mold in trailer

[Janice Gealey]

Well first of my reports. Bought mold kit from Lowes put in hi lo on Thursday waited 48 hours and it has spots in it.. The test kit said to check at 48, 72, and 96 hours. I can send it out to there lab and for $40 they will tell me what kind. Now when I picked it up on the 10th I looked it over very carefully and saw no evidence of mold but you all know what happened when I opened it 12hours later, major asthma attack. So how do I find it, kill it, etc. Does this mean walls have to come down? Help!

 

[charlie b-HILO]

You probably have hidden water leaks so therefore mold. Can't fix one with out fixing the other. Look around the top of the roof inside for signs of water damage, and around all the window openings. The marker lights can leak enough water to allow mold to grow behind the paneling without showing damage until they are really bad. Preventive sealing is the only sure way to sttop it before it starts. I am learning the hard way.

 

[Luckydog671]

You probably have hidden water leaks so therefore mold. Can't fix one with out fixing the other. Look around the top of the roof inside for signs of water damage, and around all the window openings. The marker lights can leak enough water to allow mold to grow behind the paneling without showing damage until they are really bad. Preventive sealing is the only sure way to sttop it before it starts. I am learning the hard way.

Hi Charlie,

What is a good method to seal the marker lights? Should one seal the lense to the base? Or should the base be sealed to the (plastic) end caps. What is a good sealant to use?

Thanks,

 

[slider-HILO]

Greg, I always use sillicone and seal the base to the trailer.
There are different ways to do this but a light in good shape will have a good seal to the base so all you should need to seal is around the light base to the trailer.
I am anal when it comes to these so I seal under the base, all holes for wires and monuting screws and then mount and seal.
Down side is if you ever need to remove one of these... Cut the sillicone with a utility blade and pry slowly.

Rick

 

[charlie b-HILO]

Slider is giving good advise. as for the lens itself, only seal at the top, there are drain holes in the bottom to let water and moisture out.

 

[Luckydog671]

Thanks, Slider and Charlie. I've added it to my to do list.

 

[charlie b-HILO]

I also should mention some lights will mount either way. Make sure all the drain holes are to the bottom. In 1976 I was walking the new Ford truck lot and noticed 6 or 7 turn signal lights full of water. they would mount either way and the ones with water were upside down. I had the body man come down and fix them and called Ford to let them know. Just a minor over sight.

 

[gmbishop]

Sorry to hear about your mold problems. We live in Florida and on an island no-less so we live with mold 24 / 7. We have found that running the A/C for about 8 hours a day twice a week from early spring thru late fall keeps the mold from developing, we run a 12v. 3 speed fan on the days the A/C is not running. During the winter we use the Damp Rid Easy Fill (3) placed front/middle/back along with the 12v. fan running 24 / 7. Lot to go thru but sure beats cleaning mold off the walls, ceiling, countertops and curtains.