What "man jobs" have you done today?

IvanDobskey · 21 Nov 2021 at 21:16

{SAS}TB said:
Oooh, good luck.

We store the chicken food outside, in their run in a plastic bin and the bird seed in a plastic / composite shed.

Were ok with mice as we have 3 card which seem to keep them at bay,.but have historically had rats. That said the cats are now seemingly happy to have a go at them too .....

Problem is, they've gotten really good at pinching the bait from the traps without setting them off

It's going to be a slog to get rid of them all now.

NickK · 22 Nov 2021 at 09:43

IvanDobskey said:
Problem is, they've gotten really good at pinching the bait from the traps without setting them off It's going to be a slog to get rid of them all now.

You need to position the trap with only one path in across the trigger plate. I had the same problem with my traps in the garage. In the end the dead end technique worked well.

Mice like warmth, safety and food. With safety being the key criteria they make a nest vs simply dropping in. Only issue is that it doesn't take much for a mouse to feel safe and setup a nest.

Also they are creatures of routine. They will follow paths so set the traps up in dead ends near their paths. The smell of peanut butter will brings them off the path.

They come in to our roof along the gutter/roof from the other houses, one has a pant that grows up the side of their house - perfect mouse route from ground to roof.

IvanDobskey · 22 Nov 2021 at 14:17

NickK said:
You need to position the trap with only one path in across the trigger plate. I had the same problem with my traps in the garage. In the end the dead end technique worked well.

Mice like warmth, safety and food. With safety being the key criteria they make a nest vs simply dropping in. Only issue is that it doesn't take much for a mouse to feel safe and setup a nest.

Also they are creatures of routine. They will follow paths so set the traps up in dead ends near their paths. The smell of peanut butter will brings them off the path.

They come in to our roof along the gutter/roof from the other houses, one has a pant that grows up the side of their house - perfect mouse route from ground to roof.

I have been researching and watching YouTube videos in the hope of refining techniques for improving my success rate. They sure do love peanut butter. But they seem to be able to lick it off the trigger pedal without setting it off. Now and again they make a mistake and set the trap off, but even then they still manage to avoid getting whacked half the time.

Edit: as I was writing that, I just caught another one. Up to 11 dispatched now..

LuckyBenski · 22 Nov 2021 at 14:38

IvanDobskey said:
I have been researching and watching YouTube videos in the hope of refining techniques for improving my success rate. They sure do love peanut butter. But they seem to be able to lick it off the trigger pedal without setting it off. Now and again they make a mistake and set the trap off, but even then they still manage to avoid getting whacked half the time.

Edit: as I was writing that, I just caught another one. Up to 11 dispatched now..

It's horrible but... Glue traps. They work. I caught about 2-3 per day for a week, last year when the pensioner next door's house was being ripped out. I had a hole in my kitchen door and just placed 2x traps at right angles under it. Check every time you make a cuppa.

IvanDobskey · 22 Nov 2021 at 14:41

LuckyBenski said:
It's horrible but... Glue traps. They work. I caught about 2-3 per day for a week, last year when the pensioner next door's house was being ripped out. I had a hole in my kitchen door and just placed 2x traps at right angles under it. Check every time you make a cuppa.

I don't even like using the snap traps to be honest. Don't like killing any living thing. Really couldn't use those glue traps, or poison

At least they are dead in an instant with the snap traps. It's a bit of a nightmare really.

the-evaluator · 22 Nov 2021 at 15:07

Today I've emptied out both lofts in preperation for boarding, insulation, new loft hatch and ladder installation being done on Wednesday.

I'm glad there wasn't much up there, we've been careful to not fill the lofts up with crap but there was more stuff up there than I remembered.

Macky · 22 Nov 2021 at 15:52

the-evaluator said:
Today I've emptied out both lofts in preperation for boarding, insulation, new loft hatch and ladder installation being done on Wednesday.

I'm glad there wasn't much up there, we've been careful to not fill the lofts up with crap but there was more stuff up there than I remembered.

