Carpet has mushrooms growing along wall

[ShannonFromMich]

Just discovered an area of creepy mushroom-type foliage growing from the carpet in our 2015 Thor Class A Axis. The carpet was black in this area too. We had an issue some time ago last fall with a bubbled wall and some moisture in that area but the dealer and manufacturer split the cost and they replaced the entire panel/wall by the drivers seat and we thought it was a done deal. Does this mean we have a new leak or is it from the old issue several months back? We will check the roof but the caulking is all fairly new. I have cleaned and treated the area for mold and I am ventilating it, but husband will need to pull up the carpet and see whats going on underneath. I have a fan on it now too. How hard is it to pull up that carpet and replace it? This is our 3rd RV and we have never had these issues before, we purchased this rig brand new. Despise carpet and will never again have an RV with carpet. I am horrified this happened in a brand new rig. Any advice appreciated. We do want to take care of this the best way we can. The area is small, no bigger then my hand.

[10forty2]

Hope you get it fixed and back on the road again! We had a leak that I chased for almost a year until I finally found it....turns out it was where the aluminum roof meets the fiberglass end cap....the seal had broken, but not visibly. After applying Dicor self-leveling to the suspect area as well as resealing EVERY joint regardless of how it looked, I seem to have cured the leaks. We found the leak after it had gotten bad enough to cause the carpet to get wet underneath the bed and around the edges of the storage box underneath the bed. Spent the entire winter after that pulling EVERYTHING out, (bed, furniture, cabinets,...EVERYTHING that was slightly less than permanent) pulled all the carpet/padding....THAT was a job....and spent several weeks applying clorox to the wood flooring beneath to kill any potential mold/mildew. Kept several fans blowing inside to dry everything out and then installed FLOR brand floating carpet squares. That way we can remove a single carpet square and replace it if necessary instead of having to pull an entire section of laminate boards or tile. We're happy with the end result, but really hated all the work that went into getting it done.

To your question on running the A/C year round? No, we don't, but we DO keep a floor fan running and the roof vents open to ensure circulation throughout. A dehumidifier is a good idea too.

[kdk]

When I thought my drivers window was leaking,I resealed it twice to later finding it wasn't the window but where the front cap overlaps the side above the window to be the issue. It was never sealed from the factory when built. Water would intrude through this seam, leak down to the window and follow the window frame work around to the bottom of the window and then down to the floor. May not be your issue but some place else to look. Blessingd;kdk

[wyocamper]

Thanks Shannon, that's all very useful information.

It's just my wife and I, mostly short trips for now. I don't see us ever full-timing, but there will come a day when extended trips are more likely.

The 2018 Axis 24.1 we looked at doesn't have a walk around queen bed, it has a split king with a center section to convert it to a king. https://www.thormotorcoach.com/axis/floor-plans/241

We'd prefer the queen, but this one has an on-demand water heater and most others still have the standard 6 gallon tank. Guess it will come down to what features/options matter most and which we can compromise on.

The Winnie Vista 26HE looks good too, but that's on the F53 chassis instead of the E350.

[ShannonFromMich]

Thank you, we will look into the fans and the dehumidifiers for the inside. This has been very helpful for us to get suggestions. Just to clarify my remarks above, for Wyoming.....we love that the cupboards and doors are solid and they do not fly open when going down the road like one of our former RV's did, these are very solid and high quality wood. I think the ill fitting door and the leaky outside compartment and such were just things that sometimes you will find on an RV. We deal with regular stuff just fine. But I was shocked to have a plant growing on my carpet!!! Over the years I have found we have come to despise a rubber roof, carpet and the dining tables with loose chairs. We love a booth. This RV has been a lesson for us. But you can't beat the size and you can't beat the maneuvering and ease of driving and parking. We will always have an A and a walk around Queen bed, and this was exactly what we were looking for. There will always be things that come up. We clearly need to be on top of all the maintenance even moreso. Weather is very hard on these things in Michigan. Mechanically we have had no other issues with the RV and it might be something we would consider getting if you are a single person or just 2 people. Its great for a weekend. But the water tanks are smaller and for fulltiming, a big family with pets, or extended vacations I would say not this one.

