Just getting started, need to move into CT with pets

[jisincla]

Hello, I'm new here and very overwhelmed. I have pretty much zero experience with construction and would greatly appreciate simple, basic, baby-step guidance.

I need to move myself, four medium-to-large dogs, and four cats, and, if possible, an aquarium, into a cargo trailer because our house is apparently toxic and I don't want us going back into it during the time it's going to take to find a new place. Right now the animals and I are visiting my mother in another state, and I have the trailer here in her yard. My immediate goal is to do whatever needs to be done before cats can be inside the trailer, then go home and continue working on the trailer while we are staying inside it. The dogs can spend time outside in the yard, but once we leave my mom's house and go back to park in my driveway, the cats will need to stay in the trailer. I don't want them ever going back inside that house. The cats and I have asthma symptoms at home that clear up when we leave for a few weeks. I've lost seven cats in just over three years, several to cancer and/or pulmonary disease, the latest one just a couple of weeks ago at only two years old. Even the goldfish, which I've had for less than nine months, had fin rot and missing scales at home that cleared up when I brought them here. Same aquarium, same filters, substrate, decor, water conditioner, diet, even half the water I drained out of it at home was brought along in buckets and put back in when I set it all back up here---everything just the same except the location, and the fish got better when taken out of that house. We can't keep living in that house. And it's going to be hard to find a new place that will accept a tenant with a Section 8 housing voucher and dogs and cats. The trailer seems to be our best available option for the immediate future.

The trailer is a single axle Haulin trailer which I bought about ten years ago, with money from my father's estate, and used to empty out his apartment after he died. Then it sat in my mother's driveway being used for storage. A couple of years ago, when I began to suspect my house was making the cats and me sick, I checked out the trailer during a visit to my mom. I found that the interior and the contents were clean and dry after sitting there through several years of Michigan weather. I emptied out the stuff that was being stored in it, found someone selling a camper window on Craigslist, and found a local trailer repair place that put the window in for me. I also had them put in a little port to run an extension cord into the trailer. Then I towed it back home to upstate New York.

Last summer I dragged a futon and a couple of bookshelves and a lamp into the trailer, and the cats and I stayed in it for a few weeks. Unfortunately, as soon as it rained, I discovered that my new window leaked. Then cold weather set in and we had to go back into the house.

This spring I came to visit my mother again, brought the trailer back, and the place that had installed the window fixed it. We've had several torrential rainstorms and even some hail since then, and the trailer has remained dry inside, so I think it's really fixed this time.

So, now I have a trailer with a window, a port for an extension cord, slide bolts that I put in so I can secure the doors from inside, and (very inexpertly-applied) stick-on tiles I put over the floor last summer because I didn't want the plywood floor to rot if cats threw up on it.

What do I need to do before the cats move in? I'm thinking insulation and treating the walls and floor against moisture and fungus. Is that right?

1. WHAT supplies do I need? What exactly should I look for to treat the wood? What kind of insulation? What should I put on the ceiling over the insulation? (The walls have plywood panels but the ceiling is bare metal.) What tools? Most of my dad's tools are still here in my mother's basement because he didn't take them with him when they divorced. Things I need might be right here, but I don't know what I'm looking for.

2. WHERE is the best place to find the necessary supplies at the best price?

3. Most important, HOW do I go about doing all this? I never even took a junior high shop class. I'm disabled and people figured I wouldn't be capable of doing anything anyway. Well, it's true I'm not capable of doing everything a nondisabled person can do, but I can do SOME stuff, if people can patiently teach me how.

So--help?! Anyone??

Jim Sinclair and critters

[Glenlivet]

Unless you ventilate the heck out of it I can foresee plenty of humidity issues with that many breathers living full time in that confined space. makes me wonder if humidity induced mold didn't play a part in the house' condition, though that's pure speculation and I'm not by any means trying to be critical.
But a CT is less designed for long term occupation than a recreation trailr and those are prone to humidity problems when lived in for more tha vacation lengths of time.

[jisincla]

Good point about humidity and ventilation. It has a vent in the ceiling plus the window opens and has a screen. In good weather I can (and last summer I did) have the ceiling vent and window both open, and have a box fan blowing out the window to pull fresh outdoor air in and blow stale air out. Is that enough or is there something more I can do? And how is ventilation done in cold weather?

