New Owners of 1998 3023

[SuzieQ16]

I would like to know how to pay dues and join the club? If someone could please direct me I would greatly appreciate.

We live in Houston, TX and found our TM in Dallas and bought it back in November. So far, we have only re-painted the inside and made new curtains, but I know when we take it out the first time I will probably have some questions. We lost our house on Galveston Bay in Hurricane Ike and plan to take the TM down there and park it soon and hopefully at least build a garage structure to house it until we find out if we will be allowed to build a house back.

We needed a pop-up type RV because we only have 9 ft. of clearance getting in under the old causeway to our property. I have sent a note to all of the other 22 homeowners who also lost their homes (all are gone except for 1/2 of one house) in case others are interested in the TMs. One guy has already bought a Jayco pop-up and has it down there, but I wanted something more substantial.

But, if someone could please advise me about joining the club I would sure appreciate it. Thanks.

[B_and_D]

http://trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1064

Welcome to the board! Sorry to hear about your house in Galveston - hopefully you'll be able to rebuild.

D

[SuzieQ16]

Thanks for your kind words. We are fortunate our main home in Houston only needed a new roof but otherwise ok. There are so many people hurting down in Galveston and on Bolivar where almost all of the houses were destroyed. This ended up being the worst storm to hit Texas and the Galveston area since the 1900 storm which killed over 6,000 people. It's so sad to see the shape Galveston is in now, but we all have high hopes that it can come back.

[Bill]

The entry page to this forum

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/

has links to the procedure.

Welcome aboard - even if it is under terrible circumstances.

Bill

[SuzieQ16]

Thanks, Bill. I mailed my check today. I do have one probably stupid question but I don't think I've seen this question in all of the plumbing info. I assume (since the tank on the recycle commode is so small) one should not even begin to put toilet paper in the commode? Is this safe to assume?

[Al-n-Sue]

SuzieQ16 - there are many "experts" on the recirculating toilet on the forum, so you should get plenty of opinions. But generally if you use RV TP (i.e. designed to break down with typical RV toilet chemicals) you should have no problems. There is a filter system that keeps TP from getting into the recirc motor. And since you don't add water when you flush, it fills only with usage. Ours typically lasts for a 4 or 5 day weekend as long as we limit solid waste. Since we typically camp at state parks or private RV parks, we use the camp facilities when we can, thus giving us a longer usage without dumping. Hope this helps. Others will undoubtedly chime in with their experiences.

[larsdennert]

Hopefully you can hook to your water meter, sewer and get some temporary power. I would use the toilet normally emptying it every few days.

[Leslie & Nick]

Thanks, Bill. I mailed my check today. I do have one probably stupid question but I don't think I've seen this question in all of the plumbing info. I assume (since the tank on the recycle commode is so small) one should not even begin to put toilet paper in the commode? Is this safe to assume?

Though I've taken the thing apart, I wouldn't call myself an 'expert'. To answer your question, yes you can use toilet paper in the recirculating toilet. I know some people don't do this, but I always thought it too much hassle to do 'otherwise'.

RV stores sell special TP that's supposed to dissolve quicker than the type you use at home. Not sure if this is entirely true, in that other RVers say certain brands of the home variety are OK to use. We've never taken a chance though, and use the more expensive RV type.

Sorry to hear about your home in Galveston.We used to live in Houston many years ago, and went to Galveston/Bolivar frequently. The post hurricane pictures of the damage were unreal. Good luck with your rebuilding efforts:)

[SuzieQ16]

Thanks to all, I knew you guys and gals would have answers for me. I need to work on my profile, but guess I need to wait until my check is received to add our city of residence and our vehicle we will pull our TM with? That seems to be what most people have on their profiles.

[SuzieQ16]

Hopefully you can hook to your water meter, sewer and get some temporary power. I would use the toilet normally emptying it every few days.

Yes, after we get a septic company to get the tank cleaned out (it's full of gravel and sand but otherwise looks ok). We still don't have elec, but do have a generator (which we used after the storm for the 2 weeks we were w/out power) but the water is a major problem. Seems as if the powers that be who we receive our water from, and I won't mention the city (it's not Galveston) are refusing to give us our meter back (all 22 houses are on the same water line). So, until we can hopefully get that resolved, we'll have to haul water in.

[larsdennert]

Maybe a water bladder you can carry in a truck with a drill pump or 12V transfer pump. No problem with any TP I've used. Scott is a good brand. Keep in mind that the Magnetek converter only charges at about 12Ah. The 32A rating is the panel rating not the charge rating. A 120Ah battery would take ten hours to charge.

If there is water service on the street but they won't give you your meter, maybe they will give you a temporary construction meter (Hydrant meter) They are pricey to rent but you could split the cost with others on the block. Power too. If a neighbor has power you could charge off a long cord. Sounds like the whole street is dead though.

[SuzieQ16]

Well, see, this is an unusual situation. There are approximately 22 "camp" sites as they have always been called on this one road - cabins have been there for probably 100 years or so. The last storm that took them out completely (again except for 1 house) was Hurricane Carla in 1961. We lease our campsite from an environmental group. They purchased the land (mostly wetlands except for our road w/houses) from a grant they received a few years ago. We have all tried at different times to buy our little strip of land, but neither they nor the previous owners, would sell. So, we shouldn't have any problem getting the elec back on, I think that's being worked on right now. But, the mayor of the city we have to deal with in order to get our water back on is not fond of the env. group and is refusing to give us our meter. We are all on this one water line for all the houses, so it's not like we each have our own water meter. We have a HOA we pay dues to and they pay our water bill, keep the road up, etc. So, we're all in the same boat. We hope something can be worked out. Unfortunately, this same entity may prevent all of us from re-building also. So, if that happens, we surely will be using the TM to travel elsewhere and give up our lease. Whew, it sometimes gets complicated. But, my parents owned our little house down there and passed it on to me and our family has a lot of memories "down on the bay."