I would call the builder one more time. If he still gives you a song and a dance, calmly tell him that you are going to see a lawyer and then file a BBB claim. Did you get any pictures of the hole, the newly filled hole, the droppings? Get all the evidence you can, just in case.
It's horrible. I am sorry you are going through this. I would talk to the lawyer if you don't get anywhere again.

You might also talk to some other people in the neighborhood and see if others (who used the same builder) are having the same problem. A group of disgruntled homeowners is harder to ignore than a single one.

Certainly talk with a lawyer. I am one and I cannot picture the builder having to take back the house and return your money. I would start with having your attorney contact the builder and let them know that you are suffering damages due to poor workmanship. It will cost XX$$ to eradicate the mice. but before you do that--you are expected to take reasonable means to get rid of the mice/rats.
What state do you live in--are you in the middle of a former cornfield or something? It would help to know that. You need a decent pest control company. I have had rat/mice problems, and did everything--mouse traps, glue traps, rat poison, you just put the stuff where a toddler can't get to it. That would be under the refrigerator, behind the stove,etc. Definitely we checked everywhere for openings and placed poison, etc. there, then put wood over the openings and calked or plastered.
If all you have done is use traps, you aren't doing much. Little mice stay away from them. Glue traps really work, so does poison. You also have to keep your bulk stuff in glass jars , and that means you may have to download cereal into jars at least for now. Good luck, it took us about 3 months of active war to completely get rid of them.

Yeah I can't picture the builder taking the house back -- but if the mice infestation is the builder's fault he should certainly pay for elimination of the problem. Take the advice above, talk to the builder tell him to fix the problem or you're contacting your attorney, then contact your attorney.

there are all kinds of cats at the local animal shelter willing to rid your house of mice in exchange for a place to live.
its almost impossible to keep mice out of a house if they are determined because of cold ect. try the cat.

It would be pretty difficult to prove it the mice are the result of poor constuction. Unfortunately if mice are hungry they will find a way inside.

We live in the middle of a heavily wooded area with a cornfield on the perimeter. Mice get in when it gets cold. A few traps and careful food storage keep that at bay. It may sound goofy, but have you considered a cat or borrowing a neighbor's cat for a few days? It will solve the problem pretty quickly! When our problem was at it's worst a few years ago, we kept the neighbor's cat for a couple days. Problem solved for a lot less than a pesticide company.

Has anyone heard of the "HantaVirus"? Call your health dept. and ask for assistance.
Openings in walls for mice can also be defects in construction in regards to fire codes.
Your attorney should have a field day with this builder.

Where you see any space, no matter how small, shove some aluminum foil in it. Mice will not chew through foil. Ohhh, it makes me shudder to think of it. I would be out of the house so quick I have a horrible fear of mice (I can't even watch Tom & Jerry) We have several friends that have bought newly constructed homes and had mice issues. Seems when you take away their area, they try to make themselves home in your new house. If you don't mind cats stop by the shelter and pick one up, until then use aluminum foil.

I am so sorry your going through this......especially with a small child at home; I would definitely call a lawyer and find out what they can do about it. I personally don't think they (builder) will take back the house and give you a refund. You may want to consider calling animal control-they can usually help (my sister had bats in her attic and she called animal control and they came out and solve the problem)
I hate for you to live with mice.......just thinking about it makes me itch. (LOL)
Wish you so much luck~
Maria

call animal control to rid your home of mice. lol. i am sure they will be right out. get real people. if you live in an area near a rural area you will have mice. its silly to think you can sue a builder for mice getting in a house.

I am sorry you are having this problem. Has anyone seen the FLIP THIS HOUSE episode where rats infested a house and lived in the stove? They eventually found hundreds of mice in that house in a rural area in South Carolina. Make sure you have them check INSIDE the bottom part of the stove.

Good Luck!

and then file a BBB claim.

You can file a complaint with the BBB, but not a claim. And a complaint with the BBB doesn't actually get you anything. You should check with your state's contractor licensing board. They may be able to help you to get your builder to do something, since they can pull their license. Also talk to a lawyer.

Not all cats are good mousers so getting one is NOT a promise that it will cure your problem.

Make sure before you go ahead with a lawyer that you've done everything you can to keep your home mouse free. No wood piles close to the house, no accumulation of boxes, newspaper or clothing in garages, basements or out buildings.
Trash goes in a can with a tight fitting lid not in bags.
Compost piles are far from the house.
No abandoned cars or trucks near by.
You're not feeding any pets outside or storing any food outside for animals.
Mice can get inside a home from a hole about the size of a dime. If it were me I'd stop depending on the contractor and buy a can of expanding foam and some steel wool.Fill any holes with the steel wool and then the foam. Keep a eye on the filled holes. If you see they've been chewed thru or there are droppings near them that's where I'd concentrate on putting traps.
Mice can reproduce in less than 14 days...all it takes is for one pregnant mouse to get into a house and you can have problems till she and all her kin are killed off.

