Nice weekend camping trip then......DISASTER!!

[chuman70]

We were out for a nice trip this weekend and everything was going very smoothly. We got up this morning to drive into town for church. When we returned, we could hear a rushing sound. When we stepped into the camper the carpet went squish! I had a copper pipe split underneath my kitchen sink and it blew water over the entire floor. I was sick at this time as we just got new carpet put down last fall. I went to a friend's house and borrowed his industrial shop vac and went to work this afternoon sucking up the water. I got all I could get and everywhere I could access. Now we have 2 big fans blowing on every square inch of the carpet to get it dry.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Do you think I will need to pull the carpet up and possibly replace the floor? I'm just sick over this. Any suggestions to get the moisture out and prevent mildew and floor rot?

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by chuman70

We were out for a nice trip this weekend and everything was going very smoothly. We got up this morning to drive into town for church. When we returned, we could hear a rushing sound. When we stepped into the camper the carpet went squish! I had a copper pipe split underneath my kitchen sink and it blew water over the entire floor. I was sick at this time as we just got new carpet put down last fall. I went to a friend's house and borrowed his industrial shop vac and went to work this afternoon sucking up the water. I got all I could get and everywhere I could access. Now we have 2 big fans blowing on every square inch of the carpet to get it dry.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Do you think I will need to pull the carpet up and possibly replace the floor? I'm just sick over this. Any suggestions to get the moisture out and prevent mildew and floor rot?

Carpet in a camper is sorta silly anyway. Use this as an excuse to put in some pergo, you will love it.

[Sugarfoot]

I'm so sorry this happend to you. I know that "rushing" sound and I feel your pain. Something similar happend to me at the 2007 Florida Can Opener rally, except my problem was limited to the bath at the back 4th of the trailer and I was there to contain the damage when it happened.

There was no shop vac around, so at others recommendations, I pulled up the carpet in the affected area. It is much easier and faster for the subfloor to dry if the carpet is removed. Then I placed both heaters and fans at full blast to dry the area as much as possible. I didn't have to replace the floor. It's my understanding that, while one incident isn't good for your floor, it is repeated incidents left damp or unchecked leaks that will ruin it. The key is to get everything as dry as possible as quickly as possible.

My advice is to keep the air circulating, fans, etc., even for a time after your THINK it is dry. Air circulation will hinder mildew. Then get a a few buckets of Damp-Rid from your local Wal-mart or hardware store. Set them around in the the Tradewind. You'll be amazed at how much moisture it can pull out of the air.

[TBRich]

Yuck...what a mess and what an unfortunate thing to happen...hope you can get it dried out and move forward. I agree with those above saying that the most inportant thing is to get it dried as quickly and completely as possible...if you can do that and it is not a chronic repeated thing, it should be OK...

We try to remember to turn off the city water at the source when we are going to be gone for more than a few minutes...say for an afternoon or a long evening...it's a pain to remember to turn it back on (you will be reminded when you turn on the faucet inside and there's not pressure)... If a pipe breaks or a leak springs for some reason I'd rather be there! And if we are gone and it happens...well, you know about that...

Good luck!

[chuman70]

I bow to the wisdom of 3 wise rivet masters! Thanks!