Water In Bedroom Closet

[WilliamsClan]

We are the happy owners of a 2012 Prowler, purchased last spring. Over the winter, unbeknownst to us, water has leaked/ is leaking from the outside to one of the closets in the master bedroom. ( of course its MY closet!)
Basically, I found mold growing and during a decent rainfall yesterday, discovered a puddle that was working it's way under the mattress. Anyone else run into this? Hubby thinks he has found where a screw has managed to puncture. It's rusted and we believe is the culprit allowing the water inside. Thoughts? Suggestions? ( besides getting a cover for it. I'm rather ashamed to say the poor trailer spent the winter 'naked'. That will not be repeated!)

 

[danemayer]

In addition to the rusted screw, take a very hard look at seams, caulking, windows, marker lights and everything else. Water can come in and migrate, so it may not be coming from right outside where you're finding it on the inside.

 

[aatauses]

I agree with Dan, water can "run" quite far. I would also look at the junction where the front cap meets the roof. Clean the area real good and then reapply caulking to the area.
al
currently in Kenai, AK

 

[WilliamsClan]

Thanks for the suggestions! I think we are going to like it here!

 

[ParkIt]

As an aside to what has been addressed on the water issue, make sure to get the mold under control asap. Any surface can grow mold including windows, mirrors, counter tops, and of course fabric. The 'bleach' method is harsh and dangerous regardless of ventilation and what you are trying to do is change the pH balance to destroy mold colonies (which can remain unseen and dormant for years). Dry heat is molds biggest enemy so anything that can go in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes is optimal, larger items if you have direct sunlight on a line for 30 minutes each side so there is room for air to not trap mold spores.
Windex for windows and the metal framing as well as other hard surfaces works very well as the lower amount of ammonia kills most molds on contact. A 10 to 1 mix of ammonia in water on the walls should kill any mold spores hanging out there. Unfortunately you will want to pull up the carpet and use a couple of box fans if you don't have access to a commercial dryer, again make sure it's hot (78º with less than 43% humidity is optimal) for at least 1/2 hour per square foot of carpet.
A good way to clean out all vents (yes, its dark and moist there where mold loves to live) - turn on the heat to 75º until each register is pushing out 75º for 10-13 minutes. It's a bit crazy on propane use and being inside the unit, have your fantastic vent and any other ceiling vents open so the heat can work its way up on a "kill zone" and out the roof vents.
If that is far too much invest in a UVC wand, they are easy to use and can be done anytime and as often as you like. I make my own UVC lights with timers to keep any mold from growing especially in the panel off the outside storage. If I miss a water leak it makes mold harder to grow until I realize I have a problem.
You will be battling mold for awhile throughout the unit, just make sure when using shower, sinks and cooking you are fully ventilated or you are just giving the remaining mold colonies a reason to activate.

Good luck and hope you get this handled soon

 

[Mizmary]

Good info Parkit! I wish I had had you as a resource when we molded the inside of our SOB 4 yrs ago.

We also run a dehumidifier at night- just make sure you get one with the right power draw. We have an energy star one and it works wonders to drop humidity to keep the mold at bay. You may want to treat your mattress too if it was close. We used winded to clean and then Lysol after - which may have been overkill. Mold is yucky. :-( sorry for your troubles!!

 

[ParkIt]

I haven't had a mold problem and don't want one, I also have a 2Qt 3 speed sensing dehumidifier unit but it rarely pulls more than a cup in a week because of constant ventilation and UVC lights.
Studying Mycology has its benefits with one downside, its outrageous to get my degree

 

[Mizmary]

This is the dehumidifier: http://www.amazon.com/SoleusAir-Ene...?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1370728219&sr=1-28 We ran one in the room with the mold issue to help kill everything.

It pulls a ton of water out of the air. We run it at night, mainly when it is cooler. I can't imagine running it in summer because it does a good job doubling as a space heater for our garage where the hot-aired tiny humans sleep. ;-P. it is probably a bit of overkill but our littlest was very small when we molded our camper and she got sick. So now we err on the side of dry. It isn't quiet, but as far as dehumidifiers go it is almost silent. It is large, but the flat-ish top makes for a decent coffee table.

