Hole under shower and mice

[Godspeedme]

How have you closed up the giant hole under the shower to prevent mice?

I can’t believe they cut such a large hole under the shower for the drain pipe. Due to mice, we started hunting for the entry points. I closed up the holes under the sink and stove with spray foam and steel wool. We still had mice though. So I opened up the shower compartment to find a hole at least 6”x6”. This is obviously too big for spray foam. It looks like they also cut big cuts into the sheeting that covers the underbelly and they tried to spray foam it shut, which obviously did not hold as it was just hanging down. Our TT is only 3 years old and does not travel much. It was storage to site for 3 years, less than a mile. This year we are seasonal.

So has anyone closed this up? I was thinking of stapling some sort of wire mesh stuffed with steel wool around/ under the pipe and then spray foaming that.

We have trapped probably 10 mice and tried poison. The poison caused the mice to crawl in the wall in one spot and die. Which now stinks something vicious.

[ADK_Camper]

Steel wool is effective for mouse control, but it quickly rusts. A better alternative I have found is stainless or copper scouring pads available at the dollar store. If you carfully tease the pad appart, you can unroll it to give you a long "sleeve." Starting at one end, wrap the sleeve around the pipe (or wires). Continue wrapping adding a second sleeve if needed until the wrap fills the hole. Because of the continuous wrapping, the material stays in place more securely than if you just stuff wads of material into the hole.

[Godspeedme]

Thanks for all the replies. I know everything has a chance of getting mice,these holes are a bit bigger than I expected though. For the shower hole it is only because of the Ptrap, nothing coming out of it.

To access under the shower I have about a 3”x8” panel on the inside. I didn’t find nests in there, but see lots of evidence of mice. The gray water drain goes out the side of the shower on the inside of the trailer and connects to the kitchen drain. So the mice follow the pipe through the shower, under the bathroom sink, and through that wall under the refrigerator, stove, and kitchen sink.

I wonder if we could just use plywood or another material to make a pyramid shape to screw to the subfloor underneath. Then it would be tight and could be removed if needed.

[rbpru]

TTs are not built to be mouse proof. Neither is your home or your car.

My TT has most of bottom covered by a plastic sheet. If I were a rodent it would be a great winter nest area.

Fortunately most holes can be accessed from the inside.

[myredracer]

If they can get up through the floor, guaranteed they'll have been nesting and playing in the underbelly space and making a mess of the insulation or damaging wiring and other things. Maybe the underbelly material should be pulled down for inspection.

Trying to reach under a shower can be difficult depending on if you have a walk-in shower or tub/shower combo and how large the access opening is. I sealed up all of the holes in our floor (and there were lots). Worst was the duct from the furnace went down into the underbelly and where they hacked a hole about 8x8". I used a piece of plywood to patch that one and foam elsewhere except under the shower I had to use Tuck tape due to restricted access.

A piece of sheet metal is a good idea or a piece of plywood (1/4" - 1/2") should also work. Could glue either down with PL400 construction adhesive. If the hole needs to be an oblong/oval shape, you could cut the metal or plywood as close as you can against the P-trap and then use spray foam to finish it off. If you have enough clearance, you might be able to use a stubby screwdriver to screw the patch in place.

Remember, you should be able to get the P-trap out some day. Maybe just use a few small dolops of glue so you can use a chisel or screwdriver to get the patch off if ever needed. If you have enough clearance, you might be able to use a stubby screwdriver to screw the patch in place.

Mice can squeeze through a hole as small as the size of a dime so you want to seal it well. I'd also seal up any other holes you can find in the floor.

[beemerphile1]

I found the entire area under the shower full of mice nesting but they were never inside the RV elsewhere. I cleaned up the mess and cut aluminum sheet to cover the hole.

[mgirardo]

We had a similar hole under our shower in our Motorhome. It was probably about the same size, but it was for a 1" thick bundle of wiring. I took a piece of exterior plywood and glued it down over the hole using liquid nails.

-Michael

[Iraqvet05]

Steel wool rusts. You can use mesh screen (not aluminum) or copper mesh to fill in the hole. Copper mesh is a bit expensive but it lasts a long time.

[downtheroad]

I would fashion a over for that opening using zinc plated sheet metal flashing.. glue or nail it down. First cut a slit and an round opening for the pipe..

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