Front End Water Damage

[UKHunk]

My Caravan is a 1966 Fleetwood Garland,

It has three windows at the front, and the bottom of the near side window inside the van i have found water damage,wet and dry rot, it goes about a foot to the right and a few inches to the left and about a foot up between the windows,so now i have to remove the inside blinds and flyscreens and maybe the locker between the seats to investigate,now has anybody attempted to do a job like this and is it best done from inside the van,Any ideas of how to tackle this job would be thankful,and should i start now or do you think its a job for next winter consiering i use the van on a regular basis,Thank you,

 

[jon_5103124]

Eddie,

If it's still wet inside, I would tackle the cause of the leak first. You can buy a product called arbomast from most windscreen companies to fill behind your seal on the outside. would go around the entire seal, top side and bottom. Don't use silicone as it will make a mess and come unstuck. Arbomast is what is used in sealing rubbered windscreens, it stays pliable and sticky throughout its life.

First spray glass cleaner over the rubber and body to stop it sticking to unwanted areas, then lift the seal with a scraper and slide the tubes knozzle in, once you have worked all the way around press the rubber seal down on to the body to ooze out whats not needed and gently run the edge of a paint scraper around the seal to remove all of the excess. Once the caravan starts to dry out you can sort the rot and cosmetic work out.

I dehumidifyer would speed the job up.

Jon, windcreen technician - see plenty of caravans and boats also.

 

[Tom_5086015]

Eddie

I had a problem like this on a van a few years ago but it was that bad that the front of the caravan became unstable.

I repaired it over winter using pressure treated timber from B&Q.

I did all the work from inside, it was bit heavier when I finished it (bigger section timber) and I used rigid polystyrene foam for insulation finishing off with some viny coated wallboard from B&Q.

I was happy with the result, it was heavier but an awful lot stronger.

All the best

Tom

 

[UKHunk]

Eddie

I had a problem like this on a van a few years ago but it was that bad that the front of the caravan became unstable.

I repaired it over winter using pressure treated timber from B&Q.

I did all the work from inside, it was bit heavier when I finished it (bigger section timber) and I used rigid polystyrene foam for insulation finishing off with some viny coated wallboard from B&Q.

I was happy with the result, it was heavier but an awful lot stronger.

All the best

Tom

Thanks.Somebody said tackle it from outside by taking the front off completly,this is ok if you can do this in the dry and under cover,but think im going to do it over this winter from the inside,Thanks anyway,ED