 

[wesley1963]

As an aside to what has been addressed on the water issue, make sure to get the mold under control asap. Any surface can grow mold including windows, mirrors, counter tops, and of course fabric. The 'bleach' method is harsh and dangerous regardless of ventilation and what you are trying to do is change the pH balance to destroy mold colonies (which can remain unseen and dormant for years). Dry heat is molds biggest enemy so anything that can go in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes is optimal, larger items if you have direct sunlight on a line for 30 minutes each side so there is room for air to not trap mold spores.
Windex for windows and the metal framing as well as other hard surfaces works very well as the lower amount of ammonia kills most molds on contact. A 10 to 1 mix of ammonia in water on the walls should kill any mold spores hanging out there. Unfortunately you will want to pull up the carpet and use a couple of box fans if you don't have access to a commercial dryer, again make sure it's hot (78º with less than 43% humidity is optimal) for at least 1/2 hour per square foot of carpet.
A good way to clean out all vents (yes, its dark and moist there where mold loves to live) - turn on the heat to 75º until each register is pushing out 75º for 10-13 minutes. It's a bit crazy on propane use and being inside the unit, have your fantastic vent and any other ceiling vents open so the heat can work its way up on a "kill zone" and out the roof vents.
If that is far too much invest in a UVC wand, they are easy to use and can be done anytime and as often as you like. I make my own UVC lights with timers to keep any mold from growing especially in the panel off the outside storage. If I miss a water leak it makes mold harder to grow until I realize I have a problem.
You will be battling mold for awhile throughout the unit, just make sure when using shower, sinks and cooking you are fully ventilated or you are just giving the remaining mold colonies a reason to activate.

Good luck and hope you get this handled soon

Would love to hear more about that!

 

[WilliamsClan]

We were actually toying with the idea of hauling the dehumidifier out of our basement and parking it out in the camper for a while, but our house is 100+ years old. I really don't want to do that! lol
I haven't seen any other mold growth, except the closet. ( I know that means nothing, but it was closed. Maybe that will save us)
I cleaned the area with Tilex and Lysol-ed the mattress within an inch of it's life. I will look into the lights!
Thanks agin, everyone!!!

 

[rumaco]

We are full timers and now host the BLUE SKY RV park in Issaquah Washington (actually unincorporated Preston) and we pull 30 pints every other day from our rig. We put "damp-rid" in the closets and cars that are parked. If you are in a high humidity area you better use a dehumidifier all the time. Problems start inside the walls where you can't see and progresses from there. There a rigs that have been condemned for that very reason.

 

[ParkIt]

Would love to hear more about that!

This was before they sold them on the open market and I needed them for our house. Bought a 32" long receptical (shop light), added the pigtail and ordered the lights online at 1000bulbs.com and used a basic timer for christmas lights. Any area only needs 10 minutes, anything and everything is rendered inert just by passing over the light. In winter I put one in the bedroom and one in the living area with a small portable fan to move all the air in the unit so it passes over the light. I ended up making 5 total and keep two in the crawlspace with a fan on low at all times, it also keeps rodents, spiders and anything else from going there since they smell the ozone and won't go near it. Those are on 24/7 and get replaced every 6 months and you can see the concrete where we have them (move them around) is bleach white. That is the one thing you have to be careful of when using them like I do - its just like anything else left out in the sun because it's the UV-C rays only in the bulbs. The wands are much more handy now, some being battery powered and hand held. You can do a pass of anyplace anywhere to keep mold colonies from growing.

We were actually toying with the idea of hauling the dehumidifier out of our basement and parking it out in the camper for a while, but our house is 100+ years old. I really don't want to do that! lol
I haven't seen any other mold growth, except the closet. ( I know that means nothing, but it was closed. Maybe that will save us)
I cleaned the area with Tilex and Lysol-ed the mattress within an inch of it's life. I will look into the lights!
Thanks agin, everyone!!!

The only true chemical that works is a hydrogen peroxide base mix the military uses. Cool thing about that stuff is it's totally green (soon as water hits it, it stops working), can be used on any electronics or surfaces/fabrics without damage or residue. Unfortunate part is they were trying to sell it in the US but Dow and Johnson & Johnson went to war in court for the rights to market it. Now you can only find it online and have it shipped from the UK or Australia - its on the shelves there.

 

[justafordguy]

Shouldn't your leak be covered by your warantee? If so I would think the damage it caused should also be covered.

 

[Papa81494]

Sounds identical to our issue, found yesterday. Just brought home our 2012 Prowler 27P-RBS (leftover) 3 wks ago. Was taking the plastic off the mattress to ready for our maiden voyage. Found mold at the head of the bed area behind mattress and what looks to be water stain in the closet. I immediately called our dealer and I hope they'll be picking the trailer up early this week. They seemed very eager to take care of it and any other issues I found (which I did). I put a list together and told them I didn't want it back until I could be assured there were no leak issues. If it has to go back to Heartland for pressure testing, that's fine with me. Is that a part of the manufacture process? We just traded in a 2004 Fleetwood Prowler that had a hidden leak for who knows how long. It was rotting so bad we couldn't use it. I already feel like I purchased another time bomb. Very concerned.

 

[danemayer]

Hi papa81494,

Manufacturing is building 2014s on most if not all models, so your recently purchased 2012 could have been sitting on the lot for as long as 2 years. If the dealer wasn't maintaining the caulking, it's very possible some deterioration occurred, resulting in a leak. The maintenance schedule recommends checking every 90 days and getting a dealer inspection annually.

I'm sure the dealer can find the problem and remedy it.