How would you repair this ? - Montana Owners Club

G McCall · 07-07-2010, 03:53 PM

I recently had a post about my black water tank overflow in to my trailer. The trailer was flooded with black water and now needs to be "made new" again. Anyone gone through a trailer repair like this? This will be a nasty job for someone.
My insurance company is requesting I take the trailer to a repair shop of my choice. Do you think any brand/manufaturer dealer will repair the trailer ?

What should I be aware of here ? Can the trailer be sanitized ?

8.1al · 07-07-2010, 04:35 PM

I don't think a dealer would be the place for this. In your earlier post someone suggested Servicemaster, I would try them or someone else that specializes in this kind of cleanup

Wild Horse · 07-07-2010, 04:50 PM

I've dealt with similar circumstances with houses on several occasions. I would doubt if a dealer can handle this....you are dealing with serious bacteria issues among other things. The last one of these I did, I did the tear out and zipping...flooring/subfloor removed, walls zipped 23" up, etc. exposing joists and lower portion of studs. I then called in servpro, who treated the joists, studs, ducts, etc. After treatment, those items were "sealed" (by servpro), then a tech came in and tested materials and air for quality. THEN and only then, I rebuilt.
Is this as drastic as yours? I have no idea, but I'll tell ya there is NO subfloor that can shield itself from absorbing some of this nasty stuff...and it wicks to other areas quite easily. I've seen this situation where they simply treated the subfloor with a germicidal bleach, then rolled a sealer onto it...generally tho' that's with pet urine, etc. and I've seen it fail more times than succeed.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...but also remember, you may not know if it's "fixed" for several months. Whatever's done, you make dang sure it's guaranteed IN WRITING. Servpro/servicemaster will do this.
Bill

G McCall · 07-19-2010, 10:54 AM

UPDATE on the black water "mishap"

ServPro just finished a 3 day service on my trailer. They placed 6 blowers and a dehumidifier in the trailer last Friday after they removed most of the carpet and linoluem.
All is supposed to be sanitized, well sort of. The floor heat vents got a little water in them, but ServPro said they would clean the floor vents when the RV Repair shop was through with their work.

My insurance company is supposed to pay for all repairs except for my deductable.

exav8tr · 07-19-2010, 12:29 PM

Greg, Please keep us posted on the final outcome with this. I would like to file it for future reference. My concern would be for the long term results of such a clean up. It could happen to any of us..... Good luck with the final outcome......

JimF · 07-19-2010, 04:20 PM

can we say, time for that new Bigsky you allways wanted.

G McCall · 07-20-2010, 01:47 AM

I will keep my progress posted with this cleenup and refurbishing.

A Big Sky looks tempting....maybe... ha
We have been looking at some new trailers.

G McCall · 07-21-2010, 02:58 PM

Status:

Today, I dropped my trailer off at a repair shop.

The direction is that the insurance company will be going to the Repair Shop to take pictures of the trailer floor with the carpet and linoleum removed (by ServPro). The Insurance company will discuss all the repairs with the repair shop, but no repairs can be made until we choose our flooring choices. It seems we can choose what ever we want. We are told by the Repair shop to go to Lowes or the like and choose our flooring. We are to get the stock numbers of the flooring to the Repair shop and they will make the flooring purchase.
BTW, my wife says the flooring I am refering to is vinyl not linoleum.

As for the flooring damage, the preliminary look by the shop is that the sub floor (wood ?) is not damaged. Apparently, the one piece linoleum/vinyl cover, protected the subfloor. There are some trim pieces that got wet, including the fake wood face pieces around both slideouts. Repiar shop says these pieces will be replaced with real wood trim. hmm The wife and I never liked the cardboard trim work anyway.

One concern we have with replacing the linoleum is that, the Repair shop may not be able to pull up the cabinets that go from ceiling to floor. It will be hard to replace the linoleum under those cabinets (under ths sinks etc.) The result would be that we have a different linoleum style under some cabinets, than the new linoleum. Not what we would like, BUT I want to point out, we do not want to go back with the original grey looking linoleum that the trailer came with. The Repair shop can cut individual pieces to fit under cabinets when installing the new linoleum, but it will be costly. The carpet install will be no problem.

An option we are considering is to go back in with a wood type flooring and leave the linoleum under cabinets as they are. The new carpet will go back as needed for the slideouts. The ending repair result we hope will be an upgrade appearance.
The Repair shop will not get started for several weeks.
Look for an update of my trailer repair at a later date.

exav8tr · 07-21-2010, 06:50 PM

Greg, I would seriously consider the wood laminate flooring thru the center and carpet in the slides, unless your flooring guys can figure out how to do laminate in the slides also and still have a finished edge. This will be my winter project this year, DW wants the carpet GONE!!!!!!! AND she usually gets what she wants......Glad to hear the ServicePro guys did a good job......Phil

G McCall · 07-22-2010, 08:19 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by exav8tr

Greg, I would seriously consider the wood laminate flooring thru the center and carpet in the slides, unless your flooring guys can figure out how to do laminate in the slides also and still have a finished edge. This will be my winter project this year, DW wants the carpet GONE!!!!!!! AND she usually gets what she wants......Glad to hear the ServicePro guys did a good job......Phil

I think the wood look flooring is what we will go with. The carpet will have to be used as needed as I think it is necessary cover the slide gaps.

We have not looked for flooring yet.

G McCall · 07-27-2010, 09:18 AM

UPDATE !

We chose vinyl and carpet (from Home Depot) to go back in our trailer and are now waiting on the repair shop to start.
We were a little afraid to re invent the wheel with the real laminate flooring, even though the repair shop said they could do install it. The vinyl will have the wood floor look.

Wild Horse · 08-02-2010, 12:48 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by G McCall

Status:

Today, I dropped my trailer off at a repair shop.

