Chuck Shaw

I have never had a rat problem but I have to reduce the population of mice every October in our hunting camp.

In my opinion mice and rats are smarter than people give them credit for. They are not smart enough to know what a trap is but they can learn very quickly.  If A rodent sees another get caught in a trap, or dead in a trap,  they will avoid it no matter what type of bait you put in it.

What I have found that works is to gang set ( multiple traps) with 1 type of trap. They have to be the same one whether its the wooden type or the new plastic ones with teeth. But only use 1 type. Its what the rat/mouse sees, not how it works, is what I'm trying to say.  leave those traps out till the catch rate drops.  
Once the catch rate goes down, remove those traps and replace them with another type (look). Keep swapping the traps every time the catch rate goes down. Then replace those traps. It's best if you can find a third type of trap but if you don't have that then just rotate the first trap you used back in.  When you switch traps you catch the rats that have wisened up to and avoid the first traps.

In my opinion using peanut butter or cheese whiz is not a good option. That stuff is messy and gets all over the traps and into little nooks that are hard to clean and it can go rancid or moldy. Stick with seeds, nuts, corn kernels etc .  And change up these baits  frequently also.

 Gang plank or Adirondack mouse trap styles can work well also, are inexpensive and have the ability to catch multiple animals and will not harm your chickens. A quick search on YouTube will show you how to make one. A 5 gallon bucket works well for mice but you will need something a little deeper for rats. A little caution with these types. If you decide to use these without liquid you will either have to kill them yourself after a catch or you will take them away from your place and let them go. The first way can be difficult for some people and the second way will probably transfer your problem to another human on another homestead. And that's not being humane to other humans.

Finally,  mice and rats are dirty filthy animals that will poop on everything, spread disease, make you and your animals miserable at best and make you very sick at worst. This is a war that I/you need and should intend to win. I catch most of them the first few days in camp and can live relatively peacefully for the rest of the month.  I get it that some do not feel this way and are more concerned with doing it humanely. Not me. I want them dead and I don't care how I have to do it. They don't play humanely so neither will I. If they would stop getting in my food and pooping in my dishes then I would do it differently. Until then , I'll catch them any way I can whether it kills them instantly or in 1 minute.

There is a lot of truth to this as I have experienced. It seems that this process, as described in the initial post, is like making a big bucket of kefir. While I'm not sure if that is technically true, it seems to me like it is.

Here is what happened to me.

So I had decided that I wanted to stop buying the over sweetened, expensive, store bought kefir and to start making my own. I found a source and purchased the "grains" to do so.
While researching the techniques of making kefir you invariably learn of its many benefits. Adding the whey to your plant soils, adding to animal water etc etc.

My wife was gifted some kind of small plant that was potted in a small decorative  pail about the size of a very large soup mug . It was A scraggly little thing that we had no idea of what it was. Anyway, she watered it for a year or better and while it grew slightly bigger (and I mean slightly), it really never did anything.

Fast forward to When I started making kefir. Because it was winter, I was saving a small portion of the whey to consume and I was just dumping the rest down the drain. Then I remembered that you could feed it to plants.
I didn't dilute it as instructed above but just put a teaspoon of straight whey onto the soil of that little plant. I can't believe it didn't kill it.  I forget now how long it took to notice a difference but I would guess a week or two. Well that little plant took off. It started growing like mad and shortly thereafter started putting on these tiny little red flowers. We were amazed and could only think that it was the kefir whey that did it.

During the start of Covid, when NY state decided to experiment in overreach, shut down our economy and cause the loss of thousands of jobs, my wife became a victim. Anyway, She had a spider plant that she brought, from her lost job, with her. While it was alive, it wasn't really doing that well. It was very thin with only a few babies. I started adding the kefir whey to it as well and sure enough it responded the same as that other tiny plant. It became full and really started dropping babies. What once was a plant that only required a little watering became a plant that we now had to continually prune to keep it under control.

Since then I realized that while making kefir was easy it became burdensome to care for EVERY day and I also could not consume it fast enough. Then my wife started complaining about all of the jars sitting in the back of the fridge. I made the easy decision to stop making it.

That little plant in the little pail went back to its scraggly little self.
The spider plant, while still in better shape than when it arrived,  stopped growing profusely and sending out as many babies.

So that's my little story that kind of adds a little validation to the original post.

