caravan side wet and soggy

[briant]

My wife has a 1994 craftsman caravan that she tows on dog agility weekends away, investigating what she described as coming apart in the inside corner i have discovered that from the front corner underneth the side window to half way down the caravan the wood underneth the wall paper is wet and rotten I think there has been a leak in the roof which i have now sealed to hopeully cure the problem. i aim to replace the wood and would like to know how big a job this would be and any advice on how to tackle it would be appreciated.
brian

 

[Gagakev]

My wife has a 1994 craftsman caravan that she tows on dog agility weekends away, investigating what she described as coming apart in the inside corner i have discovered that from the front corner underneth the side window to half way down the caravan the wood underneth the wall paper is wet and rotten I think there has been a leak in the roof which i have now sealed to hopeully cure the problem. i aim to replace the wood and would like to know how big a job this would be and any advice on how to tackle it would be appreciated.
brian

Hi Brian,
I tackled a major repair this time last year and yes it can be done but before i go any futher I need to call on Parksy

Parksy can you locate the photo's I put on hear last year, think the heading was Damp repair update or some thing similar think you said you could store them for future use, well its that time it will give Brian a good idea of what to expect
Thanks Parksy.

 

[Damian]

From your description, if there is no damp above the window, then a roof leak is highly unlikely to have caused the problem.
Also, what have you done to seal what you have done?
If the damp is below the window, then the most likely entry points are:
Window rubbers, awning rail or panel join if any.

You need to find the source before attempting to fix the damage.
Once you have removed the wall boards, be prepared to find a lot more damage than you expected.
Then it is a case of removal of all the rotten wood, insulation and replacing with new.
It is highly unlikely to find matching wall board if the van is an old version, so nearest match will be the best you can hope to achieve.
However, Waudbys or O'Learys may have some.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Brian,

Clearly I cannot tell you how far and how much damage the damp and rot may have gone, but in similar circumstances I have seen the entire front wall and half of one side needing to be dismantled to remove all traces of rot.

I’m sorry but its probably not good news; Generally speaking the actual area affected is at least twice the visible area affected by rot, you have to remove all wood that might have been affected by the spoors from the mould.

 

[Gagakev]

The damp on my van was coming through just below the rear window, and as the other two post have mentioned it's not limited to that area, When I removed the wall board the timber was rotton from the floor and up to the curve in the roof, major work but as said can be done, very time consuming, all the rootton wood removed and replaced, larger areas were stripped back, heating on full gas and electric every night and weekends for about a week. to dry the rest of it out. My van is a 1995 Abbey and I located the exact wallboard. (Think it was O'learys as Damien has said ) will double check but emailed them photo and hey presto a match. They also supplied the polystyrene and joining strips.

 

[briant]

Hi
i have silicone sealed all around the roof, window seals, it looks like the front corner of the roof seal has been repaired before. It is wet at the very front top corner inside as if it has leaked just where the roff has began to curve. There does also seem to be quite a bit of movement in the wall i presume this is due to the wood rotting. The rest of the caravan is fine, so is it worth taking on this repair that I think I could do myself with a little advice.
Could I just ask what type of wood and insulation is normally used as i have yet to stirp the wall further, thanks for the replies so far
Brian

 

[Gagakev]

Not a good idea to use normal household silicone sealant you need the flexible type i.e silkaflex, carafix or similar.
I was lucky with the wood standard 1"x1" (25mm) planed timber, but ensure you treat it with a timber presevative before you use it.
The insulation on my van was 22mm thick and comes in 8 x 4 sheets. All the glues you use need to be solvent free. again I can check out what I used (think it was evo-stick solvent free) But to be absolutly sure on the specific requirements for your van you will have to dismantle first.

 

[Damian]

First of all, silicone sealer is a waste of time and money, it simply does not work, will not adhere to any existing mastic and will lose its sealing properties as soon as the van moves.
If the top is wet inside, this indicates the awning rail as the primary area to look at, and the water is probably getting in through the screws holding it in place.
The ONLY way to stop it is removal of the awning rail, removal of ALL old sealer on rail and van, and reseal with the correct sealer, which is either IDL99 or better still, Soudall Fixall, new stainless steel screws and new insert covering the screw heads.