I keep seeing news stories about people living full time in teeny tiny houses, some which look to be trailer-size. How do those work?

I have no doubt that moisture and mold are contributing to problems in the house, but I don't think it's from the animals breathing. It's a two-story three-bedroom house that's been divided into an upstairs and a downstairs flat. I live upstairs and another person lives downstairs. Logically, a three-bedroom house would have been designed to accommodate at least four people, so two people plus four dogs, at most, seven cats in residence at any one time, should not overtax it. I think the problem is it's an old house with old-house crud in it (possibly asbestos, possibly lead paint, who knows what else), the basement leaks, there are cracks around the doors and windows, so lots of moisture gets in and then molds and fungi can grow.

[jisincla]

Oh, yeah: Would a dehumidifier be a good idea? Any particular kind that's best for trailers?

[Rainier70]

I would suggest adding a Maxx Air vent cover over your ceiling vent. With it installed you can have your ceiling vent open even if it rains and no rain will get in. I don't know if this is the best price. I just pulled it up as an example.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UU ... WRGA09ENG1

[Chilly Willy]

I think the most important step also requires the least construction skill... having a plan. If you're going to use the trailer for emergency accomodation for the next 6 weeks then perhaps slapping up some insulation and moving a comfortable chair, lamp, and bed in would get you by. If you take that approach and stay inside for a year or more you could be looking at a health or fire hazard.

How long until you find your new place?

Also, it would help if we could see your trailer, say a picture of the back, and passenger side... plus the dimensions.

Having a budget would help. You can list the things you want, and things you need.

If you're living in your own driveway then you have shore power, and access to plumbing, so the trickiest items are solved.

Regarding the pets... if you're going to be doing this long term consider an outdoor structure with a fenced in pen. If the animals spend more time outside your trailer, inviting them in for company or when the weather is extreme, your limitted space in the trailer will have an improved air quality.

I'm also planning to convert a cargo trailer for full time living, with a dog or two, but for different reasons.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Dear Jim

WOW .... What a very sad story that is happening to you & your life.
It's clear reading your words how important your pets are to you.
Please let me give you some honest advice & I don't wanna sound mean & sadistic "which some may already say I am"

OPTION 1
You say you are disabled on section 8 housing & your current house is toxic.
WHY NOT consider take care of yourself first , because if your sick or die your pets are on their own anyway.
Go put your pets into a shelter or find them a new & safe living location.
Maybe some members here can take them in ?
Find and set up a new section 8 housing and see if your landlord is open to pets?
If not maybe look for a animal rescue place & see if they allow you to work there free & keep your 8 pets there.
With your section 8 woucher you can usually move around the country or state.

OPTION 2
Let's say Habitat for Hunanity builds you the most perfect 6 x 14 trailer FREE
It's 100% PERFECT for you & 10 pets. It even has automatic pet washer and waste removal system.
You even get approval from your local city & RVIA
A friendly guy lets you park on his farm.
Now you move in with your 8-10 pets & one single concerned person sees you and calls the humane society
Guess what, people get more upset if you neglect a mouse, much less 10 dogs & cats - vs 5 starving kids.
Even if your pets are freshly washed, professionally groomed & sweet smelling
the authorities will take all your pets & may send you off to the Luni bin.
Then they may condemn your trailer , impound it or take it to the dump if they find one speck of urin with their black light.
They might even fine you for having animals living in sub standard conditions - and claim your an abuser.
We all know how heartless berucrats really are when they sink their teeth into you.
I'm even pretty sure no Sec 8 inspector would allow you to keep 8-10 pets.

I really hope that someone on this form can give you the help you desire, better advice vs my honest evaluation of your situation.

Best wishes

[jisincla]

Cindy: Thank you for the suggestion about the vent cover. It's now on my wish list. This morning I talked to my housemate, who frequents junkyards a lot getting parts to fix up old cars, and asked him to be on the lookout for that if he sees any junked RVs.

