My wife and I took delivery of our '09 Big Horn 3670 RL in May of 2008. We are fortunate enough to have a beautiful spot on Shuswap Lake in BC where we have spent our last seven summers in our RVs, right beside the Lake. Last year, we towed our shiny new rig out to "the spot" and got set up. Because there is forest all around us, there are lots of chipmunks and squirrels. We always take precaution agains letting these opportunists into our unit such as not leaving storage doors open and so on but last year we were invaded by mice.
We don't like mice because they are so destructive and they spread disease as well as the fact that they are messy. I don't like them but it is fair to say that my wife really hates them! When she discovered "mice rice" in one of her drawers one morning, the hunt was on! We cleaned out all the cupboards and found evidence in all of the kitchen cupboards but no where else in the rig.
After looking at the cupboard set up, I decided that they must be coming up from the basement by means of the access hole for the water lines and sink drain. I sealed the opening around the service with expansion foam, which can be removed fairly easily if the lines needed to be accessed. After sealing every tiny hole and cranny where I thought they might gain access, I removed the false panel at the back of the end cupboard and discovered more openings where the electrical wiring came into the cupboards. These too were sealed. I was pretty confident that they couldn't get into the cupboard now.
The next step was to find out where they were gaining access to the basement. After crawling around under the rig, I discovered that there were a lot of possibilities. I am not pointing the finger at Heartland. The design of these rigs necessitates lots of access points. For example, where the front jacks move in and out of the floor of the rig, there was a large opening (probably an inch or more) all the way around the jacks. I made up gaskets from high density rubber carpet underlay and installed them snugly around the jack posts. Ditto the service access for the water and cable lines. I constructed a "diaphragm" gasket out of the same material.
Where the sewer line exited the sub basement, I discovered that the foam that is sprayed in around the pipe had a gap about one inch wide in it. What a superhighway for the rodents! Straight up the sewer pipe and into the basement. Once they are in the basement, there are any number of routes for them to get into your home. Electrical lines. water lines, sewer vents. All require access holes and the mice use them. I carefully went around and sealed up any gaps between the poly road covering below the frame and the frame itself. I even plugged any access holes through the frame with foam. I was pretty proud of myself and thought I had done a good job of sealing the little buggers out.
We had a running battle getting rid of the existing invaders, using traps and when that didn't work, poisoned mouse seed in the basement. We set out across Canada in September and it took 9 Provinces,4500 miles, sixteen boxes of mouse poison and numerous emptying of cupboards, disinfecting of cupboards before we finally felt we were free of the invaders. We had no more problems through sixteen States to Yuma where we wintered.
This May, we arrived back at the Shuswap and set up again. All was well until last week. A loud shriek introduced me to a new invader. I couldn't figure out how he got in but after I crawled under the rig again, I discovered that I had forgotten one important opening! The holes in the frame where the hydraulic rod for the slides comes in and out has a large opening around it. Duh! I have now made up 3 removable gaskets of the rubber underlay material and secured them around the rods. By golly, I think I've got it now!
If any of you are staying in a rural environment, you might want to take a look at your rig. You will be surprised at how many openings mice can get into and believe me, they are opportunists who are always looking for food and a place to raise their families! Better to keep them out than try to get rid of them after the fact!
We don't like mice because they are so destructive and they spread disease as well as the fact that they are messy. I don't like them but it is fair to say that my wife really hates them! When she discovered "mice rice" in one of her drawers one morning, the hunt was on! We cleaned out all the cupboards and found evidence in all of the kitchen cupboards but no where else in the rig.
After looking at the cupboard set up, I decided that they must be coming up from the basement by means of the access hole for the water lines and sink drain. I sealed the opening around the service with expansion foam, which can be removed fairly easily if the lines needed to be accessed. After sealing every tiny hole and cranny where I thought they might gain access, I removed the false panel at the back of the end cupboard and discovered more openings where the electrical wiring came into the cupboards. These too were sealed. I was pretty confident that they couldn't get into the cupboard now.
The next step was to find out where they were gaining access to the basement. After crawling around under the rig, I discovered that there were a lot of possibilities. I am not pointing the finger at Heartland. The design of these rigs necessitates lots of access points. For example, where the front jacks move in and out of the floor of the rig, there was a large opening (probably an inch or more) all the way around the jacks. I made up gaskets from high density rubber carpet underlay and installed them snugly around the jack posts. Ditto the service access for the water and cable lines. I constructed a "diaphragm" gasket out of the same material.
Where the sewer line exited the sub basement, I discovered that the foam that is sprayed in around the pipe had a gap about one inch wide in it. What a superhighway for the rodents! Straight up the sewer pipe and into the basement. Once they are in the basement, there are any number of routes for them to get into your home. Electrical lines. water lines, sewer vents. All require access holes and the mice use them. I carefully went around and sealed up any gaps between the poly road covering below the frame and the frame itself. I even plugged any access holes through the frame with foam. I was pretty proud of myself and thought I had done a good job of sealing the little buggers out.
We had a running battle getting rid of the existing invaders, using traps and when that didn't work, poisoned mouse seed in the basement. We set out across Canada in September and it took 9 Provinces,4500 miles, sixteen boxes of mouse poison and numerous emptying of cupboards, disinfecting of cupboards before we finally felt we were free of the invaders. We had no more problems through sixteen States to Yuma where we wintered.
This May, we arrived back at the Shuswap and set up again. All was well until last week. A loud shriek introduced me to a new invader. I couldn't figure out how he got in but after I crawled under the rig again, I discovered that I had forgotten one important opening! The holes in the frame where the hydraulic rod for the slides comes in and out has a large opening around it. Duh! I have now made up 3 removable gaskets of the rubber underlay material and secured them around the rods. By golly, I think I've got it now!
If any of you are staying in a rural environment, you might want to take a look at your rig. You will be surprised at how many openings mice can get into and believe me, they are opportunists who are always looking for food and a place to raise their families! Better to keep them out than try to get rid of them after the fact!