The wood used in manufacture is plain untreated soft wood, replace with tanalised.
Insulation is block polystyrene of suitable thickness, and wall boards are 3mm foil bonded plywood.

 

[briant]

ok, thanks for your advice and help

 

[Parksy]

Hi Brian,
I tackled a major repair this time last year and yes it can be done but before i go any futher I need to call on Parksy

Parksy can you locate the photo's I put on hear last year, think the heading was Damp repair update or some thing similar think you said you could store them for future use, well its that time it will give Brian a good idea of what to expect
Thanks Parksy.

Unfortunately the format of the forum was changed and now I can't find the pictures, sorry.
The search box only yields results up to September 2009, did you save the photos on your computer or on Photobcket?

 

[Gagakev]

Hi Brian,
I tackled a major repair this time last year and yes it can be done but before i go any futher I need to call on Parksy

Parksy can you locate the photo's I put on hear last year, think the heading was Damp repair update or some thing similar think you said you could store them for future use, well its that time it will give Brian a good idea of what to expect
Thanks Parksy.

Unfortunately the format of the forum was changed and now I can't find the pictures, sorry.
The search box only yields results up to September 2009, did you save the photos on your computer or on Photobcket?

Tut Tut Parksy;
Thanks for the reply, checked Photo bucket earlier and yes they are still there so will learn the photo transfer process again tomorrow, cheers

 

[Parksy]

The photo transfer is much easier now Kev
When you reply to a post the top of the reply box will have various tools on it. The small green rectangle with the tree is for posting photos.
Make sure that your pictures are not oversized (850x640) and copy the url from Photobucket (2nd one down)
After clicking onto the tree icon in the reply box paste the picture url into the box and click on 'save' and the picture should be posted onto the forum.

 

[forestgump]

as damian says if its wet low down it is a leak lower than the roof or it would be wet upper the pannel silicon should not be used if you are in contact with alloy pannels .

 

[briant]

We have begun to strip the caravan wall and have discovered that the wood batons around the frame and window are completey rotten they have literally crumbled in our hands and in places gone to like a dust, the wall board has fallen away to, the plan now is to continue to strip the wall away to see what further delights await us then dry it out and check to see if any more water is entering the caravan before it is redone. Could i just ask if there is a particular way to tackle around the window?
thanks
Brian

 

[forestgump]

the one i did last time a wet room i painted a rubber solution before i put pannelsback and see the person i did it for and iit is stiil dry and that was quite a major damp problem.

 

[johno1]

Hi Brian try this link

http://www.1carpc.co.uk/wcdr/index.htm

click on sprite damp repairs

good luck

 

[Gagakev]

Hi Brian,
Just to let you know Parksy has sorted my Photo problems now,
so if you would like them to have a peep at just let me know and
I'll do my best to post them on here,
Kev

 

[briant]

yes if you don`t mind posting the photos that would be helpful thanks
brian

 

[Gagakev]

These photo's are posted as a guidance only, hope they help
Kev

 

[Damian]

That is a cracking set of pictures Kev, well done excellent job.

 

[TD42]

While I know you will get good advice on this forum can I direct you to yet another forum which might be able to help http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_forum_topics.asp?ForumID=31
& in particuler to the "Wizard" & members of the "fixed it club"where you will get very good advice from many folk who have carried out many projects such as yours
I Hope this is of help to you

 

[briant]

Kev, thanks for posting the photos you did a great job.
we are now solving the problem of where water is entering the van thanks to the rain so will fix this before anything else, thanks for all your advice its been really helpful.
brian

 

[Gagakev]

Thanks for the kind words gents.

Brian, use the site TD24 recomends I did quite a bit of research and used them as well, they all give very good tips and advice .
My repair was carried out this time last year and I constantly take moisture readings in the van, over the bad weather period The readings were between 10% and 18%, this I am very happy with and this year intend to remove the awning rail on the otherside of the van as I believe prevention is better than cure. If I can be of any further help please ask.
Good luck, soon be time to holiday