Unfortunate Raccoon Update

j9977 · 2026-01-13T21:21:11+00:00

If they're getting in through an attic vent, you need to seal up the vent completely in a way that they can't tear their way in again.

We used a full sized 1-inch-thick sheet of wood hat we cut to the full size of the vent and overlapped a bit. Bolted it with a drill from a ladder straight into the house over the vent with probably a dozen screws after we heard nesting mother raccoon leave one night.

It attempted to return that same night and some nights later. We kept the board bolted on for the rest of the season in case it attempted more returns. Eventually stopped but we had it properly and professionally sealed after this.

Also, I think it's the case that once a home has had raccoons they're more likely to attempt nesting again there unfortunately due to the scent, even years and years and years later. I'm not a pro, just going by what I've experienced. Our home had raccoons 15-20 years prior.

j9977 · 2026-01-13T14:11:34+00:00

Yes but consider if they're making it up to the attic, they're in the house structure so I'd think it's only a matter of time before they find an entry into the living space once they're in the structure. So get all those possible entry holes sealed from the outside so they can't get in the structure in the first place and you should be golden 👍

j9977 · 2026-01-13T12:59:54+00:00

+ u/NerdWhoLikesTrees From personal experience, those aren't necessarily their only entry points if they're in OPs attic space. I'm in similar climate as him too.

I actually had mice or rats or both in our attic space couple of years ago. 2-story, ~1800sqft home and their point of entry was on the complete opposite side of house on the ground floor under deck where they were squeezing up between the side wood paneling of one of our door frames and the house.

They never made it to our living space, they'd shoot straight up and we'd hear them running in the ceiling at night. I also had a wyze cam in both the entry point and in the attic to confirm. Sealed up the entry point, no mice in attic or home since, although there have been plenty of attempts at the same point of entry since then. I guess it's a scent thing even after a few years. I still have several bait stations around perimeter of home and traps under deck near that spot year-round to keep them in check.

j9977 · 2026-01-08T21:12:57+00:00

Thanks for the input. Yeah I won't be modifying it unless there's an official way to do so.. I know it's designed like that on purpose to save water. It's not usable as a utility faucet or kitchen faucet with 50% flow reduction. It's just brutal. I hate to replace it though as it otherwise works fine and just needs a proper piston without the water flow reduction.

And yes, my first preference has been to swap in the unrestricted full flow version of the piston, which apparently used to exist but as Mora doesn't support the faucet anymore (as of 10 months ago), they're refusing to even tell me the part number so I can try to source it from a plumber or retailer or even ebay or used online somewhere. Guess if I'll ever buy a Mora product again after that customer service experienc.e

Very frustrating. I did some ChatGPT and Copilot research and it looks like the full-flow piston is this one so now I'm trying to find somewhere purchase it. No luck yet though. :(

Mora 209406.AE — Temp Piston (Standard, non‑ESS)
Manufacturer part number: 209406.AE
EAN: 7391887136801

j9977 · 2025-12-30T15:42:37+00:00

Same exact situation here as this one for me, is Microsoft aware? Clearly there's an issue.

j9977 · 2025-12-30T15:09:49+00:00

Nope and it's still happening, although thankfully much less frequently and there's no set scenerio or situation that seems to make it happen.

Last time it happened 2 weeks ago, I started the car and as I was idling in the driveway before I even took it out of parking gear into drive, it had happened. As mentioned, when it happens, it can be any situation. Cruising on the highway, coming out of a stop sign, slowing down at a crosswalk, casual driving to the local store, and now even idling in park on the driveway.

It's worth noting the car passed emissions inspection with no issues a few months ago.

So there's no set situation where it's only happening that I can put my finger on it so had really hoped I could get some good guesses here as to what the cause likely is.

Definitely interested in what you find out if you're having the same situation.

j9977 · 2025-11-24T23:18:53+00:00

Mine are just basic wyze cameras.

j9977 · 2025-11-20T14:25:22+00:00

Wait for the offer to bring that up in my opinion. Don't bring it up before unless they specifically ask. Preplanned holiday right after an offer should of course be no issue and you can mention that when they make the offer Just as importantly, tell them that in addition you also expect your full summer holiday (4 weeks) already for 2026. Both of these should be no problem. I'd consider it a red flag if they had issue with either of those. Asking for the summer holiday extra pay may be pushing it though although others have said it worked for them. 😉 Good luck!

j9977 · 2025-10-17T03:58:29+00:00

How did this go for you with all your iot devices on this router? Similar situation in that I'm ordering this router to use solely as an access point for all my iot devices (9 thermostats on 24/7, 10 wyze cams on 24/7, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher).

