Tinan, I would say your definition of "harm" and mine are different. Having all the insulation eaten off your car's engine wires, sitting outside in your driveway, causing a $1,200 repair bill not *relatively* harmless. I respectfully disagree with your observation. My neighbor and his brand new Jag were not happy, nor did they consider the roof rats responsible for that damage *relatively* harmless. Roof rats have also destroyed several of my fruit trees by girdling them (now have chicken wire around trunks), as well as eaten large amounts of my citrus at my expense. Of course risk of disease will be higher if rats invade your home, garage or storage sheds, but they are still not *relatively* harmless even outside. As Renee has provided for us, careful trapping can keep the population down, and reduce damage and harm to both yourself and your property. I have successfully trapped and poisoned the rats to the point of keeping the damage down to reasonable levels, but I will always battle them out here where I live, due to ideal living conditions for roof rats. Even with all the predators I have in my area, Barn owls, Great Horned owls, Red Tailed hawks, Red Shoulder hawks, White Tailed kites, Peregrine Falcons, American Kestrels, Sharp Shinned hawks, coyotes, bobcats, roadrunners and weasels. All these predators I see on a daily basis still cannot keep our rodent population down, so I assist to keep my property from harm. Patty S.

Oxi-Clean powder made into a paste with some water can help with the white grout. Try in a spot and make sure it doesn't cause the floor to be too slick. I used it on tile walls and it worked very well. Just apply the paste with your finger and let it dry a little before scrubbing with a small brush to see how it works in your situation. (I used it on glazed tile, not tumbled marble.) If the grout is moldy, try Tilex Spray for Mold Removal. It works fast and does a great job. I also swear by baking soda and water for some stubborn stains. Hope this helps.

You can't really touch up a rolled wall with a brush and expect it to blend in. Eggshell is tough to touch up, but you need to use a roller or dab the paint on with a brush to simulate the texture the roller made.

Buy some plastic rat traps (you can find them on Amazon), and bait them with raisins. Place one or two traps near damaged plants or obvious entryways into your yard. Do this after sundown, and collect the traps as early in the morning as you can, else you may trap/kill some friendlies. Mix up the trap placement. There is a fair chance packrats are contributing to your damage. Left unchecked, they will make more packrats -- quickly -- and may wind up inflicting costly damage to more than just your plants. IE??? Seriously??