Hi everyone! We had a major leak from the shower drain in our Pioneer BH25 trailer. The leak was pretty easy to fix, but it soaked all the insulation in the underbelly from front to back. Looks like there are a few threads on how to replace the insulation and some cool improvements to make. Ill be reading through those to see what will work best for me. What I wanted to find out is, If i remove all the wet insulation now, can I leave it out over winter and make the repairs in spring? My thought is to let it air out over winter and let the cold air circulate under there to prevent future mold growth. let me know what you think, and if there is any other ideas or things to look out for with this type of repair. Thanks in advance!
underbelly insulation replacement
- Thread starter thewrench
- Start date
danemayer
Well-known member
Hi thewrench,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.
Sorry to hear about the leak and glad to hear that the fix was easy.
If you're not using the trailer over the winter, and have winterized it, I don't see any reason why you couldn't take out the wet insulation now and replace it in the Spring.
But if you're going to leave things partially open, you might need to watch out for critters looking to get out of the weather. You can get pests inside even with everything in a normal condition. You don't want to make it any easier.
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.
Sorry to hear about the leak and glad to hear that the fix was easy.
If you're not using the trailer over the winter, and have winterized it, I don't see any reason why you couldn't take out the wet insulation now and replace it in the Spring.
But if you're going to leave things partially open, you might need to watch out for critters looking to get out of the weather. You can get pests inside even with everything in a normal condition. You don't want to make it any easier.
Thanks for the reply! I removed all the insulation. I did find a couple spots where the mice were hanging out, and a some spots where the floor wasn't sealed very well. I'm hoping with the insulation gone and the floor sealed up better, they wont bother it. Ill update as I get the repair done.
wdk450
Well-known member
Wrench (I LIKE your username):
It sounds like you know how to use the EXTREMELY VALUABLE Heartland Forum search function. There have been previous threads about making your rig undesirable to mice you might want to check out.
There's definitely a lot of information to sift through! Seems like what works for one person, doesn't necessarily work for another. We'll keep trying things till we get something that works. I hope with the holes sealed up, and the absence of a soft warm place to hide, they wont find it as appealing this year. Something I'm going to try this winter is jacking the trailer up off the ground and storing it on jack stands. Besides the benefit of preventing flat spots in the tires, I think the steel jack stands wont be easy for a mouse to climb.
When you replace your insulation, you may wish to give consideration to using Roxul Stone Wool batts vs Fiberglass batts. I used Stone Wool when I replaced some of my insulation. I ended up putting wrapping my insulation in clear poly but I now feel that was overkill. What I didn't know at the time is stone will will not hold water and will not promote mold growth. It is heavier than fiberglass, so that might be a concern for some.
Read further down in this post to see my Stone Wool mention.
From Roxul's website: ROXUL insulation is a rock-based mineral fiber insulation comprised of Basalt rock and Recycled Slag. Basalt is a volcanic rock(abundant in the earth), and slag is a by-product of the steel and copper industry. The minerals are melted and spun into fibers.
Read further down in this post to see my Stone Wool mention.
From Roxul's website: ROXUL insulation is a rock-based mineral fiber insulation comprised of Basalt rock and Recycled Slag. Basalt is a volcanic rock(abundant in the earth), and slag is a by-product of the steel and copper industry. The minerals are melted and spun into fibers.