday.

I was considering having the contractor start doing the demo tomorrow - he's going to save the veneers/fronts/doors and reuse them to rebuild the cabinets. We're just getting that particleboard crap out. I was hoping the damage remediation could come in tomorrow or Friday after the demo is done and do the clean-up/sanitization. I would like to avoid dealing with it if at all possible, after cleaning up what was under the dishwasher and partially under the kitchen sink toe-kick. It's nasty stuff. Anyway, the pest control company will come out Fri afternoon to assess things. I wanted to get stuff cleaned up before they come though. I guess if there's anything still getting inside and leaving droppings, we'll just clean and sanitize on an as-needed basis before the pest company arrives.

Do we need to seal the kitchen off with a zipper door/tarp?

It has been a nightmare the past week

 

At first I thought rats due to the long tail but they might be just mice.

You don't know how they're getting in ?
That's priority one right next to cleanup.

 

Yea, we have to do some amount of demo before the cleanup can begin though. At the same time the pest company says it's better to seal off areas first where possible. So it's kind of a catch-22. I think at this point though I want to demo/clean-up first. I think we could have gotten a pest company to at least check the exterior though but the soonest they can do is Friday at this point.

My contractor says he can demo everything but I'm a bit apprehensive about him doing that and disturbing any nests/droppings and potentially kicking stuff up into the air while removing the cabinetry. I figure a damage remediation company might take more safety precautions when doing that. I suppose I could tape up a zipper door if the contractor ends up doing it but not sure.... also, I don't know what personal protection the contractor would be using to protect himself and his crew.

 

I have no experience with a zipper door/tarp thing so I'm no help there. Maybe an exhaust fan strong enough to pull dust out would be helpful while demo'ing.

I'd be hesitant to seal anything, especially on the exterior before the interior demo is done. If there's anything alive yet, I'd want them to have an easy way out when their world goes upside down.

It sounds like you've got a good plan going. There's no textbook way to do all this; just get started and be ready to change course a bit, make decisions, etc. Keep us posted.

 

Demo and removing dead creatures is pretty normal contractor work and is usually done without special "remediation". If you are concerned and don't mind paying the bill you can hire a specialist but that is a rarity.

 

Thanks guys. Normally, I'd say no big deal but it feels a bit iffy while we're occupying the home - we have two kids as well. We've been keeping them out of the kitchen of course. Also, the extent of this seems pretty bad so far. Maybe I uncovered the worst but I wouldn't be surprised if it's just as bad if not worse under the other cabinets