When we moved into a house 7 years ago, it was in a development that was formerly corn fields. Needless to say the mice had to go somewhere and many of us experienced a problem although not as bad as you described. I had the builders come in and caulk the garage and as many openings as they could. I also had a pest inspector come in and lay poison around the perimeter of the outside of the house as well as inside. Finally, I got those sonic things that there is so much controversy about and plugged them into the kitchen, garage and the basement. We never had a problem after that. One tip the builder gave us was to make sure that the garage doors were closed especially in the winter as that was one way mice can get into the house. 7 years later and we never had a problem again.

Hope this helps.

Deborah

Lawyers? Hanta Virus? For crying out loud people, a little balance here! YOu're going to scare the sh*t out of the OP.

We've had occasional mice/rat problems in most of the houses we've lived in, and it's common here in Atlanta.

Remove the source of food/shelter, get a good pest control company. It's an ONGOING issue, you won't solve it and never have mice again. You don't spray once and expect the cockroaches never to come back, right? It's the same with mice, you need to continually work to keep them out of your house.

And a cat does help; even if he/she won't eat them, the mice don't like the scent. I'd like to say a small terrier dog is MUCH better. THey were bred to destroy vermin, before Arrow Pest Control ever existed.

Our two poodles, a standard and a mini, keep our yard refreshingly free of squirrels and chipmunks-grab, snap, and bye bye varmint. They don't eat them, just kill them.

We also have no mice or rats anywhere in this house.

Getting rid of grass seed in garage and bucket that was collecting water outside nearly solved a small mice problem here. C A T solved rest.

You can ask the builder to buy back the house without a lawyer first and see if they will. They probably will laugh and call you bad names but it's worth a shot. Then hire the lawyer to write a letter and see if that works then if not then you can go through the trouble to take him to court. When I was last in this situation I just waited a few months and sold the place.

I have to agree, you buy new construction, you get the former landowners too -Mice,squirrels, other rodents. The builder is only responsible for a code built house. If the mice are getting in , it's the owners problem. A good pest control company and time to fix the problems.

I would be shocked if the builder considered taking back the house..

Here's a thought - if you don't want the long term commitment of owning a cat, how about fostering one or two temporarily? Any local rescue shelter should be able to get you information about this.
After I swore I wasn't going to get another can after our 18 year old died, I started getting freaked out over the squirrels dancing on my patio. So, I got a cat. Then I got another. Then I had to just have one more.

I'm thinking of getting another one.

I heard good things about this product. I have a bunch of mice in the garage and am thinking about buying one myself.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rat/Mouse Zapper

I agree that cats are the best way to get rid of mice. We had five mice in five years in our old house (came into house during extreme cold spells) and all of them were caught by our two feral cats (read: street cats who were taken in to be indoor pets). Our two strictly-indoor cats were useless, but the ferals were FABULOUS in alerting us to the mice and taking care of them quite efficiently.

1) Where do you live? This is THE most important question. If, for example, you live in the country on a high point around floodplains...you will have mouse problems, period.

2) How long do you keep the traps set? If you are having chronic mice problesm, you should ALWAYS have a set and baited trap out. The problem isn't that dozens of mice are getting in. The problem is that one or two get in and make babies. If you kill them before the babies are born, you don't have nearly as much of a mice problem.

3) Hire someone to inspect every inch of the envelope of the house to figure out how the suckers are getting in! If the end of a pencil can fir through a hole, so can a mouse.

I agree with reyesuela - where are you located? Depending on the area it can be very rare. Here's it's common to have alley rats but rodents in the home is very rare.

Call an attorney for sure. It might be the best $150 you spend to have a letter written.

Personally I think that having mice in my home would be devastating and can completely understand your concern and not feeling like any small matter.

Couldnt post another response earlier but here goes...

In Ontario we have something called the New Homeowners Warranty Plan. http://www.tarion.com/home/

Some builder's deficiencies are covered for varying amounts of time (1 to 7 years). I don't know if where you live has similar government protection. If not, I would say my usually, get a lawyer or better pest contol person. Failing that, it would just be terrible for the builder if the news got a story about an unfit home with kids in it was infested with rodents ;-)

Caulk around the electrical and cable wires coming into your house. Ditto pipes and dryer vents.

I like D-Con. I put it out, it disappears, I never see the bodies.

the smell of a cat might keep mice from showing their faces.

Also, mice can squeeze through some pretty small holes

Here is a link that might be useful: House Mouse prevention

1) As for the problem - I do think you have a reasonable right for the builder to build a home that isn't leaking like a sieve mouse wise. There should not be little holes and cracks everywhere for them to get in. That's just poor construction. If an inspector finds such than the builder should be reponsible for fixing them. I have a newly constructed home, all by itself (not a subdivision) smack dab in the middle of crop land all around (and I don't have 5 acres of grass around me either. I can practically spit on my soybeans). I had a problem with mice in my garage - have yet to see one in the house (and all the feral cats that have been dropped of did not solve the problem).
2) If you found green droppings someone put down poison. It'd be nice to know where.
3) This does seem to happen to new construction and sometimes after the initial invasion the intrusions will lessen on their own. Especially if you get the cracks fixed and the ones already inside killed.
4) Ever had a rotting mouse in the house? They can smell pretty bad if they are somewhere you can't get to. Yes it will eventually go away. Glue traps are plain cruel. Some states outlaw them. Snap traps are fine. You should place them longwise next to the wall, not out away from it. Use peanut butter, or a piece of fat, not cheese.
5) If your builder won't fix the entry holes then you need to.
6) Everything Carol from NY said.