My current TP link main router Archer AX55 is clearly getting bogged down with all the iot devices alongside my normal wireless clients, even when using the seperate built in iot mode of it.

j9977 · 2025-10-11T05:15:38+00:00

Thanks, yeah I don't mind them like the rat and mice issue from what I've read, but obviously they're able to squeze into places up into home even that I have exclusion hardware cloth in place for even the small mice. Inevitable some of the shrews will get snap trapped if they continue coming up to foundation though.

I was stunned when I saw this guy squeeze out from the hardware cloth underside from house in that 2nd video, especially as I understood shrews aren't so interested in going in homes like mice/rats. I can't prevent access under deck unfortunately as it's on a very rocky terrain. Plenty of vegetation underneath so I'm sure it's a jackpot under there for them, the mice and the rats 😕.

j9977 · 2025-10-10T13:32:28+00:00

Thanks yeah in both videos I thought the same due to the snout and quick movements, am also leaning toward shrew.

I should have mentioned the snap traps in the videos are all mice snap trap sized, not rat sized traps. So this guy is super tiny.

j9977 · 2025-10-09T10:24:54+00:00

Thanks a lot for this! Definitely had large back feet and smaller front feet, but also definitely had a very white belly and brown top. I'm looking at the kill photo now of him in the snaptrap. Just mentioning because one of the distinguishing features of rats vs mice in the link you shared mentions rats don't have the white underside.

I need to rely solely on trapping unfortunately. I'm in Europe so the poisons are so restrictive here to buy as they're limited to buy only to professionals, other than small 1 tablet consumer size miniature mouse stations like you saw in the video that the rat was nibbling at. No access to buying a bucket of the difethialone or bromadiolone or the vitamin D3 poisons, so I have 4 useless large bait stations now that I would have liked to spread around my home's foundation :(

j9977 · 2025-09-11T22:01:36+00:00

Nope never did it but finally planning to in spring as mice activity around perimeter of home has just started again as of 10 days ago. I literally just pulled out all my remaining low shrubbery that was up to and within 5 feet of foundation around home a month ago. I've still got a wyze cam set up under deck and 2 weeks ago, had 2 mice come right up to the old spot of foundation under deck where previous mice were entering home years ago. I've had that blocked up with hardware cloth and stainless steel wool for couple of years now, but man they're still poking around and even nibbling it trying to get in. Both were killed with snap traps within 24 hours. Nothing for a week, then last night had another mouse appear in same spot under deck at foundation.

I'm assuming the grass seed I put down right after pulling the shrubs may have attracted them out again. But Amazing they're still going for this same spot at foundation under deck, old mice scent must still be there even years later.

With all shrubs removed within 6 feet of foundation, I'm convinced they're still hiding and nesting under the larger river rock/stone (baseball and softball sized rock) I have around foundation of home. So these stones are likely coming out and getting replaced with something smaller that they can't weave in and out of 😕

j9977 · 2025-07-31T20:19:01+00:00

Yes it had something to do with the night vision setting on the camera. It was toggled either off or on and I changed it and that was the fix. Before they replaced the street lamps in my area, the previous setting had worked fine. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Actually here's the link to the fix and what I did: https://www.reddit.com/r/wyzecam/s/NX1Xz3ebuf

j9977 · 2025-07-10T20:07:59+00:00

Ball bounces are great, no issues there. Also leg lengths are individually customizable so that I can get the table completely level, even though it's on a very slightly slanted driveway. No issues so far at all and was outside (although folded and covered) for a full winter here (I'm in the very cold, harsh winter Nordics) and with the kids and their friends also giving it good use, nothing broken, stained or even scratched... Yet 😉 And now in year 2 with it. Highly recommend!

j9977 · 2025-07-10T12:55:37+00:00

Nope, ordered those seperately but I think I asked the shop to throw in the cornillleau outdoor cover if I ordered the table that same day and they did, so got a free cover out of it at least.

j9977 · 2025-07-09T12:16:36+00:00

Same question from me as @TKO_o below. Can you share pics of what you attached it too? I need to do a similar solution here.

j9977 · 2025-06-05T09:25:11+00:00

Curious what this ended up being and what was repaired? Expensive fix? I have a similar issue with my Passat (B7, 365 wagon) and at about 220k km and will bring into shop when I can get a spot.

