Too soon into this project I damaged the sink. I was still parked in San Jose trying to figure things out and make all the changes to the rig. I hadn’t even left on the trip yet and I’d already ruined the sink.
Turns out, it was a plastic sink. Who knew? I knew it was different somehow; I just didn’t think about it being plastic and the implications of that. To be fair, there was a label, as there was on many of the items inside the trailer. The label was on the bottom of the sink though and mumbled something about the use of solvents, but I didn’t notice that until after the incident.
The damage came by way of nail polish remover. I was using quite a bit of it because I had a date a couple of weekends prior and thought I would–I don’t know–go the extra step with a gel manicure. Doubt he even noticed. Now, I wanted to remove the nails.
Gels are hard to remove so I was pouring remover on my nails. I started to smell something odd–beyond the nasal biting odor of the remover, and noticed my sink looked like it was disintegrating. I immediately panicked thinking I was also damaging the pipes (hoses actually) and over the next few hours obsessively checked under the sink for leaks.
The hoses were fine, but I learned an expensive lesson. Besides having to find and replace a sink, I remembered that nothing in an RV is the same as that used in homes. It seems obvious, I know. I’m a newbie. I told you. This was my first trailer.
So, rule #1–Almost everything in an RV (particularly the small trailers like mine) is different than what you are used to at home. I wish there would have been a general overview manual when I first got the trailer–a Welcome to your new travel trailer. Here are some basic things you need to know so you don’t permanently damage some expensive and hard to find part.
Yeah. There probably was one.
It took a while to repair; detailed measurements and researching online until I finally discovered it’s a bar sink. And I decided to replace it with a stainless steel one and a new faucet. So, all good. Lesson learned.