[Dutch_12078]

Instead of running an A/C in high humidity conditions when the rig is home, invest in a portable dehumidifier to leave running. The operating cost will be less, but the collection bucket will need emptying from time to time. How often will depend on the humidity levels.

[ShannonFromMich]

Wyoming~ We were looking for the smallest Class A and we are thrilled with some aspects of this RV~ we love the size, the handling, the look and the gas mileage.
The size-was right we thought, since our kids are gone and it's just us 2 now. We now think it's a bit too small. We are thin people but not much space to move around without bumping each other most the time. It has a bedroom slide. It's better on gas and easy to handle. But we have been disappointed with some aspects of the quality of the RV. The main doors fit poorly. The drawers and cupboards are very solid and never open, they shut tightly and stay shut. Everything else seems to works well. The outdoor drawers have had puddles of water since Day 1 and that was repaired by the seller General RV. We have had no chassis or mechanical issues but we would be wary of getting another. This was our first "brand new" RV and we were disappointed in it, we have so far been most impressed with the quality of our older and used Winnebago. Our next RV will be a but bigger and not likely an Axis. Longer and more slides and more underneath storage needed, we can barely fit 2-3 lawn chairs and our grill underneath. We went from too big to too small. We need a bit more space. The next will be our last and fulltime possibly.

[Bruce_Brown]

^^^ Don't forget about the bubbled wall too.

[wyocamper]

Hello ShannonFromMichigan,

So other than the rubber roof and carpet (and shrooms), would you buy the Axis 24.1 again?

We've been looking at class C's and after driving a few different ones Monday we drove the Axis 24.1 and really liked it. Much nicer ride than the Thor class C on the same chassis. This was at a CW store, so the models were Freedom Elite.

We were pretty impressed with the Axis for the money, but I have no idea what the build quality or workmanship is like.

[ShannonFromMich]

Thank you. This hasn't been leaking long but the humidity in Michigan has been killer this summer and we do our best to ventilate the RV. A question for all would be do you all use your AC all summer when your RV is just sitting? Due to an unexpected family illness this summer did not go as planned and our RV sat more this summer then we hoped. Some days it reached in the 90's inside. We opened windows and vents. Do we need a fan in there everyday for ventilation? We hate to use the AC due to costs. Our friends with boats run fans all day. Suggestions for better ventilation?

[wa8yxm]

Had that problem when I had a leaking water pump... I fixed the leak, and fed the 'rooms a bit of Clorox (Spray bottle) And they never returned no they never returned and I beileve them deceased.

NOTE Clorox is powerful stuff and can both change the color of your carpet and damage it so use it in a small area first. If it causes discoloration use a good carpet cleaner instead. Mine is a Bissle Pro-heat system.

[ShannonFromMich]

As a followup: husband came home. Removed drivers side console, located 2 slightly rusty screws and a very tiny line/streak of water. He decided it was coming from outside drivers top of the window. He pulled up a very small area of wet carpet about 1 inch by 4 inches. We got rid of the pad underneath and dried the wood. It wasn't very soft and the area was very small. We had a local guy come and he says it is not black mold but a carpet bacillus/fungus and he doused it with something. Now we have a fan drying that area. We will keep the area as it is and keep an eye on it and if it stays dry we will cover it later. He resealed and recaulked that window once again. He just did that in May. It couldn't have been more then a hairline crack. We store it in our driveway and a wild turkey has been on the roof more then once. We despise rubber roofs and carpet and here we are with both. We are upgrading and going fulltime in a few years and be assured there will be no carpet and no rubber roof. Unfortunately we do not have a pole barn to store it.

[RLS7201]

Are you storing your RV in a cave?

Richard

[midnightsadie]

friend had mold his insurer covered a very large repair bill. never hurts to find out. and I,d see if there was any warrenty from the first fix. good luck.

[Tyler0215]

To the OP
Black mold is deadly! Do not use or even enter the RV without an approved face mask or ventalator. A paper mask won't do any good.
If you inhale black mold it will grow in your lungs. Get an inspection done to determine if you have have black mold. If it is indeed black mold you have a very expensive repair. If your insurance will cover the RV they may total it. Yes it's that serious!