The problem I see with modern homes is the size of certain rooms within.
It seems that some people have grand ideas about what they will be doing in those rooms. Those grand ideas are what increase the size and cost of homes.
For instance, I have seen on many "house hunter" type of show that a lot of people place a real value on the size (oversizing) of the bedrooms. This is just my opinion but in my eyes a person need only enough space to comfortably store ones clothes and to sleep. I have seen huge bedrooms with couches, reading nooks etc etc.
Which brings me to my next room, bathrooms/master bathrooms. I see huge bathrooms that could comfortably fit many people at once. At least in my opinion, rarely is a bathroom being used by more than two people and that is usually a husband and a wife within their master bath. All other bathrooms (children's, community) are historically used by 1 person at a time as no one wants their brother/sister in the bathroom while they shower or whatever. So a 1 person bathroom could be much smaller in that instance. Put the laundry in there and you have saved on the one use laundry room.
Different areas of the country have vastly different cost/square foot to have a house built. Lets say it costs $100/sf.  If you were to collectively cut 200sf of space from those 5 rooms ( in a 3 bedroom home with 2 bathrooms) that would save $20,000 dollars.
You pay for every sf whether you actually use it or just walk through it. For instance, in an open concept house, I have seen great spaces between the living room, dining room and kitchen. That is dead space that you are paying for. I'm not saying It has to be crammed together, I'm just saying to be more reasonable. In some friends homes, I have walked through some pretty expansive "empty space" as I move from one area to another within an open concept design.
Removing the dining room and adding a little more space to accommodate a table has the potential to save major sf. Take a 12 by 12 dining room out of the equation ( which is small by today's standards) and you have saved another $14,000.

Rooflines. I see all these rooflines with multiple hips and valleys. Useless, multiple, Decorative gables in the roofline are another area of high cost. There is a lot of time and lumber involved in constructing decorative rooflines. I would not know the savings on that but just think of the needed material,  time involved in framing, extra roofing material and you can only imagine the savings. I live in a northern climate where we get a lot of snow. Valleys only serve to collect snow and if not done properly can be the source of a leaky roof.

Kitchens and living rooms are where, in my opinion, you want to spend your money. That is where you will spend the majority of your awake hours with, again in my opinion, the kitchen being most important. Sure, Make them comfortable for your determined amount of usage but don't get crazy.Yes, Kitchens need to be slightly larger to accommodate a table.

Now add in the savings of the reduced the cost of heating and cooling, reduced lighting fixtures that save on electricity etc etc. and you have major saving on owning a house.

What I think is most important about building a house is insulation. I once heard someone say , " you pay for insulation once. You pay for heat loss for the rest of your life". No truer statement could have been said. Learn how to insulate and learn how to do it properly and you won't regret it. Do not trust that your contractor is going to do it properly. It is a rotten job that most hate and just rush through.

Some contractors are willing to work with some people and will let the future homeowner do some projects that will save additional money. Especially if they do not like doing them (like insulation). Usually, contractors hire an insulation sub contractor and then charge you (a lot), above what the sub contractor charged him. And all the contractor did was make a phone call to the sub contractor. I hope that is not confusing.

In my daughter/son in law's  home the contractor let us install the proper vent, insulate the house and wire it because we had the basic knowledge to do it with a little help sometimes for complicated runs like 3 way switches and the like.
We caulked each exterior wall where it meets the floor to keep pests and drafts from getting underneath and through to the interior. Bend down sometime and look under a newly constructed exterior wall and see all the gaps. You would be amazed.
We spray foamed narrow stud spacing as it is difficult to stuff regular insulation in them. We spray foamed behind every exterior wall outlet and switch.  We, not the contractor, hired a company to blow something like 24" of cellulose ( best in my opinion) into the attic which allows for some settling. You can even do this yourself by renting the equipment to do it. If you do, wear a proper dust mask. They have never had an ice dam on their roof and their house is never drafty. I have never lived in a hot climate but In my humble opinion, it is not taller ceilings you need to improve your comfort. I would think that improved venting and properly insulated attics are where the answer lies. Again, having never lived there , I could be wrong.

We painted the interior of the house. Anyone can paint. Might not be fun but you can do it. And it will save you A LOT of money. That alone I think saved them somewhere between $5-10K.

Again, Do not indicate you want to do some of the work before getting the estimate of the build. Let him give you the price and THEN ask about doing some work yourself. If he agrees then he should then start subtracting some of the cost from the original estimate. If you ask BEFORE you get the estimate, and he agrees to let you do it, he could realistically  just charge you the same price as if he was doing ALL the work and you would never know it.
If your contractor is not willing to let you do this, look for another. But I would caution you to use a reputable contractor. Don't just go with the lowest price. It may cost you in the long run.

My daughter and SIL did not reduce the size of their large home but they saved tens of thousands of dollars doing some of the work.

I would love to go on but this is getting very lengthy as it is. I know that not everyone will agree but I just thought I would give some ideas about saving some money if building a house is in your future.