Possible RV Restore

Kayteg1, interesting post. When you say "good quality paint" did it include a fungicide? Most conventional paints have fungicide right in them. If they are specific for bathroom applications, they have higher concentrations. While you won't get mold, the fungicide (a poison) outgasses and contributes to health problems in a different way than the mold.

Excellent, procedure and practice turbojimmy. I'm not familiar with "Microban." I have to use non-toxic substances due to my health problems. I used tea tree, enzymes and hydrogen peroxide on a small mold problem that developed in my RV following a 21/2 month stay in a mountain campground that included hailstorms. The hail damaged the roof and caused a leak. Sealed the leak. I thought I dried it out sufficiently, but you know water... A couple of weeks later when I entered my coach, I detected mold. Since I'm hypersensitive, i can smell minute amounts. I tracked it down to a seam along the edge of the partial partition between the cab and the coach. I removed everything down to bare wood. Treated the whole area to kill both the root and the spores. Then I chiseled out all of the section of infected wood for extra measure. It was small enough. I treated the area again. The whole time I ran a UV purifier to kill spores so it wouldn't spread. When it was dry, I sealed it. Then I filled the area with "onetime" to ensure structural integrity, and sealed it again. I also thoroughly decontaminated all the materials that had been near the outbreak, like the upholstered partition covers. These issues can be dealt with very effectively. Thanks for sharing!

Mold is still a mystery to the science and I researched it with aspect to house rental.
There are no firm codes that would say at what level mold can be unhealthy.
Hose showing black mold around the windows did measure to have less pollution inside, than outside.
Anyway, what I figured out over the years is that beside moisture the mold needs food to grow.
In my old house I had very small bathroom where I was able to squeeze whirlpool in.
I love to take hot tubs in the winter and having laptop on the railing the 1hr stay is a minimum.
So the moisture build up in small bathroom was enormous. Water could drip from the ceiling and when I open the door with whirlpool running the smoke detector in the hallway would make the alarm.
But I put good quality paint in the bathroom, with tiled floor and in 20 years of usage did not use fan.
The mold never developed in the bathroom, although we had it starting on aluminium window frame till we cleaned the dirt from it.
So per my experience using good quality materials is more important in mold fighting than getting rid of moisture.

I did a lot of research after I bought my '84 Allegro. It had sat abandoned in a tow yard for about 6 years and had several leaks. I didn't know if it had any mold, but I'm slightly asthmatic and my daughter is asthmatic. I once had a realtor show me a property that had been condemned due to black mold growth. We entered the property, past the do not enter stickers, and I immediately could not breathe. Scary stuff.

From what I've read, mold won't survive the wild temperature swings (at least here in the Northeast) that an RV is exposed to (unless you're living in it full-time, keeping temperature and humidity high). The spores, however, are hardy and will cause the mold to grow once the conditions are right again (warmth, darkness and moisture).

I did not find anything in my RV that looked like mold (black or otherwise). What I did find was LOTS of mildew. A fine, black coating of it on EVERYTHING. I thought the upholstery was stained with black grease or something. I used Microban to thoroughly clean EVERY surface, every piece of furniture and inside of every cabinet. I've opened up walls and floors and haven't found any mold. Some rot, which is different, but no mold. I sealed it all up and let it dry out and continue to monitor the roof and other areas for leaks.

I spend a lot of time in the RV, and my daughter to a lesser extent, and it doesn't bother us at all. No bad smells, no growth of anything. I wouldn't condemn an RV out of fear of mold unless you can see a lot of active growth. In my case I didn't see any at all.

@okhmbldr,
Not stirring the pot at all. My husband is an engineer and we've run an Enginnering business for 26 yrs. Thats what we thought, too. But there are a couple of caveats. That only works if you've recently run water in the drain. It also means for every drain in the house. The air stream wouldn't have to be drawn from the drain in the room you were using. It could be drawn from any part of the house where the drain dried out (casting spores along the way). I actually experienced it myself. I had turned off the water softener. That p trap dried out. I figured it out when my husband washed a toxic substance off his hands and even though we plugged the sink drain, etc. I kept reacting to it. I tracked it down to that water softner drain, in a back room mechanical closet. Until I capped it, I had to add water to it constantly. I was surprised at how fast it dried out. So if you have more than one drain (don't forget the laundry), every trap would have to be full. Air could pass if it was low enough, not just completely dry. So I've actually personally confirmed what the building codes inspector had discover, and reported.

Good share on the amount of condensate on bathroom walls. Its important for RVers too.

Not to stir the pot but Toxed2loss just stated;

"It became a chronic health problem when we started drawing air back through the sewer vents for exhaust fans".

As a homebuilder for over 30 years, unless I misread the plumbing codes, all bathroom vents must contain a P-trap that holds water, that will prevent any sewer gases from entering the home. Most homes have P-traps under each sink, they are at the base of the toilets and under the shower and tub drains. Plus, there is usually another P-trap under the slab before the vent heads up to exit the roof.
So, I don't think the exhaust fan can pull air through the drains/vents in the home. Cracking a door or window for exhaust air is a good idea. Most people don't realize that after a shower they leave about a quart of water on bathroom walls that needs to be exhausted to keep the bathroom dry and mold free. Just my 2 cents.

I certainly recognize that those are valid issues. I don't disagree with you one bit. And yes, 'totally gut' an mold infected rig.

