Author Topic: Flooring and mouse proofing - non winterized cabin in 🇨🇦  (Read 1404 times)

MBot

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We have a small (300 sq ft) cabin that we acquired for next to nothing. The yearly costs are incredibly affordable and we spend a lot of time there in the summer so it’s a good value for us.

However, since it isn’t winterized and winters can get -40 Celsius here, we absolutely shut it down in October.

Two areas we are working on:
- What type of flooring can we install that won’t delaminate or crack in that kind of cold? Apparently stick down vinyl will not work.

Has anyone used a product like Karndean loose lay? Was it any good?

- how do we better mouse proof for the winter? Currently we remove all food and bedding, put tinfoil on all counter/ledge surfaces, tip up/wrap mattresses. Plus we’ve added a fair bit of spray foam they haven’t seemed to chew thru yet. Anything I’m missing?

thewizard

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Re: Flooring and mouse proofing - non winterized cabin in 🇨🇦
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2018, 02:06:28 PM »

lthenderson

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Re: Flooring and mouse proofing - non winterized cabin in 🇨🇦
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2018, 02:15:24 PM »
We have a vacation cabin that we use about a month a year. The floor is tongue and groove pine timber and has held up just fine over many years of freezing and warming.

For mouse proofing, we have several 50 gallon plastic barrels with tight fitting lids. Bedding goes into one and shelf stable food into the other one. We used this for several years as we spent some time every trip mouse proofing. Eventually we got the place mouse proofed. The nice thing about a small cabin is that there are only a finite number of places for them to get in and for us to find and seal.

Dancin'Dog

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Re: Flooring and mouse proofing - non winterized cabin in 🇨🇦
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2018, 04:28:31 PM »
We have a small (300 sq ft) cabin that we acquired for next to nothing. The yearly costs are incredibly affordable and we spend a lot of time there in the summer so it’s a good value for us.

However, since it isn’t winterized and winters can get -40 Celsius here, we absolutely shut it down in October.

Two areas we are working on:
- What type of flooring can we install that won’t delaminate or crack in that kind of cold? Apparently stick down vinyl will not work.

Has anyone used a product like Karndean loose lay? Was it any good?

- how do we better mouse proof for the winter? Currently we remove all food and bedding, put tinfoil on all counter/ledge surfaces, tip up/wrap mattresses. Plus we’ve added a fair bit of spray foam they haven’t seemed to chew thru yet. Anything I’m missing?


I've had good luck with floating laminate flooring, like generic Pergo.  I've laid it in a couple of homes.  The $0.79 cents per sq ft stuff I recently got from Home Depot looks terrific.  I can't imagine cold temps would bother it. 


I'd just lay out some bars of mouse poison for the mice.  I prefer the bars over the granular because they can't carry it away, they have to consume.  That way you can see how much is consumed.  Killing them is easier than preventing them from getting in, because they have plenty of time to figure out or chew a way in. 





Car Jack

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Re: Flooring and mouse proofing - non winterized cabin in 🇨🇦
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2018, 07:12:40 AM »
I have to laugh a bit at the term "mouse proofing".

Sure, you can repel them with an electronic repeller (I have 3 and they do work) and kill them with poison and kill them with a bucket of water and kill them with a tray of anti-freeze under a garage roll away tool box, but they will come in.  I am unaware of any way to fully prevent mice from getting in.  Perhaps there's some way, but I've never heard of one.  Indeed, do all of the above and perhaps set a bunch of sticky traps and a bunch of spring traps in obvious travel paths.

lthenderson

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Re: Flooring and mouse proofing - non winterized cabin in 🇨🇦
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2018, 07:39:50 AM »
I have to laugh a bit at the term "mouse proofing".

I am unaware of any way to fully prevent mice from getting in.

I have successfully mouse proofed two homes and a cabin so it can be done. The first thing I do is seal the garage door nice and tight. So many garage doors leave gaps big enough for an entire herd of mice to simultaneously enter but with the proper seals, this can be sealed up. Then I walk around the house and look at where every single pipe and wire enters the house through the walls, even in the back of meter or electric boxes. These often aren't sealed up. I also seal up the entire perimeter between the foundation and the siding/sillplate area. When sealing this up, you want to use stuff that allows moisture to drain out but that mice won't eat.  For crawlspaces, you also have to seal around any pipe or electric wire that penetrates the floor. Since many of these are hidden in walls, you have to do a lot of on-your-back work in the crawlspace looking up.

If one is methodical, it is possible to seal up a house to prevent mice from entering.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!