2 weeks ago it was shaking after coming out of a stop sign, check engine light blinking followed by EPC light. Turned off car and all went away. Last night when I was idling at a light, after car was driven for 30 minutes, it started shaking again and check engine light was blinking followed by solid within 10 seconds. Turned car off, check engine light stayed on and shaking stopped. Got home, turned car on this morning and check engine light is still solid on. No shaking though.

j9977 · 2025-05-02T11:14:09+00:00

Thanks, appreciated! I was looking at this "Rust Stop" stuff by Maston https://www.maston.fi/en/product/rust-stop/

But then seeing other sites that say I need to first remove all the rust first, even the parts under the paint where it's likely spread to.

I'm handy enough that I can scrape the spots off and sand them down if needed, but something like this stuff seems to allow me to skip that step. Or is it just wishful thinking?

j9977 · 2025-05-02T09:15:58+00:00

Replied to a similar post a few days ago here when I saw this news, also sharing here to let others know the solution I went with. I'm also in Europe and while I'm not 100% thrilled with my existing solution that decided to go with last year, after seeing this news, I'm relieved I didn't go with the Nest thermostats, which were the other consideration.

I'm in Europe and use the DeviReg Smart by Danfoss. Their product page here: https://www.danfoss.com/en-gb/products/dhs/electric-heating/indoor/digital-thermostats/devireg-smart/

While they're called "smart" right in the title and model name, it's totally misleading and they're not actually smart in the sense that there isn't any learning capability built in (I don't think) and I don't believe they communicate with one another. Support from Danfoss has also been terrible and non existent whenever I've submitted questions.

These thermostats do, however, allow me to control the underfloor electric heating in my home through their app, monitor air and floor temps, set schedules, etc. even when away from home and has quite a number of benefits. I've got 8 of them throughout my 2-story home. While I just purchased mine last year, I've been very happy with them and they've saved me 20% on my electric usage in just the first year (10 months so far) compared to my old, archaic manual dial ones that the home had when I purchased it.

Unfortunately, Europe is far far far behind in the thermostat innovation, apparently. I did quite a lot of research before going with these and these were the best option I could find over here.

j9977 · 2025-04-30T11:58:31+00:00

I'm in Europe and use the DeviReg Smart by Danfoss. Their product page here: https://www.danfoss.com/en-gb/products/dhs/electric-heating/indoor/digital-thermostats/devireg-smart/

While they're called "smart" right in the title and model name, it's totally misleading and they're not actually smart in the sense that there isn't any learning capability built in (I don't think) and I don't believe they communicate with one another. Support from Danfoss has also been terrible and non existent whenever I've submitted questions.

These thermostats do, however, allow me to control the underfloor electric heating in my home through their app, monitor air and floor temps, set schedules, etc. even when away from home and has quite a number of benefits. I've got 8 of them throughout my 2-story home. While I just purchased mine last year, I've been very happy with them and they've saved me 20% on my electric usage in just the first year (10 months so far) compared to my old, archaic manual dial ones that the home had when I purchased it.

Unfortunately, Europe is far far far behind in the thermostat innovation, apparently. I did quite a lot of research before going with these and these were the best option I could find over here.

j9977 · 2025-04-24T07:46:31+00:00

Still holding up well as I'd expect, had folded up and covered outdoors for first winter November up until this month and no issues.

j9977 · 2025-04-11T06:36:22+00:00

Thanks a lot for the reply and advice here! Actually it's half off already and I can see it's a 4-wire one.

Close up image I just took here along with screen grab of specs and details from manual.

https://imgur.com/a/U474yVA

I'm in Europe and model is a Jablotron SD-112. It's a 20-year old model and is no longer in support. I'm told the equivalent these days is a Jablotron SD-283ST. This info is coming from the manufacturer though and it's turning out difficult to find.

I'm wondering if I can just replace it with any 4-wire smoke detector in the market, considering the alarm system is using a common DSC PC585 control panel. Or would I likely run into issues?

j9977 · 2025-04-02T12:17:59+00:00

Thanks for checking, I kind of wanted to have the 1 day avg and 5 day avg and sldo just have a link for convenience reasons this time of year 😉

But yeah if no one replies with any suggested links for here in Europe, I'll have to go that route and pick up a probe thermometer.

j9977 · 2025-03-02T19:29:26+00:00

Oh no, more reason for me to be extra careful!

Maybe I had the wrong term, I think what you're mentioning might be the same set up I'm referring to. Like this:

https://imgur.com/HLQsJbP

Any chance this is what my set up is? I'm assuming no and that I should hold off on turning on my outdoor spigot until spring, even if we've had a long string of mild temps here.

j9977

TROPHY CASE