replace coroplast with steel/aluminum

[danf]

Hi,

Has anybody replaced the coroplast lining the subfloor on the bottom of their trailer with steel or aluminum?

I want to do this for rodent control.

I was thinking of using 4x8 sheets cut to size. I would put cross braces on seams and possibly every 2 feet if there is significant sag. Depending on the bracing, the sheets might be overlapped at seams. I would also add metal to the frame around things like spring mounts so there is no location where the sheets don't directly overlay the frame.
I would cut larger holes for the waste and drains so the sheets are more easily removable. Then I would cut metal to fill those areas with tight tolerances to the drains and screw those pieces into the sheets that span the frame. This should completely seal the subfloor area.

thx

[notanlines]

I may be your only naysayer here, but not going to happen. You need to go home and start over. A mouse will get in where there is seemingly no hole. I vote no.

[hankpage]

I may be your only naysayer here, but not going to happen. You need to go home and start over. A mouse will get in where there is seemingly no hole. I vote no.

I agree. In my opinion, not worth the time or money. The little buggers are not coming through the coroplast, they are coming through holes. Seal the holes and you solve the problem. Black Gorilla Tape and Great Stuff foam should solve most of your problems. JM2¢, Hank

[danf]

Thanks, but they are chewing holes in the coroplast. I plug the hole with steel wool and Great Stuff and they just chew another hole in a different location. Eventually I'll have the entire subfloor area completely filled with Great stuff foam.

[JRTJH]

Our Holiday Rambler was ordered with an aluminum underbelly. Every twig in campgrounds, every rock that got picked up by tires, every piece of old tire that was laying on the road all found their way to the aluminum underbelly to puncture (and create leaks) in that expensive optional "upgrade"....

Coroplast is actually corrugated plastic sheeting. It serves more than just to cover the underbelly. It also insulates as it protects what's buried in the bowels of your trailer. It's almost indestructible and maintenance free.

If you "build a fortress" of iron, steel and aluminum to stop mice, you'll be deducting a significant amount of your payload capacity by installing a much heavier "first line of defense" while significantly increasing your maintenance requirements, not to mention increasing the cost to repair punctures, cuts, creases and bends. If you decide to go ahead and do it anyway, expect increased costs to heat your RV in cooler weather and stash away some extra socks/slippers for the colder floor.....

I'd vote no to fixing what ain't broken..... It would be much less expensive and less time to just do some "critical hole plugging" on the existing underbelly. All of the manufacturers moved away from using aluminum/steel underbelly material years ago. They didn't do it just to save money, but because it caused as many problems as they'd hoped it would solve.

[chuckster57]

How much weight would it add/ deduct from the cargo carrying capacity.

[danf]

Thanks for the feedback. I was leaning toward galvanized steel since it's more rugged than aluminum and much cheaper. In terms of thickness I was thinking thinner than 16 gauge, maybe 22 or larger gauge. 22 is 1/32. I've also considered gluing sheets of foam board insulation to the inside surfaces to help make it more rigid plus adding insulating value and sound reduction. 22 Gauge would be about 240lbs in sheet metal, 26 gauge about 160lbs. Then you have to add cross braces, screws and maybe foam board...another 50-100lbs maybe.

It's not really something I want to spend my time/ money doing, but the coroplast seems to be the weak link. From inside the subfloor mice can get anywhere in the trailer. There is absolutely nothing that serves as a barrier. I think the first time they entered the trailer was through the "mouse door" and they ended up below the floor and then above the floor wherever there was a plumbing or electrical line. I replaced the mouse door with a marinco plug and filled every hole for plumbing and wiring in the floor with steel wool, wire mesh, and foam. But even with those filled, mice can chew into a heater duct and make their way into the heater. I'm in the process of fitting wire mesh to the heater intake and floor grates. I still have to fit wire mesh to where cool air enters the refrigerator on the side of the trailer and also where it exits on the roof of the trailer.

[JRTJH]

We live "in the woods" (literally) and store our trailer in a pole barn. It sits adjacent to 30,000+ acres of state forest. There are "critters from hell" that migrate to that "pole barn shelter" when the snow flies. Even with all the increased activity in the fall, we've never had that kind of mouse infestation.

We did our "due diligence" with sealing as much of the underside of the trailer as we could find. I do use aluminum ducting tape to seal the furnace vent and put plastic sheeting (drop cloth thickness) behind the water heater and refrigerator side vent. To date, I've never sealed or covered the refrigerator roof vent. We also use Cab Fresh packets placed on paper plates throughout the trailer and use a product (can't remember the name) that is a synthetic fox urine to sprinkle around the inside perimeter of the building.

We've never encountered the kind of aggressive entry that you describe. Either we've been extremely fortunate or there is something else going on. Have you removed all (and I mean ALL) of the food products from inside the trailer, used some type of repellant (cab fresh, etc) to help reduce the desire to nest inside the trailer?

