Extreme Water Damage

Lindsay, any update on your repair?  I have a 2010 172 that had some similar damage.  Not a whole lot of floor drop, but a lot of mold and the whole floor under the vinyl got wet and stayed wet for while.  I did have some major plywood rot happening, and the smell when I removed all the viny!  Whew!  Like a swamp.  Currently it's drying.  I had to pretty much take up everything I could (kithchen area, the bottom bunk, storage in the rear) to get it cleaned up.  I'm looking at  a remodel now, and wondering how I can get the floor to stop smelling before I put something new on top of it. 

Remember even after the water is dried out, mold and mildew persist in the air inside the trailer.  Some people can be very sensitive to mold and mildew spores, wet or dry.  Mycotoxicosis can be a serious problem for those  who are sensitive to mold.  So be careful and pay attention to how you are feeling when inside your Pod.  Hopefully, no one will have any symptoms.

Once the wood is contaminated with mold, it is very difficult to eliminate the odor.  You can mask it by using something that overpowers your nose, but the mold remains and as soon as the masking fragrance evaporates you'll smell the mold again.  Bleach will kill the mold on the surface of the wood, but will not kill the hyphae [roots] inside the wood, so you can count on it returning when ever it has enough moisture to sustain itself.  Supposedly vinegar will kill the hyphae, as will borax, but it is difficult to saturate the wood and substrate with a solution of either, especially under the cabinetry.  Most mold remediation requires complete removal of the contaminated material.