An influencer who bought her dream home in a wooded area on the outskirts of San Francisco revealed that maintaining it has become a nightmare.
Laureise Livingston posted a video of some of the messes she and her husband had to clean up and shell out thousands of dollars to fix after purchasing the 100-year-old home nearly two years ago.
Despite it being an old house, Livingston revealed that the problems are not necessarily due to its age, but rather to the rodents and insects that have moved in with it.
The content creator, who is also a yoga instructor, shared some of the terrible problems they had to endure in a video posted at the end of August, warning people to never buy a house in the woods.
“Just a public service announcement about buying a house in a wooded area, just don’t do it,” he said, adding that his house has “a lot of opportunity for problems.”
“It’s been the rodents, insects and beetles that have been eating us alive financially.”
Laureise Livingston posted a video of some of the messes she and her husband had to clean up and fix after purchasing the 100-year-old house in a wooded area outside the Bay Area.
Despite it being an older house, Livingston revealed that the problems are mainly due to the rodents and insects that have moved in with them (pictured: the couple’s house).
She recalled the time she and her husband heard a “scratching” noise under the floor one night.
‘It turns out we have Norway rats. And if you’ve ever seen a Norway rat, they’re literally the size of a squirrel,” Livingston said.
The rodents, also known as brown rats, are “one of the most common rats” found in Norway and California, according to Killroy Pest Control.
In his home, he said, rats feasted on the heating or HVAC pipes, which are “wrapped in asbestos.”
“And this wouldn’t be a problem because they didn’t bother it until the rats came down and started chewing on it,” he said, adding that the rodents used the asbestos to create nests under his house.
The couple then removed the pesky rodents, but because of the damage they caused, the HVAC pipes also had to be replaced, costing them around $10,000.
To do this, the couple was left without heat or air for approximately six months while the main problem was solved.
The couple discovered they had Norway rats, or brown rats, hiding under the floor (pictured: file image of a Norway rat)
Because the rats used the asbestos in their HVAC pipes to create nests, the couple had to shell out about $10,000 to install new pipes.
Another annoying problem arose just when they thought they could finally take a break.
Pest control company Terminix called the couple and offered them a free termite inspection after their neighbors were suffering from insect infestations.
“So they came and the good news is that there are no termites, but there are wood-boring beetles,” he said, clarifying that “they are basically as bad as termites.”
He recalled that the expert told them that insects are known to “bite wood and lay small larvae.”
“And then the eggs hatch, and then those little eggs that aren’t little eggs anymore, then they go and bite the wood until the wood is all fucked up in your house,” Livingston said.
The couple wanted to know how to fix the disastrous problem and were told they had two options: lift the house and heat treat it or fumigate it, both of which were inconvenient.
The couple was soon informed that they had wood-boring beetles eating the wood in their home and had to pay $4,500 to have it heat-treated to expel them. (pictured: stock photo of wood-boring beetle)
For the first option, the couple would have to remove everything from their home that could burn or melt, including hairspray and lipstick.
Completing the treatment itself would also cost a whopping $4,500.
The second plan would require the couple to leave their property for four days and spend more than $7,000 to fumigate the house and get rid of the beetles with “poison.”
They went with the cheapest option and tried heating their house, as Livingston said the house was “a million degrees” because of it.
“I’ll go inside and sit in the heat, but at least the beetles are gone,” he said, showing a dead plant that was wilting during the expensive treatment.