Finished insulating mine the other day. House is 90 years old and the accumulation of crap up there was ludicrous. Old carpets, newspaper, bags, clothes which I believe was chucked up there for insulation purposes. All covered in mortar dust from the roof as well. Didn't bother boarding!

the-evaluator · 22 Nov 2021 at 16:40

Macky said:
Finished insulating mine the other day. House is 90 years old and the accumulation of crap up there was ludicrous. Old carpets, newspaper, bags, clothes which I believe was chucked up there for insulation purposes. All covered in mortar dust from the roof as well. Didn't bother boarding!

It's not much fun, is it?

We've only been here about 6.5 years and from day 1 resisted the urge to shove crap up there.

We're only getting a small area boarded, there doesn't seem point getting too much done as we're not going to use it for anything more than what was up there already. At the most actually, I've binned some stuff that the previous owners left behind.

I would have liked the get both lofts knocked into one so that I can do away with the loft hatch in one of the spare bedrooms. The second loft comes from a bedroom being built on top of the garage about 20 years ago and whilst it's possible to get them knocked into one, it just doesn't seem worth it. We're not having any boarding in the small loft.

bainbridge · 22 Nov 2021 at 20:33

Replaced the hinges on a kitchen corner cupboard.

Put up a little shelf to allow the kitchen recycling basket to sit in a nook above the kitchen bin.

DXP55 · 22 Nov 2021 at 21:25

IvanDobskey said:
Problem is, they've gotten really good at pinching the bait from the traps without setting them off It's going to be a slog to get rid of them all now.

I had a mouse in house and it kept taking food without tripping trap -in end I used peanut butter -wait till it sets on spike then put it down.
You need a few traps though.

IvanDobskey · 23 Nov 2021 at 07:21

DXP55 said:
I had a mouse in house and it kept taking food without tripping trap -in end I used peanut butter -wait till it sets on spike then put it down.
You need a few traps though.

For the first night in a week, none of the traps were even touched. They are still loaded with peanut butter this morning. Now that's either because there's not many of them left, or they've figured out the traps are bad news. Having removed their other food source, they'll have to come to the traps sometime though.

Janesy B · 23 Nov 2021 at 17:33

Had to 'kitten proof' the cupboard at the top of the stairs, she loved climbing up the rattan doors and knocking everything off the top - got some perspex cut to size and then stuck on some strong (and I mean strong, I nearly lost a finger messing around with them) neodymium magnets either side.

The look of defeat:

randomshenans · 24 Nov 2021 at 13:50

I've been quite enjoying the man jobs since the wife left

instead of her nagging me to do **** she wanted, I've enjoyed doing loads of stuff.

Hung a painting, rewired and hide the wires in the lounge. New lamp, new chairs. Today did all the wiring in the bedroom. I had been meaning to route it all around the room but never got round to it, so it was a trip hazard. Now it's all sorted and another thing off my list. What'll I do next I wonder

Anything I like.

Janesy B · 24 Nov 2021 at 14:24

If I'm asked to do something I instantly don't want to do it.

randomshenans · 24 Nov 2021 at 15:10

Janesy B said:
If I'm asked to do something I instantly don't want to do it.

This is true. Also, when something someone else thinks you should do is the top of the list, it's rare I agree it's at the top of that list.

the-evaluator · 24 Nov 2021 at 15:13

Following on from emptying out the lofts on Monday, today I've been tea boy for the chaps that have been moving the loft hatch, topping up the insulation and part boarding the big loft.

IvanDobskey · 24 Nov 2021 at 15:24

Caught the last mouse in our loft

I hope so anyway...

LuckyBenski · 24 Nov 2021 at 17:18

IvanDobskey said:
Caught the last mouse in our loft I hope so anyway...

It's never the last one.

And you only ever think you've got one...

IvanDobskey · 24 Nov 2021 at 18:29

LuckyBenski said:
It's never the last one.

And you only ever think you've got one...

Well, this was the twelfth one to bite the dust

cheesefest · 25 Nov 2021 at 20:29

Dismantled my bed base, stacked the two halves on top of another in order to vacuum area where bed sits and behind the headboard.

All the dust and fluff filled up the dust container completely.