Mildew?

woman_who_sees · May 27, 2015

The fresh water fill hose located under the bed is leaking badly and the carpet on the right side of the bed is soaking wet. The RV repair place here is VERY busy and it will be over a week before they can see us. This same thing happened about three weeks ago and they replaced the hose and everything was OK once again. Now it has come lose and is doing the same thing again. Here's my question: The floor never completely dried from the first time and now it is wet all over again. Even after they fix the leak, the floor will take awhile to dry. Consequently, it has been wet for about a month and will not be dry again for a few weeks. It is causing some mildew and smells bad sometimes. I know mildew is not good for your health and I'm writing to ask if any of you have had this problem and is there anything we can do about the mildew? (FYI We are staying in Texas and the humidity is so high that it takes forever for anything to dry.) Hope you can help us.

kjtdrt · May 27, 2015

you could try a dehumidifier it will take the moisture out of the air you could also use a box fan on the floor to help dry out good luck hope this helps

Dave

Jimalberta · May 28, 2015

I think I would rent a wet vacuum and get as much out as possible then blow warm air over it for days...when it feels dry you are starting to get it dry...there is still moisture underneath so keep it going for days yet. Run the dehumidifier to extract the moisture from the air in the coach as this moisture is moving from the carpet to the air....still need to get rid of it.

skp51443 · May 28, 2015

It might be cheaper to just buy a 1 gallon size shop-vac, that will suck the water out of your carpet quite well.

I'd really worry about the wood under the carpet, being wet for more than a couple hours can do some serious damage to it.

Get it dry as you can, put a basin under the leak and if your humidity is low add a fan blowing on the area, a dehumidifier if your humidity is high.

Deezl Smoke · May 28, 2015

There has to be more than one repair facility in the area.? If this facility is the same that did the previous repair, then this time it is warranty and should be priority. That is, it would be in a reputable shop.

Do you have a working gauge on the fill regulator? What does it say?

As Stanley points out, the wood under the carpet is likely starting to rot. Usually it will be plywood and with this much water, for this long, it is starting to delaminate and decompose, which will cause some bad smells. The carpet is likely ruined by now, so if it were mine, I would cut the carpet at a line somewhere say at a doorway into the bedroom, and pull it up around the bed and discard it.

Bleach, or X-14, is a great mildew stopper. I have used it several times over the years in various situations to stop mildew in it's tracks. Thing is, it is not very friendly to some surfaces. That is why I would plan on throwing the carpet away and replacing it with new or perhaps sealing the wood if it is still usable and putting down a throw type rug.