OH NO - Damp again

Mar 14, 2005
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Many of you may remember my posts earlier this summer regarding resealing all of my van. I did this after the annual service in May identified some areas of high damp meter readings. The dealer recommended having parts of the van resealed. As I had recently become unemployed I saved money and used my time by resealing the whole van myself.

However whilst away this weekend I found a small(3-4 sq inches) "soft" area in the rear nearside corner where the back and nearside wall join.

Very concerned I took the van into a local dealer (A) on the way back from our holiday. The dealer (A) found damp readings of 60 down the rear nearside corner. Dealer (A) said that the rear corner awning rail and rear awning rails would need to be removed and resealed. The rear and side internal wallboards would need to be removed and replaced. As the wallboards are inside the fitted wardrobe all of the wardrobe would have to be taken out. Dealer (A) esxtimated that this would require 20-30 hours work at £35/hour (ie, £700-£1050), 2 sheets of wallboard and screws and other sundries. I WAS STUNNED.

I then returned to the dealer (B) who had carried out the service in May. Dealer (B)carried out another damp test (£15!!). He confirmed the findings of the other dealer (A). Dealer (B), however, said that he did not think it was worth replacing the wallboard and suggested only resealing 3 lengths of awning rail at a total cost of £285 and drying out the wallbord with an electric heater myself.

I can see no point in resealing the rails again as I did that really carefully and thoroughly and I find it hard to believe anyone could do it better.

My real dilema is whose advice v, Dealer (A) or Dealer (B), do I follow regarding the replacement or nor of the wallboards!?

If I leave it am I risking damp spreading throughout the caravan?!

Is it possible to dry out the wall from the inside?!

The good news was that the damp readings in other places had improved.

I'd appreciate any comments or advice

Thanks

Tim
 
Jul 15, 2005
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Tim,

Sorry to hear of your experiences.

You sound convinced that the resealing job you did on the awning rail was satisfactory, in which case do you think there was damp in the wardrobe area and you didn't notice it first time around?

I'm concerned that the internal wood frames may be damp, so can you gain any access to the back of the wall boards without removing the wardrobe? And try to dry this internal box section?

Suggestions:

Buy a damp meter - I think www.screwfix.com do one for under
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Tim - be very wary here. We had a Lunar Delta a few years ago, which we bought in '93 when it was a year old. We had it serviced every year by the selling dealer, who did spot some damp which we had fixed at a cost of several
 

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