Mouse Alert!
When I went out to storage and opened the door to our trailer, I was met with the unmistakable odor of a dead mouse. As an extra precaution, I've always left a few glue traps in strategic places inside my RV's.
I've never had a mouse problem in 15 years of camping in several RV's until now. But this is my first one with a slideout.
After I bought this Starcraft Launch 24RLS new this past spring, I went through it sealing all the unnecessarily huge holes in the floor where pipes and cables went through.
It has the artic package with a "sort of" sealed bottom. I guess Starcraft doesn't see the need to seal the construction holes in the floor with the plastic underbelly. Not at all sure why they need a 6" hole for a couple 1/2" pipes!
I say the underbelly is sort of sealed, because it droops between the screws holding it in place leaving gaps of 1/2", which mice can easily get through. I did seal them, though, so I don't think that's where it got in.
I'm pretty sure it got in where the slideout meets the floor when it is retracted. I had seen light coming in the corners on the floor and had taken to stuffing dryer sheets in the corners until I could come up with a better fix.
Today I got back under the trailer and did a closer inspection. The corners were just the tip of the iceberg. The entire length of the slideout is "sort of" sealed with a soft rubber seal. It doesn't seal very well, plus I can easily poke a finger right through to the inside.
By the way, that area seems to seal OK when the slideout is extended.
I'm not sure how to redo the way it seals but plan to work on it this winter while staying in Florida. For now I just stuffed the entire length of foam rubber with lots of dryer sheets.
Has anyone found something similar on a slideout and found a better way to seal it. I can see it has to be flexible to accommodate differences in leveling and not bind.
I'm hoping this dead mouse was just a scout!
I've never had a mouse problem in 15 years of camping in several RV's until now. But this is my first one with a slideout.
After I bought this Starcraft Launch 24RLS new this past spring, I went through it sealing all the unnecessarily huge holes in the floor where pipes and cables went through.
It has the artic package with a "sort of" sealed bottom. I guess Starcraft doesn't see the need to seal the construction holes in the floor with the plastic underbelly. Not at all sure why they need a 6" hole for a couple 1/2" pipes!
I say the underbelly is sort of sealed, because it droops between the screws holding it in place leaving gaps of 1/2", which mice can easily get through. I did seal them, though, so I don't think that's where it got in.
I'm pretty sure it got in where the slideout meets the floor when it is retracted. I had seen light coming in the corners on the floor and had taken to stuffing dryer sheets in the corners until I could come up with a better fix.
Today I got back under the trailer and did a closer inspection. The corners were just the tip of the iceberg. The entire length of the slideout is "sort of" sealed with a soft rubber seal. It doesn't seal very well, plus I can easily poke a finger right through to the inside.
By the way, that area seems to seal OK when the slideout is extended.
I'm not sure how to redo the way it seals but plan to work on it this winter while staying in Florida. For now I just stuffed the entire length of foam rubber with lots of dryer sheets.
Has anyone found something similar on a slideout and found a better way to seal it. I can see it has to be flexible to accommodate differences in leveling and not bind.
I'm hoping this dead mouse was just a scout!
