How to remove/kill mold behind RV walls?

[daboognish88]

I have a 1982 Dodge Xplorer 228 campervan, and recently I noticed some mold growing on the walls of the van.. probably because there is a leak in one of the back bedroom windows.. so I cleaned everything I could with white vinegar. I then tested the air for mold spores and it tested positive. So obviously there is mold behind the walls. Problem is I have no idea how to get at it. I would literally have to tear out everything.. the cabinets, the closet, the sink, the plastic walls themselves if that's even possible. There has to be a better way right? HELP!

[rjoney55]

oh my gosh, I was afraid of that! It's a scatter of small bumps under the wallpaper. Our wall is a short one and nothing could be put over it to hide the area after its fixed. We would have to see if Coachmen has wallpaper we can put over it that matches. Or maybe no one will actually notice it! Thank you.

[dcason]

Open up a suspected wall section (you are later going to put something over it...a shelf, picture, rack of some sort so plan ahead...) see what you see. That will answer your questions.

We had a leak in the corner of our motorhome (from the top corner....which we fixed) but we suspected through use of a moisture meter (great to have) that there was some moisture in the wall. We opened it up, dried it out with fan for weeks/knowing the source was fixed...luckily no mold. Then hubby made a nice cubby rack to screw on to wall to hold additional stuff by the bed.

[rjoney55]

Good Morning, I am new to this website. I was watching a video on an RV for sale and the salesman showed a wall behind a chair that had "bumps" under the wallpaper. He said it would appear that it was a "factory issue" and not from a leak. And that it was MOLD SPORES under the wallpaper. We have a 2016 Coachman Leprechaun that has some of those "bumps" between the bed and the wall with an emergency window above. We didn't see them at first, and then after we had it awhile I noticed them and thought they were just bumps on the wood before they covered it with paper. They appear to be spreading, and now that I watched that video last night I am very concerned that it could be MOLD SPORES. What do I do??

[2oldman]

myredracer wrote:
Mold is not to be taken lightly as some are seriously toxic and shouldn't assume you're okay.

I know firsthand about mold and mildew.

Decades ago I was living in a trailer that had water intrusion, but I didn't know about that sort of thing. I was getting very sick about every 3 months. Turns out the foam cushions were full of black mildew.

Not fun.

[myredracer]

Mold is not to be taken lightly as some are seriously toxic and shouldn't assume you're okay. Has only been recognized as a problem in more recent times. The Russians have even used it as a biological weapon.

The worst case I've heard of was a 22 room mansion (Glen Tara replica) near Austin TX that a couple bought in '98. All it took was a leaking water line to a fridge to cause mold to insidiously spread throughout the house. The couple and their 3 yo son were coughing up blood. The husband ended up with permanent brain damage (they thought he had Alzheimers at first). Took a long time for them to discover the cause was mold. The house was eventually declared a danger to live in and had to be abandoned. Farmers Ins. initially offered them peanuts and the wife spent years in court before getting something. All so very tragic.

This ended up as an episode on Forensic Files and can be watched here. Melinda Ballard died 5 years ago at 55 allegedly due to kidney disease related to the mold. (Official cause was never made public.) One of MANY stories on this case is here.

Canada has had a lot of cases of mold stemming from the "Leaky Condo Crisis" of the 80s & 90s in buildings due to shoddy construction, poor design and the building code and resulting mold & rot. For quite a few years you could see condos and townhouses all over the place wrapped in humongous tarps while they were stripped down inside and out and rebuilt, costing billions to fix. There are still homes & buildings out today there that have never been addressed and it's buyer beware. Like the Texas mansion case, it can be hiding in your home and you won't know it's there or won't know why you have a persistent cough.

[dockmasterdave]

Mold does not care about "dark areas " all it needs to live is moisture and food.
Apparently wood, and the paper backing on drywall are very tasty.
Clorox mix will kill the mold it can get to, and anything you can do to "encapsulate it " or seal it in the areas you cannot get to, will help.
It's not a perfect fix, but it's better than nothing. Then, it is up to you if you want to use it or not.
If you go to sell it, I recommend being totally honest about the problem. You wouldn't want it to come back on you later, if someone gets sick from it.

[okhmbldr]

This may not be the perfect fix, but....if it were my camper and I planned to keep it, this is my plan:
Drill some 1/4" holes near the top, center, and floor area around the damaged area.
Get one of the $5 pump up sprayers at Walmart
Mix Clorox and water 50/50.
Then spray into the pre drilled holes (try to keep from getting any spray on fabric or carpet).
Since you can't see inside the walls, you're sort of flying blind, but just try to get as much 50/50 inside the walls as possible.
You might also try to drill a few holes in the floor area behind the walls that will let any excess 50/50 drain.
Finally, air that puppy out! open up every door/window and blow as many fans as possible throughout the camper.
The mold will die when you remove moisture and dark areas, and the clorox will kill it.
Good luck and good camping.
Oh, and I hope all will remember, I said this is what I would do, others may disagree.