OverTheTopCargoTrailer: I appreciate what you're saying, but I think you're being somewhat overly optimistic about the prospects of rehoming four big mutts, three of them black (look up "black dog syndrome") and three of them seniors (ages 9, 10, and 12) and four cats, three of those also seniors (ages 9, 11, and 12) two of whom have serious health problems. Then there's the matter of the animals' *and* my own emotional well-being. Breaking up our family would be devastating. As for Section 8, yes it's portable and I'm quite willing to relocate if I find a good place in another community, and Section 8 inspectors don't care how many pets you have, as long as the housing unit is being maintained. I guess (I hope, for the animals' sake!) if a Section 8 inspector came in and found starving flea-infested animals and feces all over the place, that would be cited. But clean well-maintained pets that aren't causing violations of housing standards, Section 8 doesn't care about. It's between the tenant and the landlord.

Chilly Willy: Thank you for the concrete suggestions. I *hope* the trailer accommodation will be short-term, but given all the uncertainties in the situation, think I need to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. I have no idea how long it will take to find a new place. It could well be a year or more, parked in the driveway so I'll have access to power and plumbing, because obviously I don't want to terminate my current lease until I have somewhere else to go.

I measured the trailer. It appears to be 6x14, which I don't understand because I looked at the Haulin web site and their list of available trailer sizes has 6x12 as the largest single axle size and 7x14 as a tandem axle. Could be they used to make a single axle 6x14 but don't anymore? Anyway, mine looks like this only it's white: http://www.haulin.com/default.asp?page= ... argoseries

I will try to get some pictures of my actual trailer when it stops raining. Actually I know I already have some pictures I took last year, but I don't know where they are.

Budget--well, I can't do a typical kind of budget where you are able to predict how much money you're going to have. What I need to do is make a priority list, so that as money becomes available, I can spend it on the highest-priority items first.

Once we go home, as long as we are in the driveway at my house, the dogs can spend time outside in the yard. They can also be in the house, as they seem less affected by it than the cats and I are. But the cats are indoor cats, and I absolutely do not want them going back into that house. I need to know how to plan and design for optimal air quality in the trailer. Speaking of which, I do have a HEPA air purifier that I found at a thrift shop, and bought a new filter for because the filter it came with smelled like smoke. With the extension cord and a power strip, I can run the air purifier in the trailer. And I gather a dehumidifier would also be important?

As mentioned above, I talked to my housemate on the phone this morning. He suggested that if I bring the trailer home, we can install insulation with the cats inside, by partitioning the trailer and working in one section at a time while the cats are in a different section. But if I want to apply any kind of sealant or anti-mold treatment to the plywood, that definitely needs to be done before the cats go in. So it now looks like plywood treatment is the first priority, and insulation second.

Making my top-priority question now: What products are recommended to treat the plywood floor and the walls against moisture, mold, and pet accidents?

Thanks.

Jim

[Rainier70]

If you are concerned about your air quality, I suggest that you use either water based paints or the water cleanup polyurethane to seal your woods. I used Rust-Oleum's 1 part epoxy floor paint for the floor. I used it because it was a low odor acrylic. It also is water based. For the first month it scratched easier and I had to touch it up, now it is much harder and more resistant to scuffs etc.

Use only foam board insulation. It isn't that expensive. Stay away from using any fiberglass bat stuff.

Look through some of the conversions on here and see some of the steps people have done to get their trailers ready. Most of what I have done so far is documented in the link that is on the bottom of my posts. A lot of things you can ignore, but if you scan through a number of conversions you will get an idea of things to do. Good luck.

[Chilly Willy]

I'm not sure how important protecting the plywood walls would be. I imagine if you're covering them with insulation and some sort of decorative surface the risk of moisture damage would be minimal over the medium term.

For the floor I want to say a single sheet of (linoleum, vinyl, laminate, etc), front to back with no seams. Price may be an issue. This would give you an easy to clean pet friendly surface, with no offgassing.
If you go with some sort of spread on treatment make sure you allow plenty of time for it to dry before moving in. Closing up the trailer on a warm day could result in lots of fumes building up if not cured.