I think its irresponsible to tell someone to get a cat (or other animal unless they WANT a PET).
1) Not all cats are good mouser's - then what? Dump the cat? Nice
2) What do they do when the mouse problem is gone? Dump the cat? Again, nice
3) What if this person is a not a responsible pet owner? Neigbors might mind the stray cat wandering around killing native birds and begging for food.
4) If someone wants a pet chances are they have one.
5) If they live in the country chances are they have a bizillion because you know what's keep dropping their cats off in the country, as if there weren't already a bizillion out there already. Ever heard of a cat shoot? And of course everyone wants to give their dog to a farm where they have room to run. Right. There are 10 million farmers out there looking for a dog. Not.
6) Borrowing one for awhile may help but you have to be willing to provide food, water, shelter and litter box. And you should make sure its neutered.

Anyway. Off my soap box.

marys1000 you took the words re pets right out of my mouth. Get a cat, my a$$. How irresponbile. Poor cat.

And some people (ME!) are highly allergic to cats.

A friend of mine grew up on a farm in northern Illinois. They kept outdoor cats for rodent control in the barn. They were semi tame and multiplied at will. In addition to all the mice they could eat, they got regular cat food. I guess the cats didn't mind.

Actually, I'd say screw the cats, get a snake instead. They're much better mousers.

snakes ARE better mousers--but of course, you wouldn't want them eating poisoned mice. That would be a great pest-control firm, wouldn't it? Loaning out your snake?

Just call a reputable exterminator. Don't buy a cat simply because of the mice. The three little princesses in my house are great bug chasers and toturers of misdirected lizards though. We have had mice on occassion mostly in our garage - I put out some D-Con and the mice seem to disappear. I used a glue trap on a garden house out back and it caught a mouse but it was horrible! It just starves to death. My daughter and I were motified and my husband had to come home from work to put it out of its misery.

I live in the city - so when there is new construction like there was several years ago for the new shopping center we had lots of visitors like possums and mice. Everything has settled down now. It's an ongoing problem but not as bad as cockroaches in the South.

Here's a funny story my husband's assistant told me - when she was a real estate agent she showed a house (in Maine) that had snakes in the basement. Her husband, a very practical man told her to get the owners to put some pigs in the basement and in about two weeks the snake problem would be solved. So they got a farmer friend to bring over some pigs, put 'em in the basement and it worked. Farmer takes his pigs home, house is rid of snakes and buyers are happy.

Somehow, after that last story, roaches don't seem so bad. I have a black snake or two in the back yard, and don't have a basement. Thank god.

We had a field mouse move in one winter. He eluded all our attempts to catch him. One day we came into the family room and there was our cat and the mouse--both curled up on the rug, nose to nose, whiskers to whiskers. The cat was purring.

>There should not be little holes and cracks everywhere for them to get in.

All it takes is ONE hole. I bought an old house in an area where EVERYONE has mouse problems--in fact, when I was remodeling the gest house, I didn't tape over the hole where the old shower was, and we had PACK RATS the next time I came in. Anyhow, I'd been certain the mice were coming in the main house mostly through the laundry room, but it wasn't until I completely demo'd the kitchen that I found the spot--the ONE spot. Haven't had a single mouse since I sealed it up. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't in the future--all it takes is for one pregnant mouse to scoot through the door while you're unloading groceries, and you've got a huge problem again.

Cockroaches in the south? Are there seriously more cockroaches in the south than other places?

I second the notion that one should not buy/steal/borrow a cat just to get rid of mice. That is completely crazy. Cats are pets!

And by the way, we have lots of cats but only two dogs (outside, lab mix dogs). They are WAY better mousers than the cats.

'Cockroaches in the south? Are there seriously more cockroaches in the south than other places?'

yepper.

Well, in South Carolina we call them "palmetto bugs". They are everywhere.

But palmetto bugs, big as they are, do not infest kitchens, running out in the dark to get every little crumb. They visit inside the house for the air conditioning and hang out and crap on your walls and move into the cardboard boxes in your attic. But they don't live and breed in your kitchen and make you feel like you are a filthy housekeeper no matter how careful you are. They are big and scary if you don't expect them, but they are not in the pan on the stove that you let the leftovers cool in when all you did was go eat dinner and come back to clean up!

Psychologically speaking, Palmetto Bugs and the classic German Cockroach are two differnt animals.

Wow that my story OMG thats my stiry i dont know what to do i feel si helpless Texas

Is that all, "Jacqueline Springs", after 15 years?

I lived in a high rise apartment building in an apartment that was above the trash compactor room many years ago. I had huge roaches coming out of all the electrical outlets and everywhere! I couldn’t sleep at night after one crawled across my chest, I was worried one was going to eat my brain. I moved as fast as I could. I hate bugs of any kind.