Welcome to Domestic Disasters, where we take a look at some of your worst mess-ups and grossest finds. We take them to the experts to find out how big of a problem they are and how expensive they are to fix.
Lindsay and her husband had been living on a half-acre property in the Colorado countryside, complete with fruit trees, wide-open spaces and snowcapped mountain views. For a few years, it was idyllic — but then the scratching started.
Every night around 3 a.m., they were jostled awake by the sound of abrasive rodent noises in the wall. At first, they tried to ignore them, but after a while, the lack of sleep became unbearable. “Whoever he was, he wasn’t being a very good roommate,” says Lindsay. “We had to kick him out.”
What She Tried
Lindsay had previously called a pest control expert to get rid of some mice. After watching him successfully use wooden snap traps baited with peanut butter, she figured she could DIY that technique for this case.
“I don’t love the idea of like killing anything, but I also realized there was no way to cohabitate with it,” she says.
So, Lindsay put traps in the crawlspace. After a week, she had sacrificed a lot of peanut butter, but had yet to catch anything. “This rodent was smarter than the average mouse,” she says. “He would trip the traps without getting caught.”
That got her wondering, maybe the problem was that the rodent was bigger than a mouse. To test her theory, she upgraded to a bigger trap — and at 2 a.m. that night, they heard a snap. When they opened the crawlspace, sure enough, there was their rat.
“It was a big boy, and TMI, that was a messy cleanup,” she says. “But I was able to sleep through the night again.”
Since then, Lindsay’s home has remained rat-free. But did she fix the problem the right way?
A Pro Weighs In
We spoke to some experts to learn whether Lindsay handled the situation correctly, plus how to prevent rats from getting into a home in the first place. Here’s what they said.
Rodents like our homes for the same reasons that we do, says rat control expert Blair Calder. “They are warm, dry, safe spaces that have food and no predators,” he says.
It’s also easy for them to enter through small openings, like unsealed holes around drainpipes and cracks in the foundation. Once inside, they’re not only annoying to listen to, but they also pose dangers to both structures and health. Their natural need to gnaw prompts them to chew on everything from wood and drywall to vapor barriers and wiring — and that can lead to electrical fires, flooding and mold. Rodents can also carry various diseases, and their feces can trigger allergies.
“Even if you never see that rat, the problem is still big and requires immediate reaction,” says pest control expert Nicole Carpenter. “One rat eventually turns into multiple rats if you don’t find where they get in and seal it.”
Did the Homeowners Get it Right?
Mostly. Lindsay’s biggest mistake, which she eventually remedied, was using too small of a trap. Rats are adept at removing bait from mouse-sized traps without triggering them. But also, if they fail, they can get injured without being killed, which creates unnecessary suffering. Because of that, when unsure of the animal’s size, bigger is better. Start with a larger trap, says Carpenter.
Lindsay was also correct that peanut butter works well for bait. But often, for smart, curious rats, a small piece of nesting material or even a bit of bacon can be even more effective, says pest control expert Kyle Turner.
What’s the Most Humane Option?
Catch-and-release traps, aka live traps, work well for catching rodents of all sizes. The trick is releasing them a couple of miles away, otherwise they’ll likely just make their way back.
However, depending on the species, live traps may not be the most ecological solution. That’s because most of the rats found in our homes are Norway or black rats, which are invasive and harm ecosystems. On the flip side, if your unwanted resident is a woodrat (aka a packrat), catch-and-release is the absolute best solution. Woodrats are native and function as ecosystem engineers, benefiting an array of other wildlife.
As for snap traps, our experts consider them a humane solution as well. “I know it looks brutal, but the snap traps are intended for a quick, painless dispatch,” says pest control expert Matt Smith. “So, I would suggest either the live trap or the snap, just depending on what you would like the outcome to be.”
Beyond those two methods, the experts agreed that glue boards and poisons are a no-go. “Glue traps are so cruel that in many countries they are illegal,” says Calder.
Poison is also widely considered inhumane, with the added danger of harming children, pets, wildlife, livestock and ecosystems. “We are only beginning to understand the widespread damage that rodenticides pose,” says Calder. “But because they have been used for so many years, we stopped realizing how crazy it is that we use them.”
How The Pros Would Handle It
The first step pros would take is to inspect for and seal any potential entry points into the home — a process known as exclusion. “That is the actual fix,” says Turner. “Trapping without closing the entry just means you’re catching one at a time, indefinitely.”
Another step the pros would have done differently from Lindsay is to set multiple traps to hasten the capture process.
The Panic Meter
We rank Domestic Disasters on a four-point scale.
- Do It Yourself: The easiest issues to fix. You can handle it all on your own.
- Phone a Friend: This issue might require a little outside assistance.
- Call a Pro: This situation warrants professional assistance.
- SOS: Problems that are so dangerous, you’re directly at risk of injury or worse.
