Cats!

Did I ever tell you how much I love cats. Well let me tell you once again, this cat of mine is deffinately on my you know what list!! While down state this weekend we left our cat at the trailer with the neighbor to watch out for her. All went well till the cat gets on the kitchen counter (where she has been taught not to be) and either walks by the handle or rubs up against the handle of the sink faucet. Yup you got it, she turned the water on and it was on for the better part of 3 hrs. This filled the gray tank and then the sink and yup you guessed it the trailer. Water coming out the front door, out the slides etc. Not good to say the least. Damage is yet to be determined, but its not pretty!!!!


Sad part of all this is I always turn the water off going to the trailer when I go away for any length of time. But becuase the neighbor was watching the cat I knew she would need to give her water so I left it on. Just before I walked out the door I said to Linda, that I had better shut it off, then I second guessed myself and said ity will be alright!! NOT!!!!

My question is, what should I look for underneath. I have got all the water out from under there that I can tell. Is the insulation under there foam or fiberglass. Most of the water came out right by the down tube for fresh water tanks drain. I pulled the insulation off around that hole and it drained. On the lower part of the drop frome I drilled a small hole at the lowest point and it drained water. What should I be looking for until I can get this thing in and have a dealer look into it.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Sorry about the flooding. Those of us who are pet lovers understand the mixed feelings you must be having toward Belle.

I'd expect the underbelly insulation to be fiberglass batting that's probably soaked, at least in places. One thing you might do is to remove a few of the coroplast mounting screws on one side to open an air gap and then tilt the trailer a bit to that side. (Keep an eye on your refrigerator - running off-level can create a problem there - but it's probably less sensitive to left-right tilt. If temp starts going up, either shut off the refrigerator, or get back to level).

While that may help drain any remaining water, the insulation may retain water. I suspect you'll need to remove and replace the insulation.

It would probably be a good idea to run large fans in the interior to make sure everything gets dried out completely, especially carpet.

Also, if water got into the heating ducts, they may need to be drained from underneath.

The more I think about the situation, the more I think you need to get to a dealer quickly.

Dan, I plan to get to the dealer as soon as the ins. guy gets to us and looks it over or however the ins. wants to deal with it. I believe today I will be lowering the vinyl under the trailer and look and see for myself just to eliminate any immediate problems. Lot of work but I live fulltime in this rig, so putting it in the shop is not a good option, but will do what is neccesary. Fans have been going constantly, shop vac working overtime. We are getting there, just a long way uphill.

Dave

I never thought about that possibility that our cats might be able to open a faucet! We have one that can open lever handle doors.
I think I will start using a velcro strap around faucet lever to prevent this.
Hope your problems turn out to be small ones.

We keep grey tanks open when we have sewer hookup....

kakampers said:

We keep grey tanks open when we have sewer hookup....

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Trust me, grey tank for the kitchen is open and will remain open. We always leave all tanks closed until I dump black tank then I can use kitchen tank to rinse then the shower for a better rinse. With this happening we will just use shower for rinsing and then if need be will use sewer flush!!

kakampers said:

We keep grey tanks open when we have sewer hookup....

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I kept our grey tank valves open for a while until we started getting a sewer gas stink from the camp ground drain up into the kitchen. Then I started closing all of the valves and just opening them when we dumped the tanks. I always keep the grey tank valves closed until the black tank has drained for this same reason. Is it normal for sewer gases to come up into the kitchen when the valves are open or is there something wrong with my vents or something? Tom

Can't happen....there are P traps just like your house...odor was probably coming from a venting issue. We solved that with a rotating vent on vent pipe.

Been fulltime for seven years and have always left valves open...only one incident with kitchen tank odor....and it was a simple fix.

Dave49 said:

Trust me, grey tank for the kitchen is open and will remain open. We always leave all tanks closed until I dump black tank then I can use kitchen tank to rinse then the shower for a better rinse. With this happening we will just use shower for rinsing and then if need be will use sewer flush!!

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We only use greys for flushing when we have to use dump.station...why not make good use of you flush system?? Works great!

Dave... Maybe a quick little trip / vacation to Texas is in order. It's 97 already and suppossed to hit around 108 or more today, your coach would dry out in no time at all!

kakampers said:

Can't happen....there are P traps just like your house...odor was probably coming from a venting issue. We solved that with a rotating vent on vent pipe.

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You don't have any vents in your plumbing under the sink?

Duane...Nope, no vent under sink...got lucky I guess....

kakampers said:

Duane...Nope, no vent under sink...got lucky I guess....

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You might want to look a little further. I have a vent in the cabinet next to the sink. Kinda points to where the Gray #2 is actually located. Follow the drain from the sink and you might find it where it dives down to the tank.

Hence another reason to turn the pump or water off while you're not going to be back to your rig for a while. When we got our first rig my father in-law told me his story. He was out in his boat fishing with his rig in sight. All of a sudden he could see a stream of water shooting from his rig. His water line popped. He couldn't make it back in, in time to save the damage. He had to go through a lot to fix his rig. I also shut down the water at night. I was told a story by him and another camper about their horrible night when their water lines popped in the middle of the night.

I hope that everything works out for the best for you.

Trust me, we've search there Is no vent under our sink or anywhere in our kitchen...we do, however have a roof vent on our galley tank. When we had a bad odor in the kitchen we added a rotating vent on that roof vent...odor immediately disappeared and has never come back.

Ok a little follow up here. First the so called insulation in the belly pan is nothing more than a piece of thick tin foil basicly. I droped the pan on one side and have had a fan going there now for the last 24 hrs. It appears dry but making sure. The floor seems to be ok as it is now dry also but who knows what the damage may be under the vinyl floor and carpet. Although very little carpet got wet. It appears the major damage is the L shaped kitchen counter. It was soaked in water for at least 3 hrs and the drawers are warped, the doors are warped and it seems like the whole island has soaked up a bunch of water. My guess is, replacing that whole L Shaped counter and sink.

Insurance adjuster may be here today, or I will at least hear from them today for sure. Will let you know on the progress.

Dave

Depending on the outcome of the insurance adjuster's visit, you might consider running a dehumidifier on HIGH near the kitchen counter (doors and drawers open) for a couple of days. Be sure to monitor the catch basin, though, and keep the trailer closed up.

Dave49 said:

Ok a little follow up here. First the so called insulation in the belly pan is nothing more than a piece of thick tin foil basicly....

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Sorry to hear about your Cat caused RV flood. Hoping insurance can make you whole on this.

So that you know, all Bighorns have a layer of "flex-foil" insulation in the underbelly area. No Bighorn is built with fiberglass insulation in the underbelly. That said, while you have your underbelly down, adding fiberglass or another type of insulation may be something you want to consider.

Again - best of luck with flood damage repairs.

Dave49, sorry to hear about your water damage.. We have 2 cats and i have always keep our valves closed until i dump..Thanks to your article i will NEVER leave my gray water valves closed...Thanks again.....Bernie