I'm wouldn't go so far as to suggest a "fortress" is necessary. After all, there are a number of areas on the trailer frame that you simply can't seal completely. The slide rams and cutouts for the tank valves come to mind.

I'd believe there's something else going on other than "determined mice"... Based on what you describe, if you do install steel on the bottom of the trailer, I'd be worried about them gnawing through the FILON sidewall or the front/rear seals along the frame of the trailer.

[66joej]

We live "in the woods" (literally) and store our trailer in a pole barn. It sits adjacent to 30,000+ acres of state forest. There are "critters from hell" that migrate to that "pole barn shelter" when the snow flies. Even with all the increased activity in the fall, we've never had that kind of mouse infestation.

We did our "due diligence" with sealing as much of the underside of the trailer as we could find. I do use aluminum ducting tape to seal the furnace vent and put plastic sheeting (drop cloth thickness) behind the water heater and refrigerator side vent. To date, I've never sealed or covered the refrigerator roof vent. We also use Cab Fresh packets placed on paper plates throughout the trailer and use a product (can't remember the name) that is a synthetic fox urine to sprinkle around the inside perimeter of the building.

We've never encountered the kind of aggressive entry that you describe. Either we've been extremely fortunate or there is something else going on. Have you removed all (and I mean ALL) of the food products from inside the trailer, used some type of repellant (cab fresh, etc) to help reduce the desire to nest inside the trailer?

I'm wouldn't go so far as to suggest a "fortress" is necessary. After all, there are a number of areas on the trailer frame that you simply can't seal completely. The slide rams and cutouts for the tank valves come to mind.

I'd believe there's something else going on other than "determined mice"... Based on what you describe, if you do install steel on the bottom of the trailer, I'd be worried about them gnawing through the FILON sidewall or the front/rear seals along the frame of the trailer.

Now that sounds like the type of movies the DW likes to watch. " Mice from Hell":hide:

[Pull Toy]

A little aluminum foil stuffed into all access holes in to living and storage places solved it for me. Lots cheaper too, and it doesn't rust like steel wool. I also plugged in three ultrasonic rodent blasters. One at each end of camper, and one in basement. Not sure if they actually work or not, but haven't seen mouse signs in over three years! (Knock on wood!) I've also heard that moth (Camphor) balls work, but I hate their smell

p.s. Drier sheets make great mouse bedding after the smell is gone! LOL

Good Luck,

[danf]

I'm in the woods too. I've heard it's particularly bad this year. My wife's car has had an ongoing an infestation. We put a whole box of dcon in there a couple days ago and they ate all of it in one night.

We've been doing dryer sheets and peppermint oil and has since it was new. There is no food in it. We stock it up right when we leave and empty it out when we return. Of course they smell any little crumb that might have been dropped. They are just in everything here though. Food doesn't help, but they get in every place that gets them out of the elements.

I trapped 12 in the trailer. And have since used dcon and put a 5 gallon/peanut butter trap below the coroplast hole which caught a couple more.I scanned the coroplast today and didn't see a new hole. I'm hoping that the holes in the coroplast are from mice that entered via the "mouse door" and now are making an exit rather than new mice coming in. It's also possible they ate some of the dcon. I'm going to monitor the coroplast for a while before I start buying steel.

thx

[JRTJH]

Now that sounds like the type of movies the DW likes to watch. " Mice from Hell":hide:

Oh trust me when I say that it's more than "just mice".... Between mice, chipmunks, moles and voles, there's a wide variety of critters, all of which are a challenge come colder weather. My DW is not amused with any movie with "mice" in the title... She would shoot the side off the trailer if she had a 12ga in hand when she saw one..... Yeah, trust me when I say she doesn't like them......

[bob91yj]

The downside to the Dcon is you don't know where they go to die. Nothing worse than a few rotting mice corpses in your trailer during the heat of the summer.

[JRTJH]

The downside to the Dcon is you don't know where they go to die. Nothing worse than a few rotting mice corpses in your trailer during the heat of the summer.

If you think beyond the "escape of the Dcon mice" and consider that once they leave the trailer to die (which they hopefully will do), they become a part of the food chain for other forest creatures. It seems "innocent enough" to protect the trailer with Dcon, but when they do leave to die, you also poison the fox, coyote, eagles and hawks that prey on mice as their main food source. So, the damage isn't limited to killing pests, Dcon is one of those substances that keeps on killing after the indended is gone.....

No, I'm definitely not a "tree hugger" but feel strongly that it's not always, "Better living through chemistry"...... The downside goes much further than rotting mice corpses...

[danf]

One of my problems is porcupines eating the undercoating off the frame of the truck. I have to check brake lines now and then. It's pretty much a continuous battle here. Some collateral damage is unavoidable.