The direction is that the insurance company will be going to the Repair Shop to take pictures of the trailer floor with the carpet and linoleum removed (by ServPro).

So how much black water was thru the whole monty? From your posting, I'm going to assume not as much as I thought from your original post...you mentioned some got into the floor vents (not flooded?), and they didn't remove all the carpet/vinyl.

The Insurance company will discuss all the repairs with the repair shop, but no repairs can be made until we choose our flooring choices. It seems we can choose what ever we want. We are told by the Repair shop to go to Lowes or the like and choose our flooring. We are to get the stock numbers of the flooring to the Repair shop and they will make the flooring purchase.
BTW, my wife says the flooring I am refering to is vinyl not linoleum.

As for the flooring damage, the preliminary look by the shop is that the sub floor (wood ?) is not damaged. Apparently, the one piece linoleum/vinyl cover, protected the subfloor.
You mentioned they sanitized it "sort of" (?), but didn't mention if they sealed it. Carpeted areas especially. Yes, the vinyl surely protected it...but the vinyl meets the walls and that isn't a sealed, waterproof joint. I doubt if any got under the vinyl due to the glue down, but I'm curious if they pulled the underbelly to see if any leaked down into that area

There are some trim pieces that got wet, including the fake wood face pieces around both slideouts. Repiar shop says these pieces will be replaced with real wood trim. hmm The wife and I never liked the cardboard trim work anyway.

One concern we have with replacing the linoleum is that, the Repair shop may not be able to pull up the cabinets that go from ceiling to floor.

They are simple enough to pull...after all, they went in there with relative ease. You mentioned they are replacing some floor trim due to damage..well, the toe kick on those cabinets is basically floor trim. Did they look at it from behind (you can see it at least under the sink.

It will be hard to replace the linoleum under those cabinets (under ths sinks etc.) The result would be that we have a different linoleum style under some cabinets, than the new linoleum. Not what we would like, BUT I want to point out, we do not want to go back with the original grey looking linoleum that the trailer came with. The Repair shop can cut individual pieces to fit under cabinets when installing the new linoleum, but it will be costly. The carpet install will be no problem.

An option we are considering is to go back in with a wood type flooring and leave the linoleum under cabinets as they are. The new carpet will go back as needed for the slideouts. The ending repair result we hope will be an upgrade appearance.
The Repair shop will not get started for several weeks.
Look for an update of my trailer repair at a later date.

I'm certainly not trying to be melodramatic about this, just trying to be a voice of some experience with these things. Bacterial/viral growth are nothing to screw around with, and long term effects are not always readily apparent. I'm hoping you weren't totally "flooded", as there are a few areas that don't seem totally acceptable to me...but hey, that's just my opinion and I didn't physically see the initial damage. Hope all works out perfect for you with this ! Keep us posted.....
Bill

G McCall · 08-02-2010, 01:58 AM

Wildhorse

amount of black water that got in the trailer is difficult to tell as the trailer was slightly out of level, so the water puddeled mainly on 3/4 of the left side. The carpet in the rear/ bedroom was very "sloshy" . The right side of the trailer saw little to no water, because, the wife and I were outside the trailer and noticed the problem pretty quick.

As for pilling up the part of the caroet/vinyl....Servopro pulled what they could and the Repair shop will pull up the rest. The repair shop will be pulling up some of the cabinets and ServPro did pull panels off the bottom of the trailer to test for wetness with guages. None was found. I am told by the repair shop that the way the floors are put together at the factory is, the vinyl is laid down over the entire floor and then folded over the edges and tack down. Then the floor is laid onto the frame. All of this is done before any cabinets go in. Water should never reach the subfloor from the top. (in a perfect world) Now the water was coming out the bottom of the traielr at the seem of the front slide out so I am not sure of that water ever made it to the underbelly area. Another point about pulling some cabinets, is that some cabinets are built from floor to ceiling and may be tacked from the top of the trailer and under the rubber top. Thise cabinets may be difficult to remove. Of course if they have to they have to.

I can see where some trailers could be considered totaled with more severe damage.

Also, I will have to ask about the damaged area being "sealed". Thanks for the heads up.

I agree that

richfaa · 08-02-2010, 04:15 AM

We Saw a Montana a couple of years ago at our local dealer repair shop where the floor had been under muddy flood water for 3 days before they could get it out. I figured it would be ruined but the flooring was undamaged when they got it dried out.

I am told by the repair shop that the way the floors are put together at the factory is, the vinyl is laid down over the entire floor and then folded over the edges and tack down. Then the floor is laid onto the frame. All of this is done before any cabinets go in. Water should never reach the subfloor from the top.

Having been to the Montana factory that is not always the case.

G McCall · 09-23-2010, 07:02 AM

FINALLY got my trailer back from the repair shop with the new carpet and vinyl.

Very impressive is a way to describe the look. The shop had to build any molding that got wet which included door trim and the bug molding piece that circles the living slide. Very nice real wood. The upgraded residential carpet is the way to go.
The cost was right at $5700 which is outrageous. No wonder our Ins. cost so much.

hazmic · 09-23-2010, 09:26 AM

Greg
I live in Cedar Rapids IA. s you know we had the great flood of 08 and I saw alot of clean up company's here.Service Pro was here and they did great work. Thank God we were not in the flood because it was down town and at that point the river was 2+ miles wide. Over 5000+ homes alone and business. The stuff was call muck. Not nice at all. I would not be afraid to use them. How did it get flooded? We had ours recarpted with Berber and what a difference. The carpeting that is installed is cheap and so is the pad. The new is great.

G McCall · 09-23-2010, 10:05 AM

I overflowed the black-water flush.

hazmic · 09-23-2010, 11:10 AM

Say no more.

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