Trailers are cheap, compared to houses. Ours has 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, heat, AC, an electric fireplace, and was fully furnished. It cost us around $39K. Meanwhile, 2 bedroom 1 bath unfurnished houses in the town where we used to live are going for over million dollars.
Something’s got to give.
And what gives is quality. This trailer looks nice and is very comfortable but after living in it for four months, the lack of quality is pretty apparent.
Most trailers aren’t meant to be lived in fulltime. Manufacturers know that things are going to break. That’s why new trailers come with a one year warranty. But for us, that warranty is basically useless. Even if we had a truck to tow it back to the dealer for service, where are we going to live in the probable months it will take them to fix things? Nowhere. So we do all our own work. My husband is currently huddled on the floor with our propane heater in pieces on the floor, troubleshooting an intermittent problem.
He’s a pretty handy guy and can figure out most things. He and I did a lot of the work on our house rebuild ourselves. But trailer systems are different than the house systems we’re familiar with. If we ever come up against a problem we’ll have to call a mobile RV mechanic to come out and fix it.
A flaky heater is one thing, but for a family trying to avoid mold, the real danger of quality control is the potential for leaks. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that all new trailers are going to have at least one leak. It’s not an issue if you stay ahead of most of them, and for the rest, stay on top of them and repair them immediately. I’ll talk about some of the ways to do that in this post.
Buy a mold-safe trailer.
Your best shot at buying a trailer that doesn’t start out moldy is buying a brand new one. (Of course, then you trade mold for VOCs. That’s one of the reasons we chose a Coachmen. It didn’t feel as VOCy to us.)
I actually bought our Casita a couple of years old. Casitas are hard to find. If you get them brand new, there’s about a six month wait, because every single one is custom made. We didn’t have six months. We needed a place to go immediately. Used Casitas are difficult to find. I got lucky and found one in my neighborhood that was only a few years old and was the exact model we needed – the one that doesn’t have a bathroom, but instead sleeps 4. I was not unmasked and I would have lost it if I’d have taken the time to test it. I took a risk. I do think it had some mold, because it didn’t take me long to realize that water was leaking around and under the sink into the cabinet below. People who aren’t sick with mold (or don’t realize they are) just aren’t going to be on top of a trailer like those of us who are. An hour with a tube of caulking solved the issue, but it never did smell quite clean. Still, it was clean enough for us to heal, so it worked out.
We bought our Coachmen brand new from a dealer. It spent a total of a week on the lot. It was a model that was brand new for 2020 that we bought in September 2019. We put a deposit down and signed an offer dependent on a clean ERMI test. Luckily, it tested 1.9.
One other option might be to buy a trailer from another mold family. The risk you run with that is that they may have detoxed in it, creating a mold problem even without water damage. I’m fairly sure we did that with our Casita.
Inspect everything.
Before you take the trailer home, make sure you fill all the tanks, check all the faucets and toilets, walk the roof and check it thoroughly for leaks. It’s easier to have them fix a problem before it even leaves the lot.
Clean and caulk.
Even if your trailer tests safe, make sure you start with a truly clean slate by doing a remediation level cleaning before you move in. Here are the basics of remediation cleaning:
- HEPA vac thoroughly. Not just the floors, but the ceilings, walls, inside cabinets, inside drawers, window screens, shelves, inside the refrigerator and oven. Everywhere. I’ve been using the Shark Navigator vacuum in both the Casita and the Coachmen and it is a workhorse.
- Wipe thoroughly with damp microfiber towels. I use the ones from Costco. I keep a basin full of warm water with a few drops of Dawn dish soap, dip the towel, wring it out to almost dry, and wipe. I wipe one direction so I’m not just smearing things around. To do this the right way, you’re never supposed to be re-dip a cloth in the water, so the water stays clean. Fold the towel in quarters and wipe with each quarter, then turn it over, fold in quarters again, and wipe with each quarter on the other side. Then put it in the laundry. Realistically, I use one towel and keep dipping until the water changes color. Then I put the cloth in the laundry and change out the water and start again.
- Optionally, vacuum again. This will get any last dust or spores that remain. Honestly I did not do this when the trailer was new, but for remediation cleanings we do vacuum a second time.
Once everything is clean and dry, get to work caulking.
The materials for caulking are cheap, but it takes a long time and is frankly a huge pain. Caulk is toxic and this is probably not a job for someone with CIRS. That said, it’s an easy way to prevent water damage from the getgo.
