“Oh…there’s mold down here” is sure to make anyone’s heart sink. We’ve noticed a couple of stray leaks near our front windshield during this abnormally wet summer. But just a couple of weeks ago, Eric noticed a patch of mold in the far corner of the carpeting under our steering wheel. Yikes!
The growth can’t be too old because I like to consider us observant. It’s also not due to any leak we know of, which means there’s water coming in from a mysterious location (not good). We haven’t been able to fix the source of the problem yet, but we jumped on treating what we could see. And it wasn’t pretty…
I decided to tackle the problem with every housewife’s best germ-killing tool: bleach. I wasn’t worried about bleaching the carpet for two reasons: 1) This corner isn’t seen by anyone but us, and 2) I knew nothing I did could be worse than what the mold could do.
I applied water and bleach to the carpet with a rag, using a disposable glove. After scrubbing for a while, I moved on to our second cleaning tool: ZEP Clear Shell Mold & Mildew Inhibitor (link to Home Depot – not an affiliate link).
ZEP’s product can be used to clean away mold, and it’s also supposed to inhibit its growth in the future. It’s possible that I could’ve skipped the bleach and just used ZEP, but I figured a two-step disinfecting process couldn’t hurt!
ZEP’s instruction are to spray directly onto the infected area, let sit for 1-2 minutes, and then wipe or scrub as necessary.
My “after” picture is here. It looks like the mold did stain the carpet, but the mold appears to be DEAD. I’ll have to report back on how well ZEP does with inhibiting mold growth. I suspect that if we have a leak somewhere, no amount of ZEP is going to permanently fix the problem. But it seems to be a good tool to have on hand.
When we were RV shopping, we said so-long to at least one potential home because we found mold. As part of our annual maintenance, I plan to do a complete inspection of all of our carpeting, cabinets, and those hard-to-reach corners, to make sure we don’t have any other growth.
Do you have any mold stories to share? What kind of treatment do you recommend?
-Brittany
Have you tried Scotch Guard OXY? We’ve gotten rid of several what we called nasty impossible stains with that.
I haven’t, Sharon! I have a standard carpet cleaner I’ve used on some of the many spots from previous owners. I’ll check out Scotch Guard OXY if it doesn’t work on this one!
a major cause is , when you are on the roof with the tube of sealant, failure to properly clean the surface. adequately before . If you do not clean, there WILL be moisture and an ineffective seaI. I know first hand. now the front cap of my fifth wheel is off and siding back to the entry door plus the window and door to address and repair/rebuild the substructure. with the rot comes black mould. This all could have been prevented if only I had cleaned property “before” using the sealant.Its a good idea to use a heat gun to assist in removing the old sealant and starting fresh. Enough cannot be said for Preventive maintenance .
Mold! Never a good thing I agree. ~> When we purchased our RV, it was not brand new. We knew repairs/upgrades would need to be made, before hitting the road. One of those repairs was a leak in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the leak had caused mold to grow in one of the side built in end tables. Since the bedroom had a built in queen bed and I was determined to make my king bed fit, I just yanked out the moldy built in and cleaned the area behind and around it with bleach 🙂
Wow! That sounds like a huge job. I don’t mind the mold I can see as much. I get nervous about mold/water I can’t see. Is water collecting in our ceiling somewhere? That type of possibility makes me nervous. 🙂
Our used RV had a mold issue. It was a real nightmare..
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Do you have an update on the mold? Did the ZEP take care of it? We’re buying an RV from a relative and they just opened it up after the winter and found a water leak & mold…I don’t know how bad yet – they’re going to send me pics…
@disqus_A7WNjsbhp6:disqus Hi! The ZEP did take care of the issue. We ended up having the carpet pulled up, replacing it with wood laminate. A word of caution, though. If I were looking to buy an RV and it had leaks and/or mold, I would run the other way. We were so careful to look for leaks when we were shopping, opening up every cabinet and looking in every corner. Leaks are rarely easy to fix.
Thanks, Brittany. We’re waiting for more info from our Aunt. They live in Pasadena, CA, and apparently this winter they had monsoon rainstorms. The water came in through the roof vent over the bathroom. She’s going to have her son open up the ceiling to see how bad it is… I asked her to send pics and they’re going to do that on Friday. I will take your advice to heart – our Aunt is realistic and doesn’t want us to deal with something that is too big of a problem. Thank you!
I truly wish you the best! I don’t mean to seem negative, but I also wouldn’t want you to get into a big headache that could’ve been avoided!
No worries! I am glad that she discovered the mold before we flew out to California and had a big surprise. Our aunt is going to take pics & send them to us. We’ll make a decision from there. If it’s isolated in one area, I’m not TOOOO worried… I had plans of renovating & replacing the carpet with linoleum, anyway…so we’ll see. Thank you for your advice!
Hi all, Let’s just say your husband knew your RV was leaking, knew it for a very long time and when you finally discovered it after more than a year the entire bunk area was infested with mold. The curtains are toast, the mattresses may be salvageable but the carpeted ceiling… OMG. So I was wondering if the Zep or Scotch Guard products would be safe/effective on the ceiling? The RV cost almost as much as our house and its now a paper weight.
Oh and I’m sure you’re wondering, I’m not writing this from prison, he’s still alive. = )
Oh no, @allaranjejenkins:disqus! So sorry to hear this. Have to admit this sounds pretty serious–beyond any surface products. Our friends at Drive, Dive, Devour discovered a major mold issue above their shower a few years back and had to do some major repairs. I recommend you contact an expert before the mold gets worse!
We are considering buying an RV that has sit two years and I noticed a powdery light film of yellowy mold on strange things, like the sofa seatbelts, below the fridge and on some wood. Hopefully this is from sitting so long without being used or opened up. I did get a reaction from being up close and inspecting with a flashlight and don’t want it to come back. There doesn’t seem to be leaks, but it was under trees and I can see this happening from temperature fluctuations and humidity for so long. They didn’t have the shades pulled down anywhere. The RV is in excellent condition inside other than that, like new. Thanks! 🙂
Definitely do a really careful inspection, @angelitaliano:disqus. I would highly suggest going to visit the RV after or during a rain, so you can check for leaks then. Open up all the cupboards and feel the backs for warped wood. Press on the bottom of all the slides to see whether there’s any give. It isn’t good for RVs to sit, especially diesels. Test the generator and get up and look at the roof. There are also RV inspectors out there for your peace of mind.
The seller is a sweet older lady who is having an RV place inspect it for the issues we found. When she said how long it sat I was disappointed, but we will work it out. We think it’s just from being closed up for so long, not due to any leaks.We looked at it for four hours, and everything will be tested. Thanks so much Brittany!