My eyes are watering and I'm short of breath just picturing being in a trailer with 4 cats

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Dear Jim

The more I read your story .... The more confused I seam to become

My first question if your house has been deemed "uninhabitable " and is under major repairs,
And your only living in the driveway (( which I do but code enforcement is on my butt))
Then would it not be some kind of FRAUD ... For your landlord to accept your section 8 monies for that ?
Let's just assume that doing something like that would not cause you to loose your section 8 voucher
That would really be bad luck - which may never allow you to get back on....Sec 8
In many parts of the country the waiting list is 10 years long.

2nd question is & I understand how you view your pets like your family , but being handy caped / or disabled
And on section 8 normally implies that you are, let's say not a 1%er I would assume
So for all these old and sick pets how do you get free Vet care ?
All the vets I have ever seen are more greedy then plumbers.
When I took my rabbit in they wanted $189 to put it to sleep.
I would guess to feed all your pets is $500 per month.

Again my biggest concern is for you to have a safe home & I see your plan as a sort of Normandy Invasion Plan
Which you are willing to finance with your limited resources & a million things could go wrong ?
Well I guess you sort of remind my of a guy who goes on a world trip without a dime to his name,
BUT I did however meet one gut who did just that so it can be done.
My hat is off to you.

I sure hope it works for you.

[Rainier70]

Jim, it would be helpful if we knew the general area of where you live. Climate can be a huge deciding factor in how you convert a ct to live in.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Jim

this could be you


http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/meet-the-man-who-spent-11-years-walking-around-the-world-and-the/

[jisincla]

Cindy: Thank you for the suggestions. I looked at your link. My trailer looks quite a lot like yours inside, including the appearance of the screws holding the panels on. Now I wonder if mine really are screws or nails! I will have to check.

I live in the central part of New York State. Right now I am at my mother's house in suburban Detroit. The climate in both areas is pretty much the same: hot and humid in summer, cold and snowy in winter.

Chilly Willy: You think I should put insulation and then a decorative covering *over* the wall panels? I was thinking I would have to take off the panels, put the insulation behind them, then put them back on. Wouldn't that be better for keeping the insulation from getting scratched?

I take it you're allergic to cats? You have my sympathy. Cats are great!

I did some online searching this morning and found the locations of the nearest (to where I am now, in Michigan) Habitat ReStore places. The one I just got back from visiting has some one-gallon cans of a stain and sealer combination for decks and fences, for $15. It says it can be cleaned up with soap and water. Would that work for my plywood? They did not have any insulation or one-piece flooring, just lots of tiles and also some carpet squares. There is another ReStore I can go to tomorrow.

OverTheTopCargoTrailer: I am sorry to be confusing. I thought I should keep focused on stuff about the trailer, not tell my whole life story. But if it helps you make sense of the trailer discussion, here goes:

My house has not been deemed uninhabitable by anyone except me (with informal agreement by the veterinarian who treated my most recently deceased cat), and is not currently under repairs. It routinely passes its annual Section 8 recertification inspections. Those inspections consist of the inspector doing a walk-through, flipping light switches and testing electrical outlets to make sure the wiring works, turning on faucets and flushing toilets to make sure the plumbing works, checking around the sinks and shower and toilets for leaks, making sure windows can be opened (for escape in case of fire) and closed and locked properly (for cold weather and to not make it overly easy for burglars to get in), checking the stove to make sure it works and doesn't have a gas leak, doing something in the basement (I'm not sure what he does down there because it's hard for me to do stairs so I don't go down with him, but I assume he's checking the furnace and water heater), and (OUCH!) testing each and every one of the eight smoke detectors that HUD regulations decree are necessary. And now that New York State has passed a law requiring carbon monoxide detectors in houses, he checks that too. And he always asks me if there are any problems I want him to make the landlord fix. And I always tell him no, because if there is something that needs fixing, I tell the landlord myself and the landlord fixes it without needing to be forced by the Housing Authority.