One of the things I learned fron a building inspector that was also participating in "The National Converstion on Public Health and Toxic Exposures" was that black mold started becoming a problem in homes when building codes required that they were tightly sealed against drafts. Since that increased the condensation in bathrooms and laundry rooms they also required exhaust fans. The problem was that the exhaust fan has to 'draw' the air from somewhere. It will draw from the path of least resistance. In homes, thats the sewer vent stack. Black mold feeds on waste, especially animal (human) waste. Its "necrotic." Have you ever cleaned a drain and found all kinds of black slime? That's black mold. Its a good thing it exists, in its proper place, or we'd be drowning in dead animal material. It became a chronic health problem when we started drawing air back through the sewer vents for exhaust fans. The spores were being drawn into our indoor air and we were breathing them in, where they started feeding on the lungs of people, causing chronic illness. The answer is to slightly open a window, in houses, so the air draws from there and doesn't pass over the sewer black mold colonies in the drains. I think the same thing could be occurring in RVs when we run the exhaust fan over the toilet. We open the hatch and suck up the mold spores out of the sewer tank. Then those spores are dispersed around the inside of the RV on the air currents.

So, we need to establish practices that combat the problem. 1. Don't run the exhaust fan when the drains are open. I plug all my drains unless I'm using them. 2. Use enzyme based tank cleaners. Those enzymes keep a health colony fighting molds and bacteria where chemical disinfectants and deoderizers increase mold growth over the long term. 3. Run a UV air purifier, it ruptures and destroys spores. 4. Air out problematic spaces and in those warm damp climates, use a dehumidifier. 5. Clean with tea tree solutions, enzymes, or hydrogen peroxide in mold suceptible areas.

As far as your friends getting sick, there are a lot of indoor air pollutants in an RV. In homes, the CDC says indoor air can be 100-1000 more toxic than outdoor air. Of course that depends on whats going on in both situations, but you get the idea. Autos and RVs are even more toxic. Taking steps to minimize the toxic materials and fumes in their RV would help a lot. Never use toxic cleaning chemicals or fragranced products in your RV. Fragrances contain hundreds of toxic ingredients, including pesticide. The toxic chemicals continue to volatize long after you initially used them. You are shut in there with all those fumes. I never stay hooked up to the sewers, either. The chemicals (and mold spores) in the septic system would be volatizing back into your living space through the tanks. Think about all the toxic stuff people wash down their drains! Then there's the methane from the decaying natural material, ammonia, and sulpher or carbon dioxide. All those toxins rises out of the slurry as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

Many times as people travel they are unknowingly exposed to pesticides. If you run your air (as you drive) on "outside air" you suck in the pesticides. I've experienced it myself. If the hwy roadside spraying rig has applied a herbicide like 2,4-D anytime in the 2 weeks before you drive past, you'll be exposed to the pesticide. Those toxins are sucked into your rig and stay there! One beautiful RV park I stayed at did something toxic every single day. Usually it was within 2-50' of the guests! The 'disinfectant' they used on picnic tables and playground equipment was so horrible it cause me respiratory problems from 50' away. Then there was herbicide and insecticide spraying! If you are outside and those chemicals get on you, they are brought back into your RV on your clothes, skin and hair. So you see, your friends reaction to their RV environment is complicated, but it could be considerably improved.

Interesting. Maybe I've seen too much over the years, but IMO mold is a very real problem for some if not most RV's. Unless you totally gut an older rig you will never get to all of it.

For example, on a Class A you have overhead cabinets (normally) above the windshield. That area is never insulated. Condensation builds over the years.

I know of many RV'ers that spend 2 or more months in their rigs that get sick after a few weeks of being inside. Others have upper respiratory issues the longer they stay in their rig.

Rig mold issues just get worst the further south you go where hot and humid can be the norm.

Ah, I understand. Yeah, I'd be careful about toxic mold issues. And I wouldn't recommend an RV with them for a Toxically Injured person if they could afford better. However, there are ways to remediate minor mold issues, and knowing a little bit more about toxic mold can help prevent it getting started.

You mentioned new RVs often have mold in the window wells. Well, there are some reasons for that. Aspergillis Nigers (black mold), is the main one that's making people sick. There are a couple of things it really likes to feed on, one of them is petroleum products and by products. You probably already know about mold spores and how they are transported by air currents. There are always mold spores present. Without moisture, darkness and warmth they aren't a problem. Petroleum products and by products feed black mold. Thats why shower curtains, plastics and calk, etc., really grow mold well. The reason you see it in window wells is, the moisture that condenses plus the deposits of spores from the air, the darkness, the warmth and the windows are lubed with petroleum based products, so they slide easily.

There are very easy ways to kill mold that are non-toxic, if it does get started. Tea tree oil is fantastic! Hydrogen peroxide does well, too. Enzyme cleaners are also effective in breaking down the structure. Chlorine bleach doesn't actually kill it. It just lightens it so you can't see it. It does take off the tops but does not take out the root. Thats why it comes back. Its also a neurotoxin. If its a lot of mold, or in walls, the moldy parts have to be removed (and of course the leak sealed). I do know of Toxically Injured people that have purchased RVs that had mold problems because thats all they could afford. They hired someone, or had a family member, strip the interior, and kill the mold. They then did their remodel with non-toxics.

I'm sorry I see we got two new members on this thread which I didn't notice at first. I made the mistake of thinking there was only one.

Yes I was asking you about your thoughts on mold. When I saw that the other poster bought a rig from a salvage/auction (I thought it was you the OP)I was kinda stumped. From my past experience with these type of rigs, they are your basic petri dish.