[RocNYRunner]

Newbie here. What's this "mouse door" everyone is speaking of? I'm thinking I should find it and lock it! :)

[rogeru]

I'm right there with you, Hankpage.....I just did my up close and personal inspection and filled every single little crack and crevice with expanding foam, along with tightening things up with the black gorilla tape. It's THE job I hate most, crawling on my back under my 34 ft. Sprinter TT. BUT - I have yet to have a single mouse EVER get inside my trailer. Going on five years now.....

[mjeronimo]

I believe that they are referring to the little round door where the shore power cord goes through.

[danf]

Newbie here. What's this "mouse door" everyone is speaking of? I'm thinking I should find it and lock it! :)

It's the shore power door. With the cord out, mice will just widen the gap and crawl in. I used to just shove a rag in the gap, but that failed in the end.

I replaced mine with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NUYZQC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[wiredgeorge]

It's the shore power door. With the cord out, mice will just widen the gap and crawl in. I used to just shove a rag in the gap, but that failed in the end.

I replaced mine with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NUYZQC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Be cheaper to leave a barn cat around!

[major bumm]

Thanks for the feedback. I was leaning toward galvanized steel since it's more rugged than aluminum and much cheaper. In terms of thickness I was thinking thinner than 16 gauge, maybe 22 or larger gauge. 22 is 1/32.


Last winter I was thinking of using 2" foam board insulation as a cheap alternative to skirting. Some winter nights here got down to -25 before wind chill. I decided not to because the underbelly is loaded with "stuff" I needed to cut and shape the foam board around. It is a major undertaking. With steel even more so, I'm thinking.



I've also considered gluing sheets of foam board insulation to the inside surfaces to help make it more rigid plus adding insulating value and sound reduction. 22 Gauge would be about 240lbs in sheet metal, 26 gauge about 160lbs. Then you have to add cross braces, screws and maybe foam board...another 50-100lbs maybe.


Another thought I had about using a metal is that it does not flex like the cloroplast. Fixing the steel to the frame is making the whole underside stiffer and now less flexible. How would that effect the trailer while transporting it? I can only guess that more of that body flex might be transferred to the side walls and roof.


How about adding a few layers of small hole chicken wire over the cloroplast? Using several layers would/could reduce the hole size even more. It is lite weight, flexible and easier to work with. Does anyone have experience with mice and chicken wire?



HAHA! Revenge time. Mice will chew through electrical wiring, so how about spraying the chicken wire with Tabasco sauce or something like Ghost peppers. I had some mild success doing that with bird seed to keep the squirrels off the feeder. It would need to be reapplied periodically. (birds don't seem to notice the spicy stuff)



There is a product called Deer and Rabbit Chase I can find at Walmart. It was very effective and mainly coyote urine... with out a heavy smell for us anyway. Look into it and see if it effective against mice. Coyotes do hunt mice, voles, moles, etc in winter.


Good luck and let us all know what you decide to do.

[HANGAR]

I wish you the best of luck on getting rid of those little pests. I'm facing similar issues, but with termites! Very common out here in Southern CA. Somehow, they've got into the plywood in my garage floor. The underside is covered with corruplast, then some type of thick black tarp material covering the wood floor. The top is covered with a thick vinyl type of material (toy hauler garage floor). Every few months I'll notice a pile of wood pellets (termite frass) sitting on the garage floor. They make a small hole through the vinyl floor to kick-out their frass (feces). I spray some termite killer down the hole and then stick a high pressure air line on top of the hole to spread the poison into the wood. It seems to do the trick for a few months, but then they come back with a different hole. I'm not sure what else to do besides having my entire trailer tented/fumigated which is not cheap. Sorry, I'm not trying to high jack your post, just feeling your pain with unwanted guests!

[dke1955]

what about these: https://antipestrepeller.com/discounts/cart.php ..also for sale on amazon at:https://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Ultrasonic-Electronic-Ultrasound-Repellents/dp/B07CMZYPNM/ref=pd_sbs_86_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07CMZYPNM&pd_rd_r=72fa00ac-b49a-11e8-b9b0-b9c4745829eb&pd_rd_w=Okx00&pd_rd_wg=6JHWM&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=0bb14103-7f67-4c21-9b0b-31f42dc047e7&pf_rd_r=CW0J3E2H873NRG9H6RGB&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=CW0J3E2H873NRG9H6RGB Also, I live in Texas so when it is hot out (which is damn near all the time these days!) the mice like to come in trailer. I keep power cord off the ground. Caulk/seal whatever I can see as a possible entry point. Comet and or rat bait around the tires when the rv is parked. Moth balls in the cabinets and anywhere else I can think of...they don't like moth balls. (either do the wife and I but we put the moth balls in small containers so they are easily gathered up when it is time to head back out). Some of the members at our campground use wire mesh screwed or siliconed to openings (screen does not work...they will go right through it). Hope this helps.