Living in a small garage but NOT inside SUV

[vanvanvanvan123]

Since I last posted, my circumstance has changed, to living in a garage.
Issues surround : Rats- food, tenants in kitchen, bathroom and using garage for laundry, and possible security of my valuables:
(I expect to tiptoe around tenants.)

I am told I can use the fridge in kitchen and bathroom! Sounds perfect, but i am anticipating in a proactive way, some problems with friction with paying tenants in the home. Only one fridge for food for 4 people is a bit of a tight fit!
 What can i do about attracting rats in a garage? The renter hasn't directly admitted it, but it is obvious if i store food in even a small fridge, I will attract rats. Is this true? Any and all steps to deter rats are appreciated.
There are a number of people living in this home and I think using kitchen must be done very minimally to avoid territorial issues with tenants. The renter is very ambitious to make a profit.. and I agree. But my goal is an harmonious relationship with tenants and rats!

In the past, I have had issues with rats attracted to my car when living in a rural area. e.g. They took the many Blue Cubes of poison I placed by my car ( to prevent infestation )  and dragged the poison cubes into my AIR CLEANER!!

It might be a two car garage and within it the previous guy who lived in it, built a small room within the garage.. I think I can put valuables in that space. 
Renter agreed that hours limiting tenant access to garage - laundry- ought to be established - Any suggestions on these hours would be appreciated?
Thank you

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

How much food will you be storing?  Will you be shopping every other day for small amounts, or buying a weeks worth at a time?

All non refrigerated food not in metal cans needs to be stored in a metal container(s).  Anything from metal ammo cans to a new metal garbage can with lid can work.  No food of any kind can be left out, and any dishes need to be cleaned and put away as soon as you are finished eating.  Empty food containers should ideally be stored somewhere OTHER than inside the garage.  If possible, try to not even EAT in the garage, leftover food ODORS might attract vermin if it's strong enough.

Absolute cleanliness is the key to MINIMISING vermin problems.

Afraid I can't help with the other issues . . .

Regards
John

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

I have no idea how much food... this is not only a new environment, but my diet happens to be moving towards a more healthy direction- more raw salads, less sugars, little gluten- at the same time.
I have to adapt to the rats world. I have to do what minimizes chances of rats entering garage.
If a rat did, is there a modern way to zap the critter?

 

[LeeRevell]

The "Have-a-heart" live trap comes to mind.  No poisons to cause problems.  Tractor Supply Store carries them.

 

[MikeRuth]

Vanx4 LOL you are in or going to be in a tough situation unless all of the folks get along and are on the same page!. I'm assuming your make 4 not 5 people?
Fridge storage would have to be at a minimum with everyone using it. Personally I know that wouldn't work for me. But hey I get it, you need a roof over your head and this is what you got for now.
you said two car garage with a small room in it. Is it ventilated in some way? Is this how Rats could get in? Otherwise your self contained room if kept clean and closed should keep the rats out. IF there is ventilation or some other means by which rats could enter get those points closed up ASAP.

As for the laundry, 4 or 5 people means you all need to have an agreed upon schedule. I'd start with maybe each gets a day to do it and in between certain hours as to keep the noise down for you.

Valuables....You need to be a bit creative here, out of site out of mind kind of creative and secure, as best possible.

Mike R
 Oh and get a good Smoke detector. Always seem to read about the converted garage fire!

 

[highdesertranger]

the best defense against rats that I have found is a good ratter. some cats make excellent ratters. my dog makes a far better one, he will not put up with any type of vermin any where near him. night or day he will relentlessly pursue any vermin until he is victorious. in the mean time all the vermin has time to do is to try to stay alive. highdesertranger

 

[ZoNiE]

X2 on the metal trash can, or if you can find a breadbox at a thrift store... We tried for months to find one when my stepson was at a job corps training program where he was in a dorm that had 100 rats per human...Some of the humans were worse than the rats...

You are in a tough spot. A good footlocker or two doesn't hurt, or a metal cabinet with a lock, or, if you can afford a small 5x5 storage locker at a mini storage, even better.

I'd still use your mini fridge in your room. Put a padlock hasp on it.

I presume when you say "renter" you mean landlord? Does this person live in the house too? It reads that you are not paying rent. You should pay something, then, you should get equal privileges as the other tenants.

