First time caravan bought- damp help

[Barnes2023]

Hi all

We bought our caravan Venus 500/4 privately about 6 weeks ago. Visually checked for damp in windows, floor etc as best as we could and didn’t find any. It had a habitation certificate in December 2022 also. We went on our first time away 2 weeks ago to cut a long story short realised there is a crack in side of shower tray caused we think where previous owners stored their towel rail? The toilet outlet also has been found to be damp wooden beam behind all soft.

We have ordered a damp meter and think we have worked out the seals around toilet outlet have worn and has been letting water in.

We want to try and attempt to fix what we can to save money my husband is DIY savy. Where can you get specification manuals from? Any other tips/ thoughts? We have dried the areas with dehumidifier but understand we need to fix where it’s coming from first!

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[Buckman]

Can't help but it is a common fault on Lunars for water to leak where the flush is filled up. We had the same issue and what was discovered is that the nails in the wooden battens had rusted and the rust reacted with the aluminium causing pits all over the side in that area.

By the way if the seller stated that the caravan was damp free you may be able to claim under the Misrepresentation Act 1967. We used this many years ago and the seller was charged by Trading Standards and we were offered a full refund as we had not used the caravan, but by that time we had traded it in. Also turned out that the seller was a business posing as an individual so he also got a hefty fine.

 

[audiorob]

I think this is the twin singles with the rear washroom- so the loo is rear offside corner and the shower near side rear corner . So therefore quite extensive damp on both rear corners so is the leakage more generic to the rear of the van externally rather than coincidental internal leaks in both corners? Not sure how the rear panel is constructed on the Venus but have a good scout where panels are joined and the awning rails terminate. You do need to be certain that the leaks have been fixed before starting any remedial work ! Best of luck with getting it fixed up and the damp meter is a great idea to plot the extent of the problems,

 

[Barnes2023]

I think this is the twin singles with the rear washroom- so the loo is rear offside corner and the shower near side rear corner . So therefore quite extensive damp on both rear corners so is the leakage more generic to the rear of the van externally rather than coincidental internal leaks in both corners? Not sure how the rear panel is constructed on the Venus but have a good scout where panels are joined and the awning rails terminate. You do need to be certain that the leaks have been fixed before starting any remedial work ! Best of luck with getting it fixed up and the damp meter is a great idea to plot the extent of the problems,

Thank you for your reply! We think it’s coincidental but are looking into it a bit more

We did damp readings by the toilet outlet in deep corner damp reading 31.7 rest is varied around 25-27
In between that and the shower is in the 7 and 8s
Then finally by shower region mostly was 15 but corners were higher in mid 20s I think.

 

[audiorob]

Was the ‘habitation certificate’ from last December inclusive if a full damp report? It would appear that the issues on the van are quite longstanding. If the shower is plastic lined then that cannot be checked but otherwise I would have expected damp to have been found at that time. A report should be an exploded diagram of the caravan with multiple measurements noted around doors windows hatches skylights and all joints between walls and floor/ceilings.

 

[otherclive]

This is typical of what a AWS damp survey should provide. Although on some more modern vans this type of survey isn’t carried out. Your lower readings in the shower may be because of the water resistant lining affecting the reading.

 

[Buckman]

I would strongly suggest teat the OP gets another damp report done by a different technician preferably an Approved Workshop Service technician as the damp may be a lot more extensive than what they are reading?

 

[Barnes2023]

Thanks for this no I don’t think it included a full damp report. I will look into a damp inspection as I agree it’s probably more then we thought.

 

[Dustydog]

Looking at your photos how soft , rotten , are the timbers? Black colouring can sometimes make it look worse.