Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and insects
| [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and insects [message #254415] |
Sat, 05 July 2014 06:22  |
Olly Schmidt
Messages: 1265
Registered: February 2014
Location: Germany and Scottsville, ...
Karma: 8
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Subject says it all. If a motorhome can't have it as good as Murphy, but
has to endure the outside impact, I wonder how helpful a cover is
against insects, mice etc that want to utilize the motorhome as their
home during storage times.
Anybody with some insight and maybe some btdt?
--
Best regards
Peer Oliver Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA
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Best regards
Olly Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x18a9 3a1f 4196 bf22
'76a Eleganza II, VA
'73 Sequoia, SH, Germany
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and insects [message #254417 is a reply to message #254415] |
Sat, 05 July 2014 07:42  |
midlf
Messages: 2212
Registered: July 2007
Location: SE Wisc. (Palmyra)
Karma: 1
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A cover will do nothing to stop mice. They come in from the bottom where the cover is open. I don't believe you can keep mice out but you can make it difficult for them to get in, and if they do, make it a fatal one way trip. Seal up all the openings where they can get in. All areas with penetrations, especially around the black tank need to be sealed. Outside use poison blocks in the holders. Inside use traps, glue or snap. Remove anything from the coach that would attract mice. This includes, besides food, anything they would want to use for nesting. I have a friend who swears by using cotton balls for bait in snap traps. He claims they want prime nesting material as much as food. I've caught some using this method. The advantage to this is the bait won't rot or dry out.
Steve Southworth
1974 Glacier TZE064V100150 (for workin on)
1975 Transmode TZE365V100394 (parts & spares)
Palmyra WI
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and insects [message #254418 is a reply to message #254415] |
Sat, 05 July 2014 07:48 |
Joe Weir
Messages: 769
Registered: February 2013
Location: Columbia, SC
Karma: 7
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Peer,
Unless the cover is made of kevlar and completely seals the coach, it will not keep pests out. For that matter, neither will a garage (although it will cut the possibility down considerably). For extended storage, a cover over the exhaust outlet and intake inlet for the engine will alert you, if disturbed, that something has set up house.
Pest control is the same as for a house. The best way to keep mice out is to make sure the coach is sealed, and do not store any food in the coach. Stuff any necessary holes or gaps you find with steel wool.
Don't know what kind of insects you have at your latitude, but here in the tropics we get wasps, bees, spiders ants and roaches. The roaches and ants can be controlled by eliminating food and cardboard from the coach. If you wish, a periodic treatment with pesticide keeps the foragers from wandering back to the nest and inviting back friends and family. Spiders won't live where there is no food so controlling the ants and roaches takes care of them. Wasps and bees, however, are a fact of life. The only cure for them is to check your outside cubbies regularly (under the hood, inside the generator, propane, refer and water heater compartments), as well as under the chassis, and evict them manually (be sure to videotape so the rest of us can enjoy the follies).
Just like everyone else, the pests are looking for a quiet place to settle down. If the coach is disturbed regularly with someone opening doors and disturbing the peace, it is not as inviting. As has been said before the worst thing a motorhome can do is sit unattended and undisturbed.
Good luck.
76 Birchaven - "Wicked Mistress" - New engine, trans, alum radiator, brakes, Sully airbags, fuel lines, seats, adult beverage center... those Coachmen guys were really thinking about us second hand owners by including that beverage center...
Columbia, SC.
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and insects [message #254507 is a reply to message #254415] |
Sun, 06 July 2014 09:29 |
glenn2726
Messages: 234
Registered: June 2014
Location: Topeka, Kansas
Karma: 2
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The covers make nice nesting materials for the rodents..and it really doesn't do much for your camper. I think it would be better to get one of those metal roof type covers you could park under instead of buying an rv cover...just my 2 cents...I had a cover for a previous motorhome and it is a pain to put on and take off and then you have to store it..and if it has rained it is wet. Glenn
Glenn W
Topeka, KS
1974 GMC 26 ft. Color:Camel Interior:Canyon Land
Side Bath, Rear Sitting Area
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and [message #254517 is a reply to message #254415] |
Sun, 06 July 2014 10:51 |
Tom Whitton
Messages: 235
Registered: February 2004
Location: Paducah, KY
Karma: 0
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I have a cover that I used before erecting the "GMC Building". It repelled rain and kept the coach dry but stayed damp where it touched the pavement. Like someone mentioned, it was hard to take on and off. I have it rolled up and stored on a shelf. It would be good to keep the dust off during long-term inside storage but I have never gone to the trouble. Critters, fortunately, were never a problem under the cover in our driveway.
Tom Whitton
26 foot updated GMC
Paducah, KY
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and [message #254545 is a reply to message #254517] |
Sun, 06 July 2014 17:03 |
Otterwan
Messages: 946
Registered: July 2013
Location: Lynnwood (north of Seattl...
Karma: 0
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My parts coat lived under a cover for 16 years. While it did seem to keep critters out of the coach, the Onan, propane tank area, and engine bay were packed full of nesting material and suffered a lot of corrosion damage.
1977 Birchaven, Lynnwood WA - "We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us."
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and [message #254627 is a reply to message #254545] |
Mon, 07 July 2014 14:05 |
Hal StClair
Messages: 971
Registered: March 2013
Location: Rio Rancho NM
Karma: -12
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I've found that the covers seem to give the mice a nice easy pathway into the coach. I have my parts coach under one and can't seem to keep the critters out. I give them a nice warm sticky welcome once in but as others have mentioned, really tough to keep out. I had my SOB parked outside without a cover this spring and never had an issue, and they were both within 25' of each other.
Just my take,
Hal
"I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind, except you happen to be insane."
1977 Royale 101348,
1977 Royale 101586, Diesel powered,
1974 Eagle Bus 45',w/slideout,
Rio Rancho, NM
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| Re: [GMCnet] How good are RV covers against critters and insects [message #254689 is a reply to message #254415] |
Tue, 08 July 2014 09:17 |
Larry
Messages: 2875
Registered: January 2004
Location: Menomonie, WI
Karma: 10
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My coach is stored for only a couple of months in a pole barn. That's the time when it gets to cold outside to work on it, up until we leave for the south between Christmas and New Years. The only reason that I put a cover on it then is to keep the bird s&*t and dust from staining the paint. The rest of the year the coach is outside in the elements. For periods exceeding more than a week, I cover the tires only. I tried a cover while outside, my reasoning being to keep the sun off of it, but found that when the wind blows, it flaps around and leaves rub marks on the paint. Also has a tendency to hold moisture after a rain under the cover longer than I like. So while sitting outside for longer periods, I just make a point of washing about every two weeks and waxing a couple of times during the summer. With no cover, things seem to dry out faster and with the wax, seems to keep the paint nice and fresh. As for washing the coach, I use a soft brush and do it in the rain. Put on a raincoat, and brush away. The rainwater rinses the coach without leaving watermarks, and the process does not put more chemicals into the ground. (My neighbors think I'm crazy) I started doing this while traveling the south. Most if not all state and federal parks will not allow washing of coaches/cars at campsites because they do not want the contamination that the soaps create. So I started doing it in the rain using rainwater. Got approached once by a park ranger who told me I was in violation of that rule. Once I explained what I was doing and not using soaps or water from their faucet, he said..."Oh...OK" and left me alone after that. JWID
Larry 
78 Royale w/500 Caddy
Menomonie, WI.
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