X2 on the agreed upon laundry schedule too.

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

Renter is taking $200 for the 2 car garage
but within the garage is the small 5x10 lumber creation of a kind of office within the garage... that costs an additional $200.
then access to garage works like this, there is barely room for three cars in front of the garage, aka, short driveway before sidewalk.
Renter is renting each of the three spaces for $50 per month.
In order to get in and out of Garage It would be convenient to rent one of those spaces in front of garage.
Now I am up to $450 if I rent a parking space! But rent in this part of Calif is just outrageous.
I am uncomfortable with folks washing clothes in my garage, but those are the breaks.
I am thinking the most valuable stuff goes into the 5x10' little "office".
renter is claiming she is going back to her east coast home, so we'll will see.
I am a private person, slightly paranoid ( though I disagree with the term paranoid: cautious is the proper term )
The reason for my caution is a chicken and egg scenario
I am not trustful of people because of so many misunderstandings in the past and present. And distrust tends to breed same.
I think people that end up in van dwelling, are possibly partly my "type", ( though there are certainly the "be free, and traveller, and outdoor lover, and 'be a non conformist' mentalities as well ) do not necessarily get along with others all that well. Nothing to do with immorality or evil, just independent nature mixed with idiosyncrasies. There is a new psychological concept dubbed "Emotional Quotient" or EQ. My EQ needs to be improved.. I am no happy go lucky fella.
So now I am stuck for the moment with a rather odd and unemployed Renter ( renter leased the home for a decade) who hopefully will head back to East coast soon, as she said she would.

Thanks on fire detector reminder.
No, good news, the room within the garage is not ventilated - hoping I can handle the temps- but the other night it was tolerable.

Question, the front door has no ( zero ) latch or bolt-knob on either end ( inside nor outside )
To enter home you have to use a key
to EXIT you HAVE to have a key as well
And to further complicate the key on outside and key on indoor side, are 2 different keys. If there were a need to exit quickly it seems like this is a hazard? Anyone know about this legally speaking?

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

I had read that bear spray is NOT that effective as we would assume in defense against humans!

 

[LeeRevell]

For me this situation is throwing up a myriad of red flags.  I don't know the "California Scene", but years ago here I was involved in sub-renting a small house off a guy who rented from an out-of-town landlord.  My rent money was not going to the landlord, and neither was the rent money from the guy I subrented from.  He bailed finally (turned out he was snorting the money...), leaving me to pay the real landlord over a thousand dollars in back rent - and I was working a minimum wage job.  Bad scene.  Lost a longtime friend.
Swore I'd NEVER subrent again.  This can go belly up in so many ways.
The door lock thing is insane.  I have the same key for both my front and back door now, door knobs and deadbolts.  Same key also on both bedroom doors.  Reduces the bother with multiple keys and less clutter on my keychain.
If you don't rent the parking space, can you still get your car into and out of the garage, or will you need to constantly ask someone to move their car?  That will get old.
These costs are ridiculous to an East Coaster.  That $450 would get you a singlewide mobile home on a 1/8 acre lot here.  But I know things differ elsewhere.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Parking a van to dwell in for $50 in that driveway would be a much better living situation imo.

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

Guys this just occurred to me
I really do not like rats. Living in the country I had rats in my vehicle.
When you folks live and EAT in a vehicle, it just hit me... you must deal with rats?
Please explain?

This woman has a few other spots on her property that she is renting out for vehicles
Maybe I should get a larger vehicle in live in it on her parking spot?

 

[SoulRaven]

What can YOU tell me about possible deed restrictions or the amount of vehicles that can be parked legally on residential property in this particular municipality?

 

[Marie]

If a person has a livable vehicle, and rents a place to park/live in it, at least when (or if) the SHTF, and the situation goes totally downhill, they can get in the vehicle and drive away. Might give you a little bit of freedom, or control.

 

[Phantom Blooper]

To each there own....and I know ALL circumstances are different.

But I would take that $450.00 a month and rent a room with less drama and hassles and maybe a few privileges in the home.

Maybe some light yard work ,to help in defraying the cost.

And then what you don't use for your monthly expense save towards getting a rollin' dwelling of some sort.

From reading this thread their are just too many variables and laundry lists to make it a comfortable experience.

Security,peace of mind,PRIVACY and freedom are a few.

