241QBXL mouse problem

[Rick the Rocket]

We have had mice getting into the travel trailer. I started looking for openings. When I opened the bottom of the corner shower it was obvious that a mouse could "squeeze" in.

The factory needed an opening for the trap to extend below the bottom of the floor and maybe access to do the plumbing? So a 14" square hole was cut under the shower and no cover or patch was put on afterwards.

I cut what I would call a floor joist back 3/4" beyond the opening and glued a piece of 1" blue board that I scooped out for the trap to clear.

I also resealed the pipe penetrations but I don't think there was a problem in those areas.

When I checked the LP line the furnace I found the cold air grill lying in the furnace enclosure. It had been attached at 1 time the screws were still in the holes of the grill.

Wow the quality of this build just keeps giving.

The top pic is the view from below the travel trailer.
The middle pic is the view from inside under the shower after the blue board was in place.
The bottom pic is of the grill I found down inside the furnace enclosure.

[dward51]

Another thing to consider is the underbelly heating. My trailer is like that also. I had the underbelly off and was working in the bath and suddenly the cat hopped up in that plumbing chase to say hello a while back.

If you have a heater hose from the furnace that goes into the underbelly, it has to have somewhere to flow back upwards into the trailer to circulate. Otherwise there is no real heat flow. I think that is why some of those openings are like that into cabinets, etc... The leaking around doors, etc will let the air flow some (and its cheaper construction). No facts to back this up, just a theory so anyone else chime in here.

Not to hijack the thread, but those photos also are great at illustrating exactly how little to no support is actually under those shower pans. That is what I was looking at in mine. I'm a little on the "corn fed side" and I'm thinking of pulling my base and laminating in some extra fiberglass and epoxy and 3/4" plywood on the bottom with more supports. My base and sidewalls are 2 pieces unlike some. Back to the plumbing thread....

[Rick the Rocket]

Originally Posted by dward51

Another thing to consider is the underbelly heating. My trailer is like that also. I had the underbelly off and was working in the bath and suddenly the cat hopped up in that plumbing chase to say hello a while back.

If you have a heater hose from the furnace that goes into the underbelly, it has to have somewhere to flow back upwards into the trailer to circulate. Otherwise there is no real heat flow. I think that is why some of those openings are like that into cabinets, etc... The leaking around doors, etc will let the air flow some (and its cheaper construction). No facts to back this up, just a theory so anyone else chime in here.

Not to hijack the thread, but those photos also are great at illustrating exactly how little to no support is actually under those shower pans. That is what I was looking at in mine. I'm a little on the "corn fed side" and I'm thinking of pulling my base and laminating in some extra fiberglass and epoxy and 3/4" plywood on the bottom with more supports. My base and sidewalls are 2 pieces unlike some. Back to the plumbing thread....

This trailer has no under belly only the plastic mesh fabric. There was a slit in the fabric in this area maybe to allow a repair of a leak at the factory? The shower floor does have some give. The shower sits on 3/4" plywood, but the supports are spaced a little far apart, but seem to be adequate.

[Vernonfarmer]

I had the same cut out to make room for the shower drain trap, only not a nice rectangle. I filled the void with mouse proof expanding foam. I've started to spray ammonia around the perimeter of the trailer. Mimics the smell of cat urine to a mouse. I've only caught one in the past week as opposed to 2-3 a night over the past few weeks. Still searching for entry points but the ammonia seems to be working.

[Rick the Rocket]

Originally Posted by Vernonfarmer

I had the same cut out to make room for the shower drain trap, only not a nice rectangle. I filled the void with mouse proof expanding foam. I've started to spray ammonia around the perimeter of the trailer. Mimics the smell of cat urine to a mouse. I've only caught one in the past week as opposed to 2-3 a night over the past few weeks. Still searching for entry points but the ammonia seems to be working.

I was looking for places to put expanding foam, but it turned out that 14" square was a little big for that solution. I haven't had any mice show up in the traps we have set since the repair. We have an outside cat but between the chipmunks and mice she is pretty plump this time of year.