When addressed early, rodent problems usually fall in the “Do It Yourself” area. “With a few high-quality traps of the right size, and sealing entry points, you can absolutely handle the situation yourself,” says Carpenter.
But it may be time to call a pro if you can’t access the area where they’re traveling, can’t find where they’re getting in, or aren’t comfortable handling it on your own. “The line is different for everyone,” says Smith. “Some people will almost move at the thought of rodents being in their walls, while others will try and try again to get them out.”
The Cost Differential
If you take action right away, before more rats get into your walls, a DIY fix will likely run between $20 and $100 for traps and sealing materials. Conversely, if your style is to hire a pro, that will typically cost around $300.
But if you ignore it, those costs can quickly escalate, and in extreme cases, even lead to a house fire. “You might end up paying hundreds or thousands for rewiring, insulation replacement, odor removal and cleanup, and hundreds more for drywall repair and sealing entry points,” says Carpenter.
The Right Way to Fix Rodent Problems
If you noice any rodent activity, such as feces, chew marks on items or scraping sounds in the walls, time is of the essence to remedy it. Even though it ultimately took Lindsay a week to solve the problem, her quick and persistent action helped keep damage to a minimum.
Find and Seal Entry Points
Before you set traps, inspect your home for entry points. Those can include cracks in foundations, gaps in rooflines, spaces under doors, crawl space vents and holes around utility pipes. A mouse only needs an opening the size of a dime, and a large rat can sneak through a half-inch gap. But sealing even smaller holes helps keep insects and spiders out, too.
The pro who originally helped Lindsay with her mouse problem had actually mentioned the need for these exclusion practices. But he also confessed that since Lindsay’s house was built in the 1950s, trying to seal up every potential entry point would likely drive her crazy. Still, after catching the rat, she sealed up a particularly noticeable hole, which may be why she never got another rat.
To seal openings, always use steel wool or metal mesh (hardware cloth), along with exterior-grade caulk or sealing foam. “You can’t use only caulk or foam because mice and rats can chew through anything besides metal,” says Carpenter.
Choose the Right Trap
Basic snap traps are inexpensive and, when sized correctly, effectively kill rodents. On the downside, they leave open the potential for a gross clean-up mess, as Lindsay found out. If you go this route, Turner recommends rat-specific traps made by Victor, which are widely available. Just be careful not to put them in places where pets, kids and wildlife can happen upon them.
Enclosed traps are slightly more expensive, but offer several benefits. “A properly sized enclosed trap is more likely to kill quickly without causing suffering,” says Carpenter. “It’s also a good choice for people who don’t want to see the animal, or who have pets who might touch the trap.”
Some enclosed traps use the standard snap bar. Others are zap traps, which kill by electricity. The Automatic Trap Company also offers enclosed traps with a highly reliable air-powered striking mechanism.
Place Traps Wisely
Use multiple traps and place them where you see droppings or along travel paths, such as walls. “One trap is rarely enough, even if it’s just one rat you want to get rid of,” says Carpenter. “Multiple traps ensure quick results.”
How to Prevent Rodents From Getting in Your Home
The first step to keeping rodents at bay is understanding why and how they get into your home. “Rats and mice have been with humans for so long that we forget what they really are: sensitive mammals that are literally just trying to survive, and we create an environment that’s conducive to them,” says Calder
So, on top of sealing potential entry points, it’s important to minimize what they find desirable in our homes — namely access to food, water and shelter. That means storing pet food in sealed containers, keeping floors and counters free from crumbs and open food, putting tight-fitting lids on garbage cans and decluttering.
“The more stuff you have around, the more stuff they can hide under,” says Smith. “They hate being out in the open, where they are vulnerable.”
What the Homeowner Learned
While Lindsay learned that she was capable of DIYing a successful fix, looking back, she also feels that she could have acted more efficiently.
“I guess the biggest lesson is, don’t keep trying something that’s not working,” she says. “When the one thing that we knew how to do wasn’t working, we could have saved ourselves some sleep if we had either done research sooner to find a better solution, or called in an expert.”
But, says Smith, “Ultimately, she did take care of the problem. One thing didn’t work, so she tried another. She kept after it.”
Do you have a Domestic Disaster experience you’d like featured on Family Handyman? Email us your experience at fhmfranchises@tmbi.com.
About the Experts
- Matt Smith has 15 years of experience in the pest control industry and co-founded Green Pest Management in 2014, which serves Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Tennessee.
- Blair Calder is a nationally recognized rat control expert with more than 15 years of professional experience and is the president of Automatic Trap Company in Sonoma, California.
- Nicole Carpenter has decades of hands-on experience in pest control and is president at Black Pest Prevention, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Kyle Turner is the founder, president and CEO of Pro Active Pest Control, serving Sacramento and the Bay Area.
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