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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask family member to get their 'stuff' out of my garage

34 replies

MaitlandGirl · 30/09/2015 09:23

DPs Aunt is between houses and is storing loads of her belongings in our garage (which is an integral garage). It's a double garage absolutely chock full of 'stuff'.

It's been there for a couple of months and there's been a weird smell in there ever since it was put in there. Today I realised its mouse urine :(

I threw an epic tantrum when I realised and an even worse one when I saw a very large mouse (or more likely a small rat!!) run across the top of my Christmas tree box (which is also stored in the garage) and have declared she needs to get all her stuff out within the week.

DPs Aunt has declared its just a few mice and I'm overreacting but I've lived in a house with a severe mouse/rat infestation and I refuse to do so again.

We've put loads of traps down and rat bait but the whole garage needs emptying and the floor needs power washing to try and get rid of the smell.

So AIBU to tell DPs Aunt (who knew there were nice in her boxes) to get all her mouse ridden belongings out of my garage and into a storage unit within the week. She's living with my in laws at the moment and not paying rent so it's not as if she can't afford to pay for storage space.

OP posts:

MythicalKings · 30/09/2015 09:26

YANBU. That's gross.

PassiveAgressiveQueen · 30/09/2015 09:27

put poison down

summerainbow · 30/09/2015 09:27

Mice in garage not exactly news is it.
It is the time of year they come in .
Have you got holes anywhere they could come in.

catfordbetty · 30/09/2015 09:28

The aunt knew that her belongings contained mice? Did she tell you that?

Original poster

MaitlandGirl · 30/09/2015 09:55

Its spring here and mice = snakes and the last thing I want is a king brown or red-bellied black snake in the house again. Been there, done that and have no wish to EVER repeat that experience.

OP posts:

specialsubject · 30/09/2015 09:58

mice come in to properties in autumn. Unless aunt is storing food, it's not her fault.

but you do need to clear and clean so the stuff has to move.

no need for diva strops though, it's only mice.

murphys · 30/09/2015 10:01

Well to be fair OP, they could have come in anyway seeing as its the season for them now. They could have been in your Christmas tree box for all you know. I wouldn't rush around all guns blazing, just have a discussion with her as to how much longer she intendeds storing her things with you. If she says one more week, well then you know shes moving it out soon. If she says she is unsure, then suggest she moves it to storage instead as you are needing the space now or something like that.

She must be having a bit of an upheaval in her life due to fact that she has had to store all her belongings elsewhere and live with family.

reni2 · 30/09/2015 10:06

Yes, set a deadline day and tell her the stuff goes in the skip thereafter. What was the originally envisaged time frame, was it for the rest of your natural life until further notice or was it November when the house move is finished?

OOAOML · 30/09/2015 10:12

DId she admit there were mice in her stuff? I'm assuming inside a sofa or something?

I can understand you wanting to get the garage cleaned out asap, I live in a tenement flat and we get mice most years. However I think you probably need to calm down and set a reasonable timescale for her moving stuff out, as moving a double garage full of stuff is going to take a bit of organisation. And as she's your DP's aunt I think your DP should be taking on the communications.

mileend2bermondsey · 30/09/2015 10:15

Everyone who keeps saying 'it's autumn, thats what happens' clearly missed the post where OP states she is in the southern hemisphere.

2rebecca · 30/09/2015 10:18

It sounds as though you didn't clarify what she wanted to store and for how long before agreeing to it. Why would she deliberately put mice in her boxes? That bit sounds bizarre. I've had belongings in storage before and putting mice is isn't normal behaviour!
I'd give her a time scale of 2 weeks to get them in professional storage. If they're ready boxed that should be easy.
Next time don't automatically say yes to relatives. Easier to say no than say yes and then change your mind.

MajesticWhine · 30/09/2015 10:19

I hear you about the mice / rats. I hate them too. But really - the mice were in her belongings? That sounds quite unlikely. Surely more likely they were coming into your garage anyway.

GrinAndTonic · 30/09/2015 10:20

Given how dry it is at the moment it's going to be a bitch of a snake season as they all head into suburbia for food. I'd throw down heaps of ratsak in the meantime.

TheGreenNinja · 30/09/2015 10:25

Mice are annoying, but it's highly unlikely they were in her belongings. Much more likely they have just found your garage nice and cosy now there are lots of nooks and crannies to hide in. We had mice in our attached garage previously and found the plug-in ultrasonic deterrents worked really well. Our garage was full of our own crap stuff so we couldn't get rid!
On the storage side, just give her a reasonable deadline (can she sort storage and transport within a week?) and don't overreact.

Birdsgottafly · 30/09/2015 10:28

What is your DP saying about it? Presumably the garage is joint owned by both of you and it's his relative that you are doing the favour for?

It depends on circumstances, if she has been left homeless by a cheating DH/Widowed then I'd cut her some slack, if she's sitting on cash waiting to buy another house, then that's different.

ifonly4 · 30/09/2015 10:30

The last thing you want to do is fall out about this. Try and get everything out of the garage temporarily you don't want ruined. Ask Aunt if she can remove everything from there in the next couple of weeks (giving her chance to make other arrangements) so you can sort problem out. Also, point out that if mice continue to be present they're going to damage her furniture/boxes of items etc.

If she won't move things out, do you have enough room in your garden/drive to all her stuff on. Tell her you'll be doing this, and her items will be out in all weathers for a week or two, as you want to get the whole area cleaned, dried and baited.

ajandjjmum · 30/09/2015 10:32

I could live with mice - not happily - but could deal with them. SNAKES!!! Now that's another thing. I'd never be living there anyway!

CloakAndJagger · 30/09/2015 10:32

You're right. It's time for it to go into storage so you can sort the smell and get rid of the mice.

ouryve · 30/09/2015 10:34

Tell her that if it's not out by the weekend, you're putting it out on the drive so you can clean the garage properly.

sleeponeday · 30/09/2015 10:34

You might be overreacting if you lived in the UK. Southern hemisphere, and they attract extremely poisonous snakes, as you say. And even if you were overreacting... what an incredible nerve, telling people doing you a massive favour that, when said favour is leading to a rodent infestation!

YADNBU. It's your damn garage! She can pay for storage, like most people have to.

Cantthinkofannewname · 30/09/2015 10:35

I don't think the OP is accusing the aunt of bringing in mice though maybe her stuff is attractive to them (e.g. soft furnishings that they like to chew). But to sort out the mice problem you need to clear the whole garage and you can't do that with her stuff there. She isn't going to want her stuff eaten up by them either!

I'd set a date, maybe find a storage facility for her, ask if she's going to move them herself or get a removal firm to do it.

sleeponeday · 30/09/2015 10:35

It depends on circumstances, if she has been left homeless by a cheating DH/Widowed then I'd cut her some slack, if she's sitting on cash waiting to buy another house, then that's different.

Yeah, I agree with that. But assuming it's a normal situation, she needs to get over herself and stop with the impatience towards people helping her out. Snakes are no fun.

2rebecca · 30/09/2015 11:02

The OP said the aunt knew there were mice in her boxes. That's the bit I find weird. How did the mice get in the boxes in the first place? When I've put items in boxes for storage they have been in sealed boxes.
Are these unsealed boxes she has been storing somewhere mice infested for months before the move? If so i wouldn't have accepted them in the first place.

hattyhatter · 30/09/2015 11:03

She's 'between houses'? Does that mean homeless?

2rebecca · 30/09/2015 11:15

You can be homeless but with enough cash to rent somewhere and pay for storage but just having sold one house and be waiting for another to become free. I'm sure many of us have been in that situation.

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