Cracked Front Panel

[Buckman]

I've had another quote and this company have suggested it will need a full new panel which is £5-6,000 before they quote for any damp work! So suggesting I make a claim on my insurance. So at the moment I have a couple more quotes, have started a email to Elddis to make a claim based on it being a common issue because of a design fault and will be phoning my insurance company to understand their perspective.

Having never had anything like this before, it would be good to understand if I was to fix it myself, would allowing it to dry itself be okay once the water ingress had stopped or do I need to do something else. There's not really much of a water stain, but the moisture level is almost 40% in the worst places.

The prof is quite correct in his post regarding any duty of care by Elddis the manufacturer as no contract exits between the manufacturer and the consumer especially as the caravan was bought privately.

Can I suggest that you follow the advice given on this thread rather than waste time and money contacting Elddis?

 

[Dustydog]

These are just two links from many which may be helpful to the OP and others. With any repair it is essential to establish causation. Eg was it a stress fracture caused by incorrect fixing? Bailey experienced a high frequency of panel cracking some years ago. All down to incorrect use of fasteners . No pilot holes used!
Good luck to the OP.

https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/142790-cracked-front-panel/

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct4gVIWBue4

 

[Ukdave2002]

Do you know what sort of plastic it is?

I have never repaired a caravan body, but have fixed many car bumpers and mirrors, by plastic welding , you can create an invisible repair, but it will require access to both sides the panel (both sides have to be welded) and then flatten, fill and paint. As John suggested, I'd cut the inner panel with a multitool and use T section to hide the join, you can choose a cut line that looks natural/ original, or if you can get some fabric to match the inner panel, use it to cover the whole area to cover the cut.

An alternative cheap and much easier repair that I'll probably get shot down in flames for suggesting! would be to glue the crack with an Cyanoacrylate Glue and cover with Gorillaglue's waterproof clear tape, its an amazingly strong and sticky tape, a virtually invisible repair that won't be seen because its on the roof. If it fails after a few years what have you lost?

Gorilla Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape | Gorilla Glue

Gorilla Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape is the extra-strong adhesive tape designed to patch holes, cracks, gaps and tears. Suitable for indoor & outdoor use.

uk.gorillaglue.com

 

[ProfJohnL]

...
An alternative cheap and much easier repair that I'll probably get shot down in flames for suggesting! would be to glue the crack with an Cyanoacrylate Glue and cover with Gorillaglue's waterproof clear tape, its an amazingly strong and sticky tape, a virtually invisible repair that won't be seen because its on the roof. If it fails after a few years what have you lost?

Gorilla Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape | Gorilla Glue

Gorilla Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape is the extra-strong adhesive tape designed to patch holes, cracks, gaps and tears. Suitable for indoor & outdoor use.

uk.gorillaglue.com

If the product was still under warranty, then the type of repair you have suggested might not be advisable, as it could compromise the manufacturers repair methods.

But if there is no warranty to be claimed then why not try it.