[daboognish88]

DiskDoctr wrote:
An ozone generator kills the mold and mildew it can expose to at a high enough concentration.

Concealed mold and such is difficult in all cases...

Ozone in too high concentration is hardest on rubbers and such. Do not overdo it, limit the exposure per the instructions.

White vinegar/Borax kills the mold spores it is in contact with, but then you need to vacuum those up, hopefully with a HEPA filter.

Good luck!

I'll get a ozone generator and run it for a short time so rubber doesn't break down. (does the ozone generator kill the spores? If not.. how is there nothing invented to kill those suckers?!)
I'll get a dehumidifier and run it during humid summer days and cold winter days. (I'll have to try to find one that's energy efficient since I'll be doing a lot of dry camping).

[daboognish88]

I've already put so much money into this van fixing it up over the last three years that it'd be such a shame to just sell it (probably for way cheaper than I've spent on it). I'd like to try and save it.


Well I had a look and there is no way that I can tear out the walls to hand clean anything. The way my van is built- Its a normal Dodge Ram van which they cut the back off of and then added an extension onto the back for the bedroom. Thats where the leak is.. which I'll fix asap. And the only way to take the walls out would be to remove the entire extension which is obviously not possible.
I could just drill some holes in the wall back there and put some Mold Bomb foggers in the holes if that's feasible. I'm pretty sure all of the insulation has shriveled up which means its just an empty cavity for the fog to make its way through. After all that's done I was thinking I could fill the cavity with some sort of spray foam insulation that is mold proof. Not sure how to go about that yet either so if anyone has ideas let me know.

[CavemanCharlie]

Grit dog wrote:
And it was right around 2003 when “mold” became a thing to be skeered of.
I recall mold training requirements at work being required then, in construction work. The laughable part was we were in Yuma at the time.....
To the OP, unless you have respiratory issues or allergies, my opinion is it’s simPly not a huge deal. But im not in your position. I also slice mold off cheese or tomatoes and then eat the rest, so......

Me too. I guess am one of the lucky ones. I live and work on the farm and I have been around things like mold, livestock dander, all sorts of dust, pollen, rotting animals, and countless things that I can't think of and I have never had a allergic reaction to any of them.

I get lots of canned food for free these days because the cans now have that "Best if sold buy" date on them. My friends think that if you eat it one day past that date that you are instantly going to die a horrible and painful death. So they give the food to me and I eat it at my leisure.

To the OP. Dry the camper out. Get what mold you can see out of it. Air it out. If you are not having a allergic reaction to it don't worry about it.

Have fun and go camping. Life is to short to worry about everything that might be bad for you.

( I do understand that some people are allergic to mold and other allergens though. And , I understand why they have to be careful.)

[DiskDoctr]

An ozone generator kills the mold and mildew it can expose to at a high enough concentration.

Concealed mold and such is difficult in all cases...

Ozone in too high concentration is hardest on rubbers and such. Do not overdo it, limit the exposure per the instructions.

White vinegar/Borax kills the mold spores it is in contact with, but then you need to vacuum those up, hopefully with a HEPA filter.

Good luck!

[dockmasterdave]

The part of mold people are allergic to is the waste product, not the mold itself.
Killing the mold does nothing to remove the "waste" it leaves behind.
The only safe way to do it is to gut it, kill the mold and scrub away all "waste" wearing a haz mat suit and respirator.
As long as it is undisturbed, such as not moving the motorhome, or opening doors etc, it is not super dangerous in the walls.
I agree, I would not expose my family to it. Why would I ?

I'm not guessing, I hold a mold re mediators license.
I would get rid of it, one way or another. Not worth the risk to me.

[2oldman]

daboognish88 wrote:
. I then tested the air for mold spores and it tested positive

What did you use to test it? I've been house-shopping, and that smell is unmistakable. A company told me it's very expensive to test for that.

[westend]

My take on it was that we all lived for many years with mold in our house or cave so a little bit of mold can't hurt. I've seen the distress it causes certain people, though, so have come 180 for it's elimination in my houses.

Changing the environmental conditions needed for the mold to establish is typically the easiest. Raise the temperature and get some air flowing across it. You may still have spores to deal with but the maker of spores will be gone. A good quality active air filter deals with spores pretty well.

For the van, I'd study to see if it is worth the work to get it mold-free. Gutting and rebuilding can be therapeutic and the results can be better than what you have. I wouldn't get rid of it, those older Dodge vans were durable and easy to repair.