Packrat damage- even worth fixing?
Hi there :) We have a 2005 Frontier Explorer (28') that we just purchased in the summer of last year. We own mountain property a few hours outside of Denver. Anyway- to the issue. It *was* a beaut...
Forum Discussion
That's so awful to have happen. As bad as it may seem, I would have a go at trying to clean it up and rebuilding it. The only alternative would be to dispose of it and buy a new TT. If in a remote area, you could remove all the damaged stuff and burn what you can, then tow it home. Once cleaned up and stripped out, you'll have a better idea whether or not it's salvageable.
Rats (and other rodents) can directly and indirectly transmit a number of diseases. CDC has this list.
CDC has this info. on cleaning up rat droppings and urine. cleaning up and and also this.
Here is some info. on cleaning up droppings and it says not to use bleach. http://www.attic-rat.com/decontamination.html
Of note is that they say not to use a vaccuum or broom to clean up and it can cause viruses to go into the air. Hantavirus is rare and is not carried by all rodents. But you just don't know what you are dealing with and should take all precautions. Do some googling as there is tons of info. on the 'net.
If you have sheet flooring throughout, that will have prevented urine from getting into the subfloor, except for possibly where there are penetrations for plumbing.
Next time, the thing to do is to use something to keep them away and/or poison or traps. The only problem with poison is that the rodent could die inside, and that could happen in an inaccessible cavity.
What I learned once about rats when I was building a new house, is that even if a structure is sealed up with plywood and lumber and there are no cracks, they will gnaw an access hole and if you nail lumber over the hole, they will gnaw through it again. I came across a rat in the basement of this house during construction and I grabbed a big cardboard box on the ground and was going to try and throw it over the rat, except it stood up on it's hind legs and let a loud blood curdling hiss. Scared the poop out of me. Got some rat poison after that.
Rats (and other rodents) can directly and indirectly transmit a number of diseases. CDC has this list.
CDC has this info. on cleaning up rat droppings and urine. cleaning up and and also this.
Here is some info. on cleaning up droppings and it says not to use bleach. http://www.attic-rat.com/decontamination.html
Of note is that they say not to use a vaccuum or broom to clean up and it can cause viruses to go into the air. Hantavirus is rare and is not carried by all rodents. But you just don't know what you are dealing with and should take all precautions. Do some googling as there is tons of info. on the 'net.
If you have sheet flooring throughout, that will have prevented urine from getting into the subfloor, except for possibly where there are penetrations for plumbing.
Next time, the thing to do is to use something to keep them away and/or poison or traps. The only problem with poison is that the rodent could die inside, and that could happen in an inaccessible cavity.
What I learned once about rats when I was building a new house, is that even if a structure is sealed up with plywood and lumber and there are no cracks, they will gnaw an access hole and if you nail lumber over the hole, they will gnaw through it again. I came across a rat in the basement of this house during construction and I grabbed a big cardboard box on the ground and was going to try and throw it over the rat, except it stood up on it's hind legs and let a loud blood curdling hiss. Scared the poop out of me. Got some rat poison after that.
