Really expensive rodents

[Eli Altman]

Somehow it has taken me 3 years and over 20 units to run into my first rodent issue. I had a tenant in a 4plex complaining about rat/mice droppings. I looked up a good rodent proofing company and had them submit a bid. My jaw dropped when the bid came back at over $9,000.

Now, I live in a HCOL area. I know things are a little more expensive here. This, however, I was not expecting. The bid looked like this:

1. $2,000 to seal off all points of entry: screens, cracks, etc.
2. $7,000 to install a "rat slab" in the basement crawl space which basically seems like a layer of plastic with a bunch of gravel on it that drains to a sump pump (not included) and keeps the rats/mice from tunneling in

So this price seemed crazy to me and I had another company out yesterday to offer a competitive bid on the project. Their technician called me and told me that after having a look they wouldn't be able to bid on the project and wouldn't elaborate on it. ???

Should I: 

1. Get another rodent-proofing quote
2. Contact an exterminator
3. Pay the 2k to seal off all points on entry and see if the problem persists
4. Do something else entirely

Thanks!