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Old 06-17-2019, 11:34 PM   #1
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AC, Humidity, Rodents, Sealing Floor

Ok, so I have been combing over our new Coleman 2515RL top to bottom fixing and improving everything I don’t like.

Here in the hot humid southland of 8 month summer, AC is very important. One of the first things I did was take a look at the ducting system after I felt air blowing from around one of my ceiling speaker holes.

What I discovered was around 40 percent of my air was blowing into the attic....the space between the roof and ceiling. There were huge leaks around the air box and the vents were sealed (I use the term very loosely) with just some poorly applied foil tape from the ducts to the hole in the ceiling for the vents.

I took all the vents out and sealed them properly as well as the air box. I also taped up the air box with foil tape so if the roof seal ever leaks the water will hit the floor and not run into the attic space.

Boy....so far, that’s a long winded post to get to where we're heading.

Now, I’m looking at the floor penetrations looking to seal out rodents, humidity, and insects.

The largest are under the kitchen sink and an even larger one under the shower.

What I’m thinking is to use screen wire in the holes and fill with great stuff on top of the wire.

Does anyone see a problem with this or have a better way?
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Old 06-18-2019, 02:44 PM   #2
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Nice job! I used stainless scrubbies around my plumbing, you can mash it to fit around anything and mice seem to hate it. It's also easy to yank out if you need to work on a water line/drain. I wouldn't recommend any type of spray foam around plumbing.
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Old 06-18-2019, 07:35 PM   #3
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stainless scrubbies

I love your post and others that find simple solutions to help each other with problems.
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Old 06-19-2019, 12:19 AM   #4
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Brass/Bronze wool.

I use it to pack holes then have at it with the Great Stuff foam. I prefer the brass wool over steel wool, primarily because it doesn't rust. A real factor in the Deep South.

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Old 06-19-2019, 12:25 AM   #5
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Rodents love the taste of steel wool. Use stainless
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Old 06-19-2019, 12:59 AM   #6
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Ok, so here is what I ended up doing. More or less made a hammock out of screen wire strips used to patch ripped screen, adhesive back. Then, went over the top with great stuff.

I’ve found that if you stop them before they start, chewing thru isn’t as bad of a problem. We'll see if I’m right.

I’m almost astonished at the square footage of open holes in the floor of this thing....although, not really surprised after fixing some of the things I’ve fixed.

I do believe that “sealed underbelly” they sell as a feature is really just a cost cutting measure for them so they don’t have to really seal up all the penetrations in the floor.

I really think the best solution would be to pull off all that bottom plastic and have the whole belly spray foamed.

No lie, between the kitchen sink, under shower, drain pipes and furnace ducts, I bet there was 4-5 square feet of holes in the floor.

No wonder folks say they can’t heat their campers in the winter.

These photos are just a small sample.....
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Old 06-19-2019, 10:30 AM   #7
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How do you think they heat the underbelly?
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Old 06-19-2019, 12:28 PM   #8
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How do you think they heat the underbelly?
You are correct! Run some duct work in the belly, leave huge holes, sell it as heated space! Makes perfect sense!
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Old 06-19-2019, 02:38 PM   #9
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That's gonna be a mess when those connections loosen up and leak Are you running a dehumidifier in there when you're not camping?
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Old 06-19-2019, 03:37 PM   #10
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That's gonna be a mess when those connections loosen up and leak Are you running a dehumidifier in there when you're not camping?
I thought about that, but having them sealed seems like a better alternative to giant holes in the floor. To each their own I suppose.

I wouldn’t leave them open into the crawl space of my home and it doesn’t seem like a good alternative in a camper either. Great stuff is easy to remove when it’s cured. Most places, I can pull the edges of the screen and it will come out in one chunk.

Getting to any connections to tighten may be a bigger challenge than the foam. Under the shower drain I actually left a small place to allow drainage in the event of a leak. It actually leaked when new. The fitting cracked which I replaced with a rubber Fernco connector. I believe it’ll be much better long term than a rigid joint.

Also, being foamed in should eliminate a good bit of movement and vibration in those connections possibly preventing leaks too. I hope my theory plays out.

As for a dehumidifier, I leave the AC set to 80 all the time when parked. Probably wouldn’t hurt to have a dehumidifier too though.
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Old 06-19-2019, 04:03 PM   #11
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Do you think the mice may still be in the belly muching away at the stuff in that void?
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Old 06-19-2019, 04:15 PM   #12
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Do you think the mice may still be in the belly muching away at the stuff in that void?
Possible, maybe probable...but I’ve tried to seal it well too. I’m hoping to keep them out before they start getting in.

But aside from rodents and insects, I don’t really want the dusty dirty moldy air coming into the camper just like I don’t want the air from my crawlspace in my house.

It all may be an effort in futility but at least it makes me feel better. LOL
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Old 06-19-2019, 05:16 PM   #13
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It all may be an effort in futility but at least it makes me feel better. LOL


As long as you feel better because the dealer/manufacturer/blind installers don't give a damn.
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Old 06-19-2019, 05:37 PM   #14
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It all may be an effort in futility but at least it makes me feel better. LOL


As long as you feel better because the dealer/manufacturer/blind installers don't give a damn.
Truth!
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