Damp repair - oops!

[PaulHull]

I've noticed that there was a bit of bubbling in the wallpaper at the rear of my caravan (right old thing but i love it!). After a closer inspection I found that the rear was spongey and decided to -gulp- rip out the back panelling and inspct closer. Basically the beams behind no longer existed. They crumbled in my hands but I'm not phased (honest) - I'm going to replace them with fresh beams and repair the lot (I hope).

The van is very old and many of the seals have perished and using a hosepipe have found many places where water was getting in and have since 'fixed' every seal with clear sealant which seems to have worked a treat (tonights downpour gave no more leaks).

Basically I am asking for any advice anyone has. I'm plnning on replacing the wet or rotten timbers - is there anything I can treat them with in case any more water does ingress? Also what adhesives am I best using? I intend to glue and screw the timbers in place but should I be glueing the timbers to the aluminium skin and if so what with?

Any help would be massively appreciated!

And she may be a bit old and crusty but I still love her!

 

[Garfield]

Hi,

We repaired some accident damage to our Lunar using PU (polyurethane ) wood glue which is relatively new on the market. It is not as strong as the PVA based glues but it is waterproof and actually sets by reacting with moisture rather than drying out, it is chemically similar to the expanding foam fillers but without the foaming agent, it does foam slightly as it sets which helps to fill gaps.

Getting the wet timbers dry will be your greatest challenge.

Regards.

Garfield.

 

[johno1]

hi Paul,

the best thing to do with the clear sealant is to strip it off completely (assuming that it is silicone) remove the pieces of trim, clean off the old sealant, white spirit will remove it and re-seal with a good quality mastik such as sikaflex.

The wood may well be 'ramin' wich is prety cheap to buy but the hard part is getting the old stuff out.

Try getting your hands on a dehumidifyer and running it inside the van to get most of the moisture out then an electric heater to dry it out properly.

I wish you luck with your repair, I tried once but failed miserably!

 

[gary]

Garfield mentions polymer wood glues which come with various trade names but are wonderful for rebuilding 'damp' caravans.

Further advice and practical help you can find in abundance here;

http://www.alanparkers.dsl.pipex.com/

 

[PaulHull]

Failed miserably???????

Uh oh....

That's not really an option - not because I don't want to ruin the van but because my wife told me to leave it and that i'll 'only make it worse' so I can't fail!

Fortunately the water seems to have ingressed at both top corners and the timbers holding the window in place are dry (not sure abou the ones beneath it yet - haven't stripped it this far)

So long as I can get it strong enough to last another two or three years I'm happy. It's a very old van (20 years) so I'm not trying to do a full restoration on it because it simply isn't worth it but I am hoping to eek at least a couple more seasons out of it!

 

[Angus1]

Hi Paul,

Many moons ago I had similar problem with a Lunar which required new timbers for about two feet down the side of the van and halfway across the back (the rear offside corner had failed).

Don`t be scared of it, just cut everything back until you get to solid timber. I used pressure treated timber which was jointed, glued and screwed to both the existing solid timber and to the new parts. Waterproof wood glue was used for the timber (with brass screws) and `no more nails type stuff` for the timber to skin interface (sets solid and fills any void between the two).

Unless you van is nearly new or you are incredibly lucky, you wont get a matching wall-board, but your dealers repair department should be able to fix you up with something acceptable.

The only downside of my repair was that the bit I did was so much stronger than the rest of the van, which relied on staples to hold it together.

Finish it off by resealing with Sikaflex (good but expensive) or Carafax (cheaper but still adequate). Not silicone as previously stated!

I kept the van for five years after the repair, then sold it to my brother, it was still leak-free (at least `my` bit was) a further three years later when he traded it in .

Best of luck. Just be ruthless and get back to solid wood or you`re wasting your time.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi paul

dont be scared of reparing it you cant do much damage to a 20 yr old van (only make it stronger)I did a full frontal repair on a old colchester about 20years ago.

I removed the front bunks and stripped out all the front timbers ( what was left of them )including the front window and trim and replaced them with strips of 3/4in marine ply cut off a 8x4 sheet with a jig saw (all bends and curved panels)and replaced the panels with hard board cut at the back so it bends.

then papered it with vinyl paper before replacing the bunks ect the van was still water tight and sound when i sold it 6 years later.

a couple of suggestions i would make though.

dont remove any timber that is sound even if it is damp just dry it out thougholy.

use a cardboard template for the bendy bits before cutting out

use good quality waterproof glue for the wood and brass screws

and dont forget that vans are built from the inside out so all the fixings will be the wrong way round (outside in if you know what I mean)but can get round this using corner blocks onto the new timbers.

good luck

colin

 

[ValA.]

Try this link - someone who has done a similar repair - might help, or give you some links to other sources of help.

http://caravans.bravehost.com/discovering_damp.html

 

[ValA.]

Or this

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/search.asp?search=damp repairs&searchMode=allwords&searchIn=Topic&forum=31&searchSort=dateDESC&Submit=Start Search