Damp problem

[greencroft]

I had a leak from the Whale warermaster inlet unit. The leak is now resolved. I have pulled back the lino and in the process of drying out with the help of a fan heater. Should I cover the bare wood up at night to prevent damp resettling overnight?
Regards
Ken

 

[Mr Plodd]

Damp won't "settle"
Having had a major leak, and a large area of wet floor which required removing a lot of the caravan flooring (probably 65-70%) due to how far the water had tracked underneath it. I can advise that if you use a fan heater it will certainly dry out the very top surface, but any underlying moisture will then "wick up" to the surface layer! So you need to leave the floor exposed for a few weeks, and check regularly with a damp meter before refitting the flooring.
In my case the leak happened over about 3 days (so not that long) it took about 5 weeks to get the floor back to under 15%
So don't rush to refitting your flooring, all you will do is trap moisture underneath it!

 

[ProfJohnL]

The best solution to condensation and drying problems is to encourage free air exchange.

If you restrict the air movement it will stagnate and not remove any more moisture.

If the wood is already at higher moisture than the air next to it any condensation that forms will be from the wood not the air

Leave it open,

 

[greencroft]

Thanks for the prompt replies. I'll take the advice and not rush it. Damp meter reading is about 40% under the water inlet and 25% about 30cm to the left and right after that it's back to 10%. About 30cm in from the caravan wall it's 15%. Not a huge area but very damp just below inlet. If it had been sealed at floor lever the water would have settled on the lino and no seeped underneath.

 

[Mr Plodd]

"If it had been sealed at floor lever the water would have settled on the lino and no seeped underneath."

Tell me about it!!! I have had to replace ALL of the visible vinyl flooring throughout my 4 year old caravan,, along with under one of the front benches. Not an easy, or quick, task!

At least the stuff that's now down is about twice the thickness of the rubbish stuff used by Bailey, AND it looks far better.

 

[greencroft]

Thank goodness I only have to worry about the flooring in the front locker. I wasn't impressed with the service from Kimberley either. I was concerned about the quality of the service when I read that my tyres had gone from 8mm last year to 10mm this year and the spare was 11mm. Not to mention the CO2 detector hanging from the ceiling or my missing pump (now returned). Next problem is to sort my Alko squeal. Caravanning is fun

 

[Raywood]

Wish I could get tyres like that!