I secure food and valuables when boon docking or on the road because of wildlife and it is the thing to do.

But you shouldn't have to use prepper methods while paying somebody for living in their abode and have to (maybe) fight with house mates about food, laundry and valuable personal space.

Again just my opine....situations vary and are different. Good luck!

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

I have a lot of stuff so the garage is perfect. If I Uber the ability to quickly empty vehicle of gear ( my line of work is musician ) is important. I agree it's tricky for sure.

How do you keep rats out of van dwelling place?

 

[One Awesome Inch]

I have a lot of stuff   so the garage is perfect. If I Uber the ability to quickly empty vehicle of gear ( my line of work is musician ) is important. I agree it's tricky for sure.

How do you keep rats out of van dwelling place?

Rats? First of all I would not put up with rats in my van for one second. The condo i used to live in had mice and at one time I think we have about 10 of them. Gross! Their excrement is disgusting and they poop/pee in places that are hard to clean. We finally got rid of them and then 3 months later they returned. This time my then wife relented to my idea to get a cat. Once he cat was there... no more problems with mice. The whole building has them, but once they smell  cat they would prefer to invade  a place without  predator.


To stop rats, which are MUCH worse than mice, seal up all food in air tight preferably metal containers. Second, make sure there are NO holes in your vehicle. A mouse can enter a hole as small as 1/4 inch.


I am musician as well, I play bass guitar, so I know there can be alot of gear to contend with. Along with my bass guitar gear, I also have a small but complete PA system. To comfortable live in a van you really only have two choices. 1. Pay for somewhere to store your stuff not needed on a daily basis. 2. Get serious about minimizing your possessions. This is the better option. They say 80% of the time you use 20% of your stuff. I keep my entire bass rig in my van, including two bass cabs. The PA I keep in my exwife's condos' underground storage area. I have 4 types of things in my van. 1. Food. 2. Tools (fills one milkcrate). 3. Bass gear (two cabs, one amp, one bass... last summer had 7 basses, but got rid of them. I can only play one bass at a time! 4. Clothes. I own 8 shirts, 3 pants, two shorts, one sweater and socks/underwear to last a week. I also have some cookware (one pot, one bowl, one spoon, one fork, one knife, one cup) and a basic toiletry kit. However, that is *everything* I own. In fact, I have a drawer/storage unit in my van I am considering getting rid of because its 80% empty and the 20% can either be gotten rid of or stored somewhere else.

Point is you will be miserable having a bunch of stuff in a van. Constantly having to move it, organize it etc. Dump everything you dont use very regularly. Again, the only other option is to rent a storage locker somewhere.

Best of luck!

 

[akrvbob]

Since I am strictly a boondocker, I've never had a rat. They are a natural byproducts of cities--in my world-view both are vile.

Mice on the other hand, are a natural result of forests and I've had lots of those in my van, you certainly can't keep them out of your engine and they are most destructive there.

I use Tomcat Glue traps and D-Con poison. The Glue traps are great! Tomcat makes two kinds and the one that folds up into a little house seems like a good idea but I had a mouse pull all of it's hair out and escape it. Buy the other one!. Put a little dab of Peanut Butter in the center dimple and they can't resist. If they are to smart for the glue traps the poison will kill them eventually.

I've never had a problem with the dead ones smelling. They get very sick before they die and I think they leave the van then and die outside.

Traps are tempermental. I've had some that wouldn't go off and I've had others that were too sensitive and went off before the mouse was inside. I've had much better luck with glue traps.
Bob

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

Ok Not the best news, but sounds in keeping with my experiences with rodents.
What if you never ate inside van? I guess food is only one attraction , the heat and shelter of vehicle is the other!?

Did I already mention my experience with rats in my sports car? I used multiple cubes of D Con poisonous blue cubes,
and the rats on two occasions ( in quick succession ) removed the large cubes ( more than 4 or 5 ) and put those cubes in my cars large Air Cleaner area!

 

[akrvbob]

In August, female mice are having babies and they want to go inside to have them in a warm, dry place. When I was a campground host every fall I had mice come in and make nests in my bathrooms and had babies. They weren't there for the food!

I always use D-Con but I always use the pellets and have never had them carried around--just eaten. It makes sense they would carry off the large chunks because they are building a nest and they want to save the food for winter. They don't do that with the pellets.
Bob