They Don't Pay Rent

So just outside of my back door, there's an extra paving stone nestled into the mulch.

It looks a little out of place, but I put it there for a good reason.

Yes, rats again. The little shits chewed their way into my drain pipes. This hole was actually quite a bit smaller when I put the paver on top of it, so they're definitely still active.

So, it's time to fix this problem properly.

This is maybe a little excessive for just catching a bit of runoff from a small awning, but I wasn't the one who installed it, so whatever I guess. It's here and it works, and it's gonna get fixed.

And to fix this, I'll be installing some hardware cloth under the grating. So, that means the grating is coming off. Also the dirt is being cleaned out, while I'm in here.

Cutting the hardware cloth to shape was incredibly easy with these offset shears. They're from Midwest Tools, in case you want a pair of your own.

The first piece was a nice easy rectangle, but for the second piece I wanted to feed the end into the pipe a little ways since the rats were chewing on the fitting at the end as well.

Obviously I slid it in further than that, this is just for illustrative purposes.

With that taken care of, we can reinstall the grating on top, trapping the hardware cloth beneath it.

I switched the chewed up grate to be closer to the house so that I'm less likely to step on that part.

Finally, I replaced the landscape fabric with a new piece, since along with having a hole chewed it in, it had also got some UV damage and was breaking down a bit. Then it was just a matter of raking the mulch back into place.

Good as new, and much more rat-proof.