Whatever mold or other toxic stuff is in there, it is not visible (my housemate has looked all over for visible mold) and not detectable unless one lives in the place for several years and starts noticing chronic health problems and sick/dying cats and most recently sick goldfish. If there were children living in the house, testing would be done for lead paint. But there aren't any children. We've already used some DIY mold test kits from Home Depot which found several kinds of mold spores in the air, but did not tell where the mold itself is growing. We also did a short-term radon test which came back okay, and a long-term radon test kit is in the house right now. (The landlord paid for the mold and radon test kits.) The problem is that we don't know what all the problems are in the house, or where they are. The kind of extensive testing it would take to get to the bottom of it, and then remediate it entirely, would cost more than the house itself is worth. If I told Section 8 I suspect a mold problem, they might require the landlord to do that extensive testing and remediation--and as it makes more sense for the landlord to sell the house to a professional house-flipper than to spend more than its current value fixing it up as a Section 8 rental property, the result would be that I'd have to move out anyway. I prefer to keep my lease there current until I have somewhere else to go.

Free vet care? I wish!!!! No, I am not a 1%er, unless maybe you mean the bottom 1%. A brief primer on government subsidized poverty (which IS considerably better than non-subsidized poverty, as I experienced 20+ years ago while my SSI application was creeping through an 18-month approval process and I was on the Section 8 waiting list which back then was only one year long): Most of my rent is paid by my Section 8 voucher. I receive food stamps which don't pay enough for all my food, but usually last about 3 weeks per month. I shop carefully, know which stores have the best prices on which items, and buy nonperishable things like rice and dry beans in bulk. I also have recipes for making some of my own pet food using some of the groceries I'm buying for myself. And my youngest dog is a service dog, so the state gives me $35 a month to help with dog food. (One of my old dogs is a retired service dog, which doesn't get him any state dog food benefits or exemptions from no-pet rules in prospective new housing, but after he gave me years of devoted service and companionship, dumping him at a shelter is absolutely NOT an option.) I receive SSI benefits with which I pay for everything not covered by the housing voucher and food stamps. I buy almost all my clothes, bedding, and home furnishings at thrift shops. Electricity and water bills are manageable because my housemate and I are both conservation-minded. We have replaced incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient ones. We hang up laundry to dry instead of using the clothes dryer. The house doesn't have air conditioning. Gas bills in winter do run high because the house is so drafty and not insulated, but we keep the thermostat set low and use single-room space heaters only in our own rooms, and lots of blankets (which I buy at thrift shops). I am eligible for both regular and emergency HEAP benefits to help with winter heating bills. I am also eligible for basic Lifeline phone service. I do pay for DSL Internet service, and for my cell phone, but I do not have cable TV. I don't eat in restaurants, go to movies, rent or download videos, or engage in other non-free entertainment. My vehicle, a 2002 Chevy Express 2500 cargo van which I bought used in 2004, is paid off. It uses a lot of gas, so I consolidate errands and only drive it once or twice a week. Sometimes, if the errands are such that I can manage them using crutches and don't need to take my wheelchair, I borrow my housemate's small car and pay him for the gas I use, which is less gas than I would use if I drove my van.

Everything else goes for vet care. I get routine vaccinations and heartworm tests done at a low-cost rescue clinic. I know which cattle deworming supplies, available cheap at farm supply stores, are safe and effective for dogs and cats (including heartworm prevention). I know how to do some animal first aid and nursing procedures at home. That keeps more money available for the full-service vet when someone gets sick and needs more than home nursing. I also have good credit (thanks to middle-class parents who started me out young and taught me to pay my bills on time), which is how I have managed up to this point, though the latest dead cat and the two currently sick ones have maxed out my credit cards. One sick cat needs diagnostic tests and treatment which he can't get unless I can raise the money for it on GoFundMe, so for now he's just getting routine care at home and I am hoping and praying the fundraising will work before it's too late to help him. The other sick cat already had diagnostics and now just needs me to keep up with her five daily medications. I have a prescription discount card that helps with the cost of the meds. Sometimes vets also have free samples or donated stock they can give me.

Does that help you understand my situation? I hope we can get back to talking about trailer solutions now.

Jim

[jisincla]

Jim

this could be you


http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/25/meet-the-man-who-spent-11-years-walking-around-the-world-and-the/

Hmm, not likely, I think. Aside from the fact that I'd have trouble even walking around the block, that guy might be willing to leave his wife behind while he goes off on some big adventure, but I won't leave my dogs and cats!

Jim