Inside Fiberglass Camper Getting Wet

[Behrouz]

I have been told that you will get a lot of moisture inside fiberglass trailers. It appears that Casita is using Carpet inside to address that. How do others like Oliver, Egg Camper, etc. deal with this issue? I am also told that due to carpet inside Casita, if you cook the smell will get all over this interior carpet.
Pleas let me know if the above is true and how do you address these issues. Thanks,

[Pete Dumbleton]

The carpet or foam on the walls of the fiberglass trailers (most brands, including Scamp and Casita) keep the condensation from forming, so it's not a problem, except in really cold weather with people, heating and cooking inside without adequate ventilation. Other FG trailers use a double wall to insulate against condensation.

Cooking vapors aren't a problem either; the carpet is a marine carpet and doesn't seem to hold odors. Again, adequate ventilation is a key factor.

[Bob H]

I assume the moisture you are referring to is breath condensation on the inner walls forming during cold weather.
I'm guessing the easiest solution is to crack a window and allow some cross ventilation.

PETE! You beat me by one minute!

[Toni M T]

I assume the moisture you are referring to is breath condensation on the inner walls forming during cold weather.
I'm guessing the easiest solution is to crack a window and allow some cross ventilation.

PETE! You beat me by one minute!

We live close to the ocean, so it's always pretty damp and humid here. We used to have a popup, and when it was down it was always a little damp inside. That would have led to mildew if we didn't buy something to suck the moisture out of the air, so we bought a bucket of this stuff (got it at Walmart for under $10) and left it in there all of the time.

http://www.shopwiki.com/detail/?q=dehumidi...midifier+Bucket

I am pretty sure it worked-usually after a month or two (or 7, over the winter) we would open the popup and there was never any mildew! Quite a few time the little beads in this bucket had swelled so much from sucking moisture out of the air that the bucket had burst and they were spilling out, so we got in the habit of storing it in a large wash tub to make cleanup easier.

I currently have a small bucket of this in the bathroom of our new Bigfoot. I also have the Decon poison pellets and the mothballs in under the seat, because the other 2 biggies we had to deal with were mice crawling into the popup and setting up nests, and spiders moving in and building webs (the mothballs seemed to keep them out-never saw a web in there when we opened it up). I don't want those in the Bigfoot either, although it's not as hard to check around and get rid of them as it was in the closed popup!

[Pete Dumbleton]

This product, like DriZAir, likely contains calcium chloride (the same stuf Yukon Terr puts on the gravel roads to keep dust down -- The CC pulls in moisture, which then dampens the dust slightly).

Really good for storage in humid areas -- What I would do is make a drain and place the unit in the sink so the extracted water flows right out of the egg. Either that or suspend unit over 5 gallon bucket. I'd also have a small electric fan to circulate the air.

When egg (or any RV) is in use, some cross-ventilation is the key. On my 91S13, I have a small sliding window in the door and a small crankout above the range. I also mounted my fantastical fan in roof roughly on same line over the two.

Whenever I am heating with vent-free heater, I keep door and range windows slightly open for fresh air, plus I open ff or the rear vent a tiny amount to let the hottest air (which holds the most moisture).

When I am cooking, I open crank range window and set ff to slow exhaust -- This pulls the cooking by-products right up and vents them outside.

Condensation is going to be a fact of life in any RV, or anchored home also, and it just needs to be understood and dealt with.

[Robin G]

Actually, fiberglass trailers are no different than any other rv, There are very few rv's made today that don't have some type of fabric, carpet, foam backed type product, etc on walls or ceilings. You treat fiberglass just as you would any other rv for the most part. Our Class A had some spongey type fabric on the ceiling. Granted the walls were hard surface, but moisture can get in any rv. I haven't found that it's worse in a fiberglass. It's just different. Yes as far as cooking in a Casita, I would suspect that over time odor would build up. But thats what a steam cleaner is for! We are on our first trip with our Casita in Montana and it's been a little humid here, or should I say more humid than dry Colorado. I just felt the carpet on the walls and they don't feel any different than normal. As far as when we take showers, I just run the fan and suck the moisture out. As for living in a humid area, I would think that a fiberglass would be better than a stick built rv because even the press boardy ( sorry don't know the techie name they give the wall board stuff they use in rv's) would hold moisture in. At least with a fiberglass you could wipe the moisture off. And with Casita Carpet it will dry if it were to get damp. I haven't done a lot of cooking inside, and don't expect to. Great for heating up or a quick meals due to the size. I have read here that a lot of Casita'ers use fabreeze to keep the Carpet fresh smelling. Robin

[Behrouz]

Thanks for all of your comments.