The Rat Man Cometh Revisited

David from Capable Pest Control showed up, looking eager for the job. He had taken great pains over the phone to explain what would be covered in the charge, including two return visits. Also, he said he would try to find places where the rats are coming in, and suggest that we shore up those places.

Here's a photo of David with the traps. He explained that, because we moved everything out of the room, they have probably fled (perhaps to other parts underground, or even into the house, ugh). But he set two traps inside the storage area, and I think more inside the crawl space. He did find droppings inside the crawl space under the house, so they are definitely getting in.

And the surprise of all....I saw him put a sticky-like brown substance onto the trap. I asked, "Is that the bait?" He said yes, and pointed to a large Snickers bar that he keeps with the traps. Unbelievable. He uses Snickers as bait! Hell, I told him, I could be tempted. He laughed.

He showed me 3 places where they could be getting in: (1) there's an electric box on the side of the house and the door doesn't fit any more; that needs to be fixed. (2) There's broken mesh on the little window in the back leading into the crawl space. (3) There is a large hole where the heating duct goes. However, if I can get rid of the rats in the storage space and close the door, they shouldn't be able to access that.

I really appreciate the assessment. I just hope that there's enough time to catch the rats, if they're there, before the plumber shows up on Tuesday and disturbs the traps.

The game begins.

The Rat Man Cometh, and Other Wonderful Stories of Home Ownership

The water heater exploded Tuesday morning. Or was it Monday? Or was it last week?

Water, water everywhere. Along with that: rat feces everywhere.

I headed off to Fairfield to help Shawn with her procedure, as I promised, and left Sweetie here to deal. And deal she did.

The plumber from Honey Do temporarily fixed the problem by re-lighting the pilot light to the water heater and installing new pipe. He recommended that we replace the water heater (it's now 10 years old), and shore up the ventilation and strapping systems to it.

With all the water, our issues became:

1. Call an exterminator for the rats who have obviously taken up residence in the storage room downstairs.
2. Call contractor to fix what's been damaged, involving:
a. replacing heating duct insulation,
b. Paint wood inside unit with mildrew-resistant coat.
3. Prepare framework for new water heater, including venting outside up to current code and bolting frame to foundation.
4. Buy new water heater and install.

Ernie from Dan Martinez Construction came out this morning and will give me an estimate later today. The plumber will come back Tuesday; Phil will supply the water heater and parts and install.

The insulation and mildew prep will take place after the side panel has dried, probably in another week if good weather holds. In the meantime, we have 3 fans blowing in the room; they are now facing the wood.

Ernie restarted the pilot light and declared that we will have hot water in about half an hour. I had only taken one shower off-site, and wasn't looking forward to another one.

Another side project: everything in that room was destroyed, and will have to be sorted into hazmat vs. non-hazmat (that is supposedly happening today). Next week it will be hauled away; we just made an appointment for that. (See photos for sections of the yard where trash has been lain to dry out.)

Nice that Phil the Plumber helped remodel the bathroom a couple of years ago. He remembers the place. I remember his long hair.

I am now waiting for the Rat Guy. Hopefully he'll do his work and that process will be started this morning as he lays the traps.

I feel like I landed into another remodel project. Only without my permission.

The Annual Wasp Hunt

It took a small ladder, two of us women trying, and finally, a son over 6 feet to do the trick: hang the two wasp traps.

I had gone to Piedmont Grocery earlier in the week, and they very kindly gave me a hunk of hamburger, gratis. I put half the chunk in each trap, along with its own scent.

We hung them at 5:30 pm yesterday, and by 9 am, they contained:

5 wasps in the front trap;
4 wasps in the back trap.

I have watered the lawn in both places since then, and, I swear, the numbers have grown a bit.

I love what the directions say: "You should remove the wasp bodies every two weeks and replace the bait. Make sure the wasps are dead." No kidding.

This is my 3rd year of wasp traps. (And the first year I've read the directions.)