Rats in my Solera

[Safari-Rick]

One more solution to this mice problem is buying the stainless steel scrubbing pads (Not SOS) you can get at the 99 cent stores. Stuff them in those holes, (including vehicle frame)

Did that on my Airstream I use to have. Even the rats hate it cause the steel cuts up their insides !

......just saying

[Pedrodasdas]

You are so right Safari that I just add some BullDog steel pad. Thanks.


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[Pedrodasdas]

Ok, I think I solved the problem for good. Even with screen and bulldog steel wool, I caught 3more mouses !!! I must specify I live in a wooded area, lots of mices !

BUT, finally found where they were getting in. TADAM ! By the opening around the shower P-Trap of the shower. I stuffed it with steel wool, no more mices , none for the last 2weeks, hourra !

Leaving tomorrow morning for Florida with no aliens aboard !


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[Still Kickin]

Pedrodasdas, can you just summarize for us "S" model owners, where you found the problems voids, in addition to the shower P trap, for those critters to enter. Thanks

[Pedrodasdas]

There are only two major opening you need to stuff with steel wool.

The water pipe entry behind the hose compartment and the upper portion of the shower p-trap.

They are both located in the service bay where you plug your electricity and water.

Take a look at Tommyb pictures and mine.

[Living_The_Dream]

We found mouse dropping under the sinks and in drawers. No sign in the living area (thank goodness). I don't see any droppings in the water/sewer service compartment. I am currently pulling the panels in the rear storage to see if I can locate an entry point.

Now that some time has passed, do any of you feel your efforts paid off or have any new insights?

Thanks

[hkreck]

I haven't seen any since I had the problem last Winter. I did see something in motorhome magazine where they rented a smoke machine and charged the motorhome with that fake smoke they use at Halloween. Once the MH is charged with the smoke they started looking for the smoke coming out of openings, then just close up the openings. Sounds like a idea any way.

[mud yapster]

I've heard throwing some moth ball underneath your RV will keep rodents away. I haven't ever tried it.

[Pedrodasdas]

Same for me, no more mouse since we block the sewer pipe around with steel wool. In fact, we did got one more, catch it then notice the steel wool has shifted with travel. We put it back in place and secure it. Smoke trick from Hkreck, I love it !

[hkreck]

I know it works on snakes, had a couple under a step once, put some moth balls down there and those snakes couldn't get out of there fast enough.

[backdoctor]

We had a number if points of entry where the factory expanding foam had not been evenly applied. They had covered the visible areas of openings but not the hard to access areas. I was shocked at the poor job. We had mice the first week we owned the rig while in Florida in January. I spent most of the two weeks under the rig looking for holes. Initially it was easy to see deficiencies, but as I plugged those with rodent proof expanding foam they still visited. So on a dark night I had a very bright flashlight outside the rig and from the inside I could see light in a number of more places. So after I filled them, the problem stopped. The biggest hole that was impossible to see was where the cables from under the shower transitioned to under the bed. There are two different conduits there and the hole going into the space that ran across under the bed had a 2.5 inch hole. And the hole beside the water tank going up into that same area had a hole so large I needed wire mesh to hold the spray foam in place! Try the light outside and you looking around inside looking for it. Worked for me!

[Living_The_Dream]

I finally had time to look the complete rig over. Major holes will be filled with SS scrubbing pads available at WalMart and foamed with Touch 'n Foam landscape foam.

My descriptions are for a 2014 Solera S
By far the biggest hole was where the kitchen sink drain line and heat duct exit under the bathroom floor. Just behind the rear axle and close to the frame, forward of the black tank on the drivers side. Big enough to get my fist in.

Next is where the bathroom sink drain, black water vent line and toilet drain line go up through the bathroom floor above the black tank. These are nearly impossible to reach for me. I will fabricate a long extension nozzle for the foam and fill them.

Next was just inside the rear cargo door. The floor pan did not extend all the way to the rear wall and left about an inch gap. I stuffed this with steel scrubbing pads and will foam it.

One other place was where wires and water lines go through the floor under the kitchen sink. Just rear of the steps. I didn't attach a picture but if you crawl under with a flashlight it was easy to see mine had no foam. The foam guys obviously were in a hurry when building mine. Fortunately an easy fix, just a pain to deal with. I ended up removing the spare and spare carriage to make it easier to fix the big hole and get me closer to the other drain pipes.


I have attached several pictures and hope my descriptions help someone in the future. Once I foam all of these in, I hope to keep the mice away. We should have a building to store it in by spring and mice will be less of an issue.