Rats....lots of rats....

[halfnakedvegan]

Hello! I am a fairly new RV owner (just over a year). I live in three different locations- my RV, my partner's house (both in Los Angeles), and my family's house (Chicago). Since I bounce around a lot I did not notice that a bunch of rats had made my RV their home, under the floor. (I am parked on a large ranch property and there are tons of rats, mice, ground squirrels, rabbits, and coyotes; yes I should have done something to prevent this.) I also have a giant catio that I built with an access bridge for my 3 cats so they can go in and out of the RV at will. Once I discovered the rat problem, I installed lattice all around the bottom of my RV and connected it to my catio so my cats could scare away the rats. They have almost totally succeeded but my QUESTION is.....how TF do I get the plastic underbelly board off so I can investigate the damage? I am almost positive they chewed a small hole in my black tank (my bathroom smells like human urine no matter how clean it is), among other damage. But the plastic cover underneath looks to be attached with these large nails that are punctured through the metal frame along the edges....??? Please help guide me! Thank you!!
Amy

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

Sorry it has to be under these circumstances. The underbelly (coroplast) is attached with nails driven in with a special gun. There is a couple of different ways to get them out:

Use a grooved prybar and a hammer to get under the washer and pry them out. The other way is to grind off the heads and then punch them through. Either way don’t try to save them, just get some stainless steel self tapping screws and washers.

[NH_Bulldog]

Half of mine were nailed in, the other side was screwed in. Go figure?

Anyway, they can be popped out with a small flat-bar, or in my case (before I knew they were nails), I tried to unscrew them with a hex driver in my cordless drill which spun them loose enough that they just popped out.

[bobbecky]

It's too bad we have no idea what the rig is, but the bathroom smell may be a defective toilet that has nothing to do with the rodent infestation. A signature with a description of the rig would be very helpful.