Eichacsj writes “We don't let guests (or family) stay in the TT for the reasons 4x4bob wrote. We bought our TT to replace hotels, motels and all the stuff that goes on in the beds and the way things are treated. Our in-laws don't like our cats so staying in the house does not work and we do need our space or after 3 - 4 days we are at each other’s throats. Mostly we go there and we stay in our TT, they hate we do that but we need our time outs.”
So you would rather have a “smoker” not only smoke INSIDE your expensive home/apartment but also take the chance of them BURNING DOWN your MAIN LIVING SPACE?
Travel trailers are far easier to replace and less expensive along with the fact will interrupt your life much less if something catastrophic happened to it.
Often when I have had guests stay it is during part of the work week and I may not be able to take any time off. So if I opted to stay in the trailer it would severely interrupt/change my own schedule in the morning.
My guests who have stayed in my TT are basically only needing a place to "crash" for the night or a few nights along with a hot shower/ bath functions. They tend to go visit other relatives during the day time while I am at work.
“One thing I have never figured out that I see in many forums is, “we never use the TT, 5ers, MH facilities”, why not? Even if it is in your back yard it is so easy to dump without moving it http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/flojet-rv-waste-pump-kit/26125 or some other brand. Mostly I hear when someone complains about odors it is because it is not drained correctly or they open the black water valve when it is hooked up to sewer our some kind of drain. People do know that you always leave your black water closed until it is full, even in the finest RV resorts don't they? Then you drain it and clean it well. I have never had odors in my long term parked TT, my last one I had 14 years.”
Sorry, just doesn’t happen all that easy for everyone, period.
That Flojet is a $250+ “solution” and REQUIRES you to buy a DEDICATED “garden hose” that you will never be able to connect to a POTABLE water system.
I personally do not want to spend $250 plus for something that can and does break (pumps do go bad), my TT sits way on a hill above my septic tank (tank is nearly 20ft drop below my basement floor) and I don’t want to have a dedicated garden hose which can easily be connected to my potable water via standard hose bib.
In my case, I have extremely good reasons as to why the facilities are not to be used in my TT.
First and foremost is the SAFETY of my water well.
You see, I do not have very much yard which is accessible by 4x4 without a trailer (20+ degree slopes to the bottom of my property). The only easy access I have just happens to be right beside my water well. My trailer sits 2ft away from my water well casing and the black/grey connection is a mere 10ft away from the water well.
My water well and trailer is only a mere 20ft from my house.
Having to dump a black or grey tank or even having a partially loaded tank sitting mere feet away from my water well IS NOT AN OPTION, period. Just too great of a chance of contaminating my well and a new well drilled can easily cost $10K-$15K.
No matter how careful you are, you always will get some drip or leakage when you remove the tank cap or connect and remove a dump hose or device. In my case too risky.
Even putting in a permanent dump site near my trailer is not an option I have a NATURAL GAS LINE which runs UNDER MY TRAILER through my front yard, not a good idea to be digging there. Not to mention the tank connections are on the far side away from my house so I would have to dig across the gas line, the water well line, the power for the water well, 30ft down a hill then make a 90 bend and another 20ft to my septic tank clean out.
I ALWAYS dump AND CLEAN my tanks BEFORE LEAVING “camp”, I always will give the tanks a good treatment of “Dawn” after the initial dump as part of my rinse routine. This way I have less chance of contamination my water well via tank or connector leakage.
Basically if I allowed my “guests” to use the TT facilities I would have to pull my trailer out of it’s parking spot, back it down a steep and narrow driveway to my tank cleanout as soon as they departed.
Trust me, I have in the past considered putting in a dump station closer to my TT but considering potential contamination risks to my well it is not worth taking the chance..
Not to mention I do not have any water plumbed to the trailer, I would have to run 60ft of hose across the yard causing a tripping hazard...
Not going to dig up the yard to run water either, plus I would have to winterize the underground water line for our winters or face having to dig up and repairing the water line often..
I do have electric there but it is not buried very deep, so no danger of hitting the gas line when I ran that..
Something else you are forgetting, you would HAVE to go over the "do's and don't s" of proper RV toilet usage to each and every guest each time. Otherwise you WILL eventually run into the dreaded "pyramid" when that guest doesn't know or FORGETS the proper usage..
In short I find that it is much simpler, safer, easier and cheaper for everyone involved to NOT use the TT facilities..
