When MOLD Attacks!!

[Mike_LeClair]

SIGH, Just SIGH! What a mess! My bride just noticed this mess when she went to retrieve a phone book from the "miscellaneous crap" cupboard. On further investigation, I am sad to report, we have mold accumulations in most of the cupboards as well as in the sliding window tracks and in the closet of the bedroom.

No one to blame here except ourselves. We became complacent and lackadaisical in diligently running the dehumidifier and checking in the known hiding places where mold grows. Break out the bleach based mold killer, numerous rags, spray bottle of water to rinse and a large dollop of elbow grease. I removed all of the trim pieces from inside the cupboards and am tossing them. I will pick up some decent wood trim and redo the cupboards with some quality work. I can't hardly believe the******that the OEM uses for trim - nothing but cheap wallpaper wrapped around particle board strips.

Check you cupboards and other dark humid hiding places folks.





Cheers!

Mike

[SlowBro]

After you get the mold controlled, consider spraying the spots, and really anything else, with sodium carbonate (a.k.a. washing soda or soda ash). Don't confuse that with sodium bicarbonate a.k.a. baking soda. It's sold in hardware stores already mixed as a mold-killer called Concrobium. Basically it works mechanically, not chemically, by drying and crushing mold spores. Safe for lungs, kids, pets, etc.

Just an hour ago I had to tear out some moldly particle board from my mother-in-law's mobile home sink. I sprayed down pure bleach first, wiped off the surface mold and then doused it all really well with sodium carbonate.

Oh, I see they're now using baking soda in their formula as well.
Article on Concrobium

How to Make Mold Cleaner With Sodium Carbonate

Sodium Carbonate on Amazon

[John_Joey]

I'm sure it's condensation, it happens a lot. Run the dehumidifier at night, do the PVC pipe trick, and make sure you run the exhaust fans when you're cooking and showering and I think you should be in fine shape. Don't do like we did our first cold winter and cook spaghetti, we could have swam thru the RV. :E

Best of luck in this, and in your treatments.

[2012Coleman]

I agree with the above poster - you are experiencing condensation. Your roof would have to be swiss cheese if it leaked in all the places your finding water. Good luck.

[Mike_LeClair]

Hello again all! No, we are not in Alberta. We are in Osoyoos, BC which is where we normally winter every year. The temperatures here are warmer than Alberta and there is substantially less, if any, snowfall. Currently our daytime highs are in the 9 to 11 deg. C range (around 50 deg. F) and overnights are around the 32 deg F mark. Humidity is around 60 right now.

John&Joey: That is a nifty idea and certainly worth a try. Thank you for that.

We use a combination of both electric and regular furnace (propane) to heat the RV. I am fighting cancer right now and as a result of the disease and the treatment I need to keep the RV reasonably warm - not excessive, just at 70 degrees.

We will try to keep you posted with progress and fixes.

Cheers!

Mike and Carol

[Dtank]

westend wrote:
'd suggeat that, in the Spring, perform a pressurized leak test. The pressure test will discover any small leaks or pinholes.

X-2 - and in the meantime, clean thoroughly with 50/50 spray of bleach & water.

You don't want to be breathing mold spores!..:(

.

[rupprider]

If your rig is being lived in at your sig's location, the outside temps may have more to do with the accumulation of moisture than other things. Maybe use electric heater(s), instead of propane furnace. Do prevailing winds interfere with furnace exhaust? Your outside walls on an RV will let cold infiltrate, and the metal brads/nails will get below the dew point for the warmer air inside the rig. Good luck! Whoops, I type too slow!!!

[John_Joey]

Are you currently in Alberta? If you have that much moisture then I'm guessing that you're living in a cold climate running the heater. If that is the case then try doing this.

Get a four inch section of 1.5inch pvc pipe. You'll also need some sort of a 14x14 sponge to put into the roof vent. Open the roof vent about an inch, place the pipe in a corner, then jam the sponge rubber into the vent. That small opening will vent out the humidity, but still keep most the heat inside.

If you're not heating in a cold climate, then I'm betting you have a roof leak somewhere.

[azrving]

With what you just described I would back up and say you cant have water intrusion damage everywhere so you probably have a massive moisture humidity problem. The normal thinking with a house is that you dont normally have to open windows all the time but it's different in an RV. It's just normal to have your roof vents open a small amount all the time. yes, it seems like a waste of energy but that's a minimum for trying to control the moisture build up.

It's that or run a dehumidifier. If I notice any moisture on my windows it's an indication that I need more ventilation. Hopefully that's all your problem is.

[Mike_LeClair]

Well, upon further investigation the extent of the mold in our home seems to be pervasive. It appears to exist n every cupboard, primarily on the pin heads on the hundreds of nails used to fasten the trim pieces to the inside edges. From there it seems to "grow" up and down these pieces of stick and occasionally there is some mold at random places on the walls of the cupboard. We also found mold on the floor level of the walls where they meet the carpet and upward by an inch or so from the carpet. In some places the wall surface was dripping with moisture. I removed a couple of the corner pieces of molded plastic that the OEM uses to hide wiring connections and cables etc. and they were wet. One of those funky power connectors was actually corroding from the moisture on and in it.

We spent most of the day yesterday stripping off the damaged molding pieces and throwing them out. We washed the affected walls, rugs and other pieces and we will continue with the rest of the walls and cupboard areas today. I gotta say that this is pretty hard work for two senior citizens - I haven't spent this much time on the floor since the heavy drinking days of my misguided youth!

The idea of running the dehumidifier all night long is a good one and we will try this for several nights and see how much moisture we get out of the RV. I have talked with other full timers here at the RV Park and not many have said that they have this type of problem in their homes. Clearly we have been negligent in the upkeep of our RV and will have to really pay attention to this from this point forward.

Cheers!

Mike and Carol

[John_Joey]

That's not normal. We live in our rig for 4 months/year next to the Gulf. When I turn on our dehumidifier at night it will start off reading 80-90%, by morning it's at 50% with a full tank of water.

You'll have mold in the window tracks because of their poor construction and the condensation that is created. You need to be vigilant on keeping those clean.

Do you have any delamination on the outside? If not then you need to be vigilant about keeping humidity out of the rig. Showers and cooking need to be vented out when they occur. Just leaving a roof vent cracked open an inch will help a lot.

Keep us posted, I would love to know what the real cause of the problem is.

[westend]

'd suggeat that, in the Spring, perform a pressurized leak test. The pressure test will discover any small leaks or pinholes.

[Mike_LeClair]

Hi All! Thanks for your many helpful suggestions and ideas. We live in the RV full time and have been doing so since 2011. I can only hope and pray that there is no leakage from the roof. What a PITA that would be. I am pursuing this as though it is an excessive moisture/humidity issue. We have found the mold on the other slide out as well, although nowhere near as bad as what I posted up in picture. We have also found mold in the bottom cupboards, under the desk, of the small office slide. We have been running the dehumidifier daily now and I am checking the cupboard interior for moisture daily as well.

We also found mold in the window slide rails of several of the windows which leads to me to believe again that the moisture is humidity related and not a roof leak. Regardless, we will be monitoring the situation with hyper vigilance until we get it figured out.

Further thoughts and suggestions are gratefully accepted. Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Mike and Carol

[6_7_tow_rig]

I have to agree. Thats more of a leak issue from the roof.

[Wagonqueen_Truc]

That is how the demise in my camper began. It WAS leaks from the roof seams. Did not realize this until the floor started to become soft.