I too have a similar problem, but possibly a little more complicated. Rats can be heard knawing in the ceiling/floor between the first floor and basement. There is no obvious entry from outside, except for a dryer vent, which I covered with hardware cloth. The only visible sign of any activity occurred under a bathroom sink in the basement, where bags of bar soap were decimated. This cabinet is a good distance from where they can be heard, meaning they somehow have the run of the walls. I tried glue traps, and the ROUS proudly left a beautiful two footed print with tail, just to add fuel to the fire. It was definitely a Norway rat, huge, and unphased by my trap. I called two exterminators, one was a friend who said the drier vent was the only apparent access, the other said he couldn't do any thing that I couldn't do cheaper and offered no additional insight into possible entry points (didn't charge me either for 1.5 hours spent looking around). The friend put out some bait which lead me to believe we had won, when no more activity was heard for about six months or so, with a smell two weeks after, and finally, a swarm of flies, (no kidding) by the tens of thousands. I continue to feed them pb under the sink in spring traps that no matter how I arrange or set, they are always triggered and eaten. I now included additional poison under the sink, but it hasn't been touched, nor the spring traps since adding the poison station (I guess it is scarey and new). I still here them/it under my bed in the floor knawing most mornings, but I'm helpless to counterstrike. Except for perhaps unknown underground tunnels leading through the brick walls (not likely), neither I nor anyone else can find how access is gained. I was told that this type of rat wouldn't be able to gain access from the roof, hmmm? There would likely be other locations accessible throughout the house if this were the case, and there would be evidence. I have thought about loading a shotgun with squirrel or rabbit shot and firing off a few rounds into the ceiling from below when I here activity, but then the repair work would probably be as much as just tearing out the ceiling to investigate in the first place. I have never seen any evidence for rats, outside of the bathroom cabinet and constant knawing, but I am beyond aggregated and would appreciate any suggestions available. I'm leaning towards the earlier suggestion to just burn it down.

The post above carlos229 is not the OP. One thing I was going to point out about the difference in cost: If you divide the total cost by the proposed # of piers, you get $1600/pier for one contractor and $1700 for the other. So their rate per pier is not far off at all. I did the same thing with foam jacking my sinking driveway. Had estimates from $980 all the way to $2200. Each estimated an amount of foam plus a per-pound price if they went over. I calculated the cost if everyone used the same amount as the highest estimate, and the estimates came out within a couple hundred bucks of each other at that point. So I picked the guy I liked best. He wasn't the cheapest one but it didn't make that much difference. Question is how many piers you need, and I can't help with that. I liked the idea of hiring someone who has no stake in the game to tell you want you need.

Update: I would’ve liked to be pleasantly surprised but I’m not. The floor guys came back, showing up 30 minutes early on Saturday morning. The boss came in and looked at the floors and I tried to get him to walk me through what they were oils do. He explained how the finish on prefinished floors is thicker which is why there was the gap. I expressed my concern with the dark tape marks. I thought he said they would be using a machine to bring down the whole floor since that’s what’s required to get rid of the marks. His guys started hand sanding first which I thought was step one. Before I knew it they vacuumed wiped up and started throwing Masterline poly on. I can still see the marks. I stopped them as they started to drive away and asked why they didn’t use a machine. They said that would be a sand and finish and they were only told to screen and finish by their boss. I don’t know where the miscommunication is occurring but I’m over it. I called my project manager who was unsympathetic and said he and his boss will be here Monday. Meanwhile, I have another coat of 550 VoC poly on my floor and I don’t want my kid in the house all day. I’m calling flooring pros now. I didn’t even get an apology from the Project Manager. I’m close to calling a lawyer

The photo is the plumbing rough-in for the toilet in the guest bath. They had to re center to fit the toilet. It bothers me because they are digging up the concrete in both toilets, kitchen and on the inside wall to add a plumbing elbow to the outside for some reason (first picture). I am afraid the foundation will crack 5 or 10 years down the road with all this. This has definitely been a nightmare. We asked for a freestanding tub, we received a tub that fit into a 59" x 30" slot and was an inch away from the wall, with a wall mounted faucet. we went with a lender recommended by them, that process took 8 months. Our DTI is less than 5%, we have 2 credit cards and owe nothing to anyone so I am not sure why that took so long. we combined the land and house together in one loan. The builder started building before we actually signed the loan papers. We happened to be out one day (July 12)and decided to stop by the property, noticed the foundation and framing was completed. We called the builder, they said don't tell the mortgage company, 3 days later we received a call from the mortgage saying the loan has been put on a 14 day hold, all building must stop. I believe that was a cover your rear thing since the mortgage/lender company had an appraisal done July 1, which had pictures of the rough-in grading and foundation completed. We told them that is not our version of a free standing tub. they build a lot of houses here so they came with great references.