You’ll need a caulk gun and a tube or two of clear silicone caulk. I prefer to wear disposable nitrile gloves, both to protect my hands, and also so I can use my fingers to spread the caulk where I want it to go. I always use a ton of paper towels for cleanup.
Caulk around the sinks (baths and kitchen), around faucets, around the toilet, all around the shower/tub. I calked both bathrooms in their entirety: between walls and floors, even joins in the wallpaper. I also caulked all around the kitchen sink and floor. I really went to town. I didn’t want there to be anywhere that water could get through.
You can also use outdoor caulking to go around the windows and doors. Note that some windows are intentionally left open on the bottom for drainage. I caulked the windows on the Casita but the Coachmen didn’t seem like it needed it.
Install leak alarms.
Install a leak alarm anywhere there’s a risk of leaking: under sinks, behind toilets, outside a bath where water might sneak behind the shower curtain. We even removed the shower basin and put a leak alarm underneath it, in case the basin cracks or there’s a hidden drain leak. You can also wrap a piece of toilet paper around the pipes. If it gets wet it will be very apparent.
Don’t bring moldy stuff into the trailer.
In a nutshell, this means: bring as little of your current stuff as you can. Replace everything you can manage. For things that just can’t be replaced, like driver’s licenses or credit cards, clean carefully. I won’t kid you, this part is tough. It’s happening when you’re most mold sick. You’re probably exhausted and your brain isn’t working. And it’s a ton of work. Here are two posts that might be helpful:
I would highly recommend not going back and forth between your moldy house and your trailer, for packing or for living. It’s a good way to quickly contaminate your trailer. I know some people have to, and I get that. But it’s not optimal.
Choose your mattresses carefully and install breathable underlayment.
Nighttime is when we detox, by sweating mycotoxins. Wet mycotoxins are a terrible combination for mold sickness.
I have so far struck out twice on choosing safe mattresses. The first time we used latex mattress toppers. They got moldy. The second time we got regular mattresses. I’m just waiting for the time when they’ll get moldy.
I finally retrofitted the Casita with Exped Megamat 10 air mattresses with foam inserts. They are very comfortable and much less likely to get moldy. From now on this will be our trailer mattress of choice. They recently came out with the equivalent 12″ mattress and those are even better.
You also need a breathable underlayment. Some choices are Hypervent, Den-Dry, or Ikea bed slats.
Check for leaks. Constantly.
Even with alarms, check every inside water source on a regular basis, especially at first. I can almost guarantee that at least one fitting will fail. If it does, the sooner you catch it, the better.
Check the roof. Constantly.
The roof on a trailer is a laughably thin membrane. We are camped under a tall pine tree. An insane squirrel lives in this tree and chucks huge, heavy pinecones at the roof of our trailer on a regular basis. He’s a pretty good shot, too. Every time he makes his mark, the whole trailer shudders. Often a ripping sound comes from the roof. Really not good.
I keep a couple of tubes of Dicor Self-leveling Lap Sealant on hand for these moments. The slide roofs seem especially vulnerable. I think they’re made of a thin layer of fiberglass and nothing else. But the fix is easy. I just goop enough Dicor in the hole to fill it up and voila. Problem solved.
Updated 2/2021: Turns out this was the wrong way to fix the roof. A year later, it leaked. We pulled out the Dicor and the insulation and roofing and ceiling were all water damaged. We removed and replaced the water damaged materials and used Eternabond tape to redo the patch. Hopefully it will hold better than the Dicor did. We may eventually redo the entire roof with Fiberglass.
I go up on the roof everything couple of weeks just to check on the state of squirrel warfare and make any necessary repairs.
I believe it is also possible to reseal the entire roof, although I haven’t had to do that yet so I don’t know the details. (If you do, it would be great if you could leave a comment about how to do it.)
Manage humidity levels
A trailer is a much smaller space than a house, but you’ve got the same number of humans living in it, doing human things like showering, cooking, and breathing. So you’ve got to be more deliberate about managing moisture levels than you would in a house.
I like to see humidity levels around 35% max. Technically I think mold starts growing about 50-60%. You can decide your comfort range.
The easiest way to monitor humidity levels is to install hygrometers all around the trailer. I have one above the furnace thermostat, and one in each bedroom, stuck to the wall with command strip tape. I should probably also put one in the full bath.
