Ideas to get rid of mice smell in bass boat?

Newbie@boats

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Here's a little back story on the boat, the boat sat from 1990-2016 in a non mice filled garage, unused/covered.

My friend bought it in 2016 and used it 5 times until I just bought it 2 months ago. The mice came into the picture about a year ago when he decided to store it in his barn. It has been a fresh water boat so as far as GPS/electronics they're minimal. Everything on the boat is original from 88 besides the trolling motor. The seats are perfect no rips or tears, all pumps/gauges work as they should. From the mouse traps I put inside the boat so far I don't see any trace of mice at this point. Its just a matter of getting rid of the smell.

Is a power washer safe for carpet in a boat? I am thinking on the next warmer day we have I will get a couple gallons of simple green and give it a go. I attached a picture of the boat.
 

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Scott Danforth

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the live-well fittings will most likely either be cracked and broken, or soon will crack and break.
 

briangcc

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Having been there/done that with a car, your best bet is to rip up the carpet and toss it in a dumpster as advised above. That's the only way I got the smell out of a car I bought out of PA - smelled like something died in the trunk (and probably something did).

I'm not sure why you'd be looking for factory original carpeting. Just head over to your favorite big box home improvement store and pick up some indoor/outdoor carpet in the color you want OR step up your game and install something synthetic like Seadek (which won't snag hooks and is soft on the feet) or Vinyl.
 

C-Beans

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I work in pest control. There's a deodorizer called Epoleon that's used on mouse and rat smell dead or alive. Also skunk, garbage, pets, etc. Doesn't mask the stink but works like an enzyme.
 

Newbie@boats

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Turns out I was 65* today here in CT, I removed everything from the boat, doused it in simple green used my car wash brush and scrubbed and hosed the interior out. Filled the live wells with bleach and scrubbed them out. Now it’s time to let it air out and dry. Then we will see how it smells
 

Teamster

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I had that problem once,....I soaked it with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water and mixed in a whole bunch
of Borax with it,.....

Let it soak, drained it and let it dry,.....

Smell is gone,..
 

Newbie@boats

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It’s smelling 80% better. Still not 100% gone but the weekend is almost over so until we get the next warm weekend it should slow down my wife’s complaining.
 
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As a few have mentioned, the sun is an amazing fixer of smells and stains. You may have to wait until spring, but several days out in the blazing hot sun should help get rid of everything. However, I'm a big believer in ripping out the carpet. I bet that your wife would appreciate new carpeting/flooring as well. I doubt that she is wed to that 1970s brown in a 1988 boat, but you could probably find brown marine grade carpeting. I see brown marine carpet at this website: https://boatcarpet.com/
 

Newbie@boats

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I’m amazed how well it worked so far with the initial wash down. You can hardly smell it unless your standing directly next to the boat and my wife hasn’t said a word.

she has zero interest in boating, she will never be on the boat, she will never go fishing which I’m ok with. But I do want it stored in the garage to keep it out of the elements.

im not going to rip up the carpet for a couple reasons, 1 I want to keep it as close to original as possible-I’m an avid ATC collector and once spent a year and a half finding OEM/NOS tires for a machine to keep it era specific. Replacing the carpet is out of my skill level-although doesn’t seem to difficult but if it’s not perfect I’d have to do it until it’s perfect and also it seems the smell is almost gone. I know I may sound crazy but it’s just how I am.
 

Scott Danforth

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there is no benefit to keeping anything original. carpet is easy, screws and glue. easier than most of the maintenance needed to be done on a boat. you still have to fix the live well plumbing which involves pulling half the boat apart
 

Old Ironmaker

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It's the old problem where a $25000.00 Corvette had a dead body in it for a month. They had the problem on an episode of "Myth Busters" They got the smell out but had to replace the interior at a cost of $25,000.00. Sometimes the smell just won't come out with out replacing everything interior wise. I would start with the least expensive, yes I have been told coffee grounds are used in dwelling on all the soft stuff like carpets 1st and work from there. Buddy was a property manager for years and he said where there was a dead body starting to go off coffee grounds 1st. Walls and cielings repainted with oil paint.

I must add there is no such thing as a "Non mice filled garage." No matter where on lives including at the Arctic Circle. I have a friend that just has nearly finished building a 3300 square foot home worth around 2 million. Before they moved in they have Rats. No garbage, no nothing. It's cold out, mice and rats like warm interiors and love chewing wood to make nice clean nests to come to after hunting outside for food.
 
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Cdwill0108

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there is no benefit to keeping anything original. carpet is easy, screws and glue. easier than most of the maintenance needed to be done on a boat. you still have to fix the live well plumbing which involves pulling half the boat apart

I agree
 

Newbie@boats

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there is no benefit to keeping anything original. carpet is easy, screws and glue. easier than most of the maintenance needed to be done on a boat. you still have to fix the live well plumbing which involves pulling half the boat apart

It’s my personal preference. There’s things you’d do that I wouldn’t. There’s things I’d do you wouldn’t. You are assuming the live well plumbing is trashed and needs to be replaced. I removed the fuel tank which exposed all the plumbing for live wells and bilge pump. There’s no signs of cracking or dry rot.
 

ahicks

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Though fun spending other people's money, I'm with you here Newbie. My stuff is not replaced unless it can't be repaired in a reasonable manner. Re: the carpet, that would include a thorough power washing. If I blow big holes in it, THEN it's replaced no question.
 

Newbie@boats

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I was actually out in the garage today getting ready for the snow coming. There’s not a HINT of the smell of mice. I would say the smell is gone and I haven’t heard a complaint from my wife since. I’m happy. She’s happy. Just gotta wait for the warm weather and I’ll be fishing!
 

Grub54891

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Is the garage heated? Asking because in cold storage, it may not smell because the bacteria is frozen. When warmed up it may come back
 

Newbie@boats

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The garage isn’t heated but it was 45* here today. Wouldn’t consider it freezing by any means.
 

appleo

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Been there done that with the rodents urine. Recarpeteed my entire boat

Replaced the stenched and rotting flooring too

I agree with the others. replace the carpet. 200 bucks or less

check for other rodent damage in the meantime
 

Newbie@boats

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Almost a month later and still no hint of mice smell anymore. They are definitely not living in the boat any longer. I am starting to think they weren’t in there as long as I thought. I’ve been thru this boat front to bad so far and haven’t found any damage from them. Although they did chew a couple rags in the storage compartments. Safe to say I’m not tearing out the carpet. Floor shows no signs of soft spots. I can stand on the motor and the transom doesn’t flex at all.

in the process of fixing a bad thermostat issue now with the boat but come next month I’ll be on the water
 

Sea Rider

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Assume that whatever your are doing to get rid of that stinky mice odor is done in a open space to air faster...

Happy Boating
 
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