Remodel of a FEMA trailer....any advise....before I start

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txeye1

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i have recently got a 06 FEMA trailer....need to remodel..due to the smell of that chemical...the trailer has just sat and has never been lived in....how can I cover the smell up to live in it also..under the bath tub there are two water lines coming to the outside .....when the water is hooked up to the camper the water comes directly out one of the hoses and nothing comes out of the other one. ......does nothing..

Water is leaking to the outside from the hot waterheater from the discharge.....never been lite...and is gas also.................any advise on any of this stuff would be greatful...


Any help on getting that chemicial  out of it.........
 
If your unit still stinks after all these years, you really should reconsider your use of it.  The stink is formaldehyde, a nasty chemical.   

Quoted from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formaldehyde 

In the U.S. the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided travel trailers and mobile homes starting in 2006 for habitation by residents of the U.S. gulf coast displaced by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Some of the people who moved into the trailers complained of breathing difficulties, nosebleeds, and persistent headaches. Formaldehyde-catalyzed resins were used in the production of these homes.
The United States Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) performed indoor air quality testing for formaldehyde[34] in some of the units. On February 14, 2008 the CDC announced that potentially hazardous levels of formaldehyde were found in many of the travel trailers and mobile homes provided by the agency.[35][36] The CDC's preliminary evaluation of a scientifically established random sample of 519 travel trailers and mobile homes tested between Dec. 21, 2007 and Jan. 23, 2008 (2+ years after manufacture) showed average levels of formaldehyde in all units of about 77 parts per billion (ppb). Long-term exposure to levels in this range can be linked to an increased risk of cancer and, at levels above this range, there can also be a risk of respiratory illness. These levels are higher than expected in indoor air, where levels are commonly in the range of 10-20 ppb, and are higher than the Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry (ATSDR, division of the CDC) Minimal Risk Level (MRL) of 8 ppb.[37] Levels measured ranged from 3 ppb to 590 ppb.[38]
FEMA, which requested the testing by the CDC, said it would work aggressively to relocate all residents of the temporary housing as soon as possible. Lawsuits are being filed against FEMA as a result of the exposures.[39]

Quoted from:  http://www.governmentauctions.org/fematrailers.asp

....While the government has stated that any "scrap" FEMA Trailers should not be used for occupancy and are not intended for habitation -- and we certainly do not advocate their use for anything other than scrap -- a FEMA Release posits that the trailers are suitable for other non-occupancy uses such as for office space, command posts, or storage. We're sure you'll figure out your own use. Just know that prolonged exposure to formaldehyde is very deleterious to your health, ....
 
I saw a bunch of those being towed down the road with a little sticker "not for human occupancy"
 
Also, many of the FEMA trailers were built without holding tanks and were intended to be used with a permanent sewer connection and residential toilet.  That alone makes them unsuitable for RV use.
 
As Ned says, those trailers were never built to be used as RV - they were temporary housing, intended to be connected to regular water & sewer lines. My guess is that one of those water lines you found was intended to connect to a regular city water supply line. I'd just cap it off and see if the RV city inlet (hose) now works.

Not sure what the second water line may be, but you will learn one of theses days.

You probably do not have gray & black water tanks, so will have to add those or always have a sewer on your RV site. Probably no fresh water tank or water pump either, so you won't have water during any travel time.

As for the smell, all you can do is air it out good (it's been closed up a long time) and hope that all the chemicals have leached out by now.  There is nothing to be done until all the chemicals dry out or evaporate.
 
WOW!  If these FEMA trailers STILL smell of Formadahyde, the smell might never go away!  And what do you do with a travel trailer that doesn't have holding tanks?  All good questions and comments......
 
:( thanks to all whom have responded.............I will air out for a couple weeks ....Thanks.
 
If I never see another one of these FEMA trailers again, that will be ok with me.. we had two holding areas here where they housed these.. Trailers as far as the eye could see in both locations... Now there are temporary sales lots for them all over the place... I say we give them to North Korea as a goodwill gesture.. I'm sure their people would love to have such a nice place to live..

Sorry for the rant... good luck with your project.. Hopefully it won't be too much trouble to get it ready to go.
 
We have a dealer selling 100+ of them here in Houston. They're about $3k each and are all terrible.

They all stink and are dogged out. I've heard stories that they were really only built for a life of 9-12 months of constant use.

I would skip it and by  something with a little better track-record.

but that's just my $0.02
 
:) Maybe people don't realize it, but many  mobile homes, manufactured homes and Rv's up until the FEMA trailers were built had very dangerous chemicals used in their construction. Beside the formaldyhyde also toulene, benzene, zylene was used in glue for wallboard laminates, carpet fibers made of polyethylene and glues to hold the fiber, countertops, cupboards, and the plastics. I believe once the glues dry and the vapors evaporate, it would be safe. As for hookups and holding tanks. Anyone with a little imagination and ingenuity could integrate these into the unit. One way to find what the unused hose is for, hook water up and turn it on. when they were built they were made to hookup to at least 100 amp/ 120 volt service. I seen a few and they were built by Gulf Stream with a Cavalier logo. I purchased a new mobile home in 1978 and it had oder and a new travel trailer in 1980 which had oder from the glues they used in manufacture. JMO Irover
 
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