The best thing you can do to manage indoor humidity levels is camp in dry locations. When we camp in the redwoods near the coast, where outdoor humidity levels hover around 80%, there is literally nothing I can do to manage the indoor humidity levels to a point I’m comfortable with. It’s much easier in our permanent spot, where levels range from 15% in the summer to around 50% in the winter.
The next best thing you can do is to open the trailer as often as possible. Always use fans when showering or cooking. Open the windows often; every afternoon, if you can do it. Open up the undercarriage compartment on a regular basis to let it air out.
In the summer, keeping things open was enough for us to keep humidity levels safe. In the winter, especially once we started using propane heat, we added a Vremi dehumidifier. This works well. We empty it once or twice a day. They went moldy on a regular basis until we started venting directly outside through a gap in the slide, and bypassing the tank. This connection occasionally does get blocked with dust so you do need to check it. When the dehumidifier starts smelling weird, it’s time to toss it and buy a new one.
Avoid AC or use it wisely.
AC is a mold nightmare waiting to happen. It pulls moisture out of the air, which then sits stagnant in the system.
The AC in our Casita was moldy when we got it. We tried to clean it by taking it all apart, cleaning the coils with coil cleaner, and cleaning the rest with Dawn. We still reacted. Now we just don’t use it.
The first summer, we never used the AC in the Coachmen for this reason. We bought a portable AC unit instead.
The second summer, it was hella hot and the little portable unit couldn’t keep up. We decided to risk using the AC. After every time we’d use it, we’d let it run on fan mode for about 10-15 minutes to dry it out. (You can also do this with your car AC, by the way.) By the end of the summer it felt slightly moldy but not bad at all. We vacuumed out all of the ducts and cleaned all of the filters, and will clean the coils with coil cleaner before we use it again next summer.
Use an air filter.
We use a Vornado PCO in the trailer. These get moldy often and need to be replaced. New filters haven’t always been enough for us.
When you do have water damage, remediate.
If you do have a leak, fix it first. Most trailers are built with PEX pipes. Compared to copper, PEX is easy to work with. You’ll need a PEX tool like this one. If you bring the old part into Lowe’s, a salesman should be able to help you find the proper replacement parts. You can always call a mobile RV mechanic if this worries you.
Once the leak is fixed, physically remove any water damage. Use caution when removing damage from supporting beams. We did this by cutting it out with a Fein tool. A cheaper oscillating tool would probably work too.
Once you’ve got the damage cut out, thoroughly remediate everything in your trailer with the HEPA/wipe/HEPA process I explain above. No fancy chemicals needed; just a HEPA vac and a few drops of Dawn and Microfiber cloths. You don’t want to kill the spores because doing so will just create mycotoxins and will also likely contaminate the space with chemicals. You just want to remove spores. To remediate, you’ll also have to wipe every pencil, every fork, every supplement bottle, everything. Wash everything that can be laundered. Replace everything that can’t be cleaned, like pillows, comforters, or mattresses. With the Casita I also bought a new carpet cleaner and cleaned all of the carpet on the walls and ceiling with Thieves cleaner. We removed the carpet on the slides in the Coachmen after a couple of months and it was disgustingly filthy underneath. It was enough to convince me that I never want carpet again.
After you get somewhat clear, you’ll be able to tell when you’ve removed enough spores that you’ve returned the trailer to a healthy environment. If you catch the leak right away, you may be able to get away without remediating at all. If it goes on for a few weeks, you’ll probably have more work to do. We missed a leak at first and it took us three days of solid cleaning to get the trailer back to a point where it felt good.
I’ve sometimes used an ozone generator in remediation. These need to be used without any people or pets in the trailer and it needs to be completely aired out before anyone comes back in. Ozone does break down materials. Use with extreme caution.
Finally, you can install baseboards or whatever you need to conceal any holes you cut out of the walls or floor.
The photo above shows the Casita in the throes of remediation. It was feeling a bit moldy just from us living in it so I did a thorough remediation cleaning and ozone treatment. It’s much better now.
If all else fails, trade in the trailer for a new one.
Compared to living in an apartment or house, and especially compared to the common experience of moving to an apartment and realizing too late that it’s moldy and having to move and replace all of your belongings again, living in an RV is really not that expensive. So if the time comes when you no longer feel your trailer is mold-safe enough for your family, be prepared to trade it in for a new one. Bryan Rosner has a good video on the economics of this. His economics only account for the trade-in loss and don’t account for the base purchase price and lost value of the original trailer, so they’re slightly off, but at the end of all of this you do end up with a trailer. In any case, he brings up some good points.
