Possible damp?

[ccbruce]

We've just had our service done on our caravan and we've had 2 damp readings of 20% (rear bunk roof) and 24% (rear bunk floor). Hes said its nothing to immediately worry about taking into account the time of year and there's no visible signs of damp but ti have it retested in 3-6 months.

Trouble is we were hoping to trade it in this month for a motorhome. Would these readings cause issues for us?

Any recommendations on what to do? Should we invest in some investigative work to see if there is a problem?

 

[Dustydog]

This is a guide
DAMP METER RESULTS AND WHAT THEY MEAN

• 0 - 15% - Indicate a dry surface, with no damp.
• 15 - 20% - Could be the start of a damp problem. Make a note and keep an eye on it.
• 20 - 25% - A potential damp problem. ...
• 25 - 30% - You very likely have a water ingress problem. ...
• Above 30% - Serious damp problem.

What make model and year is your caravan? Out of warranty?
It may be argued yours is on the cusp of a potential problem .

 

[Mel]

In my experience, a dealership will use any damp readings to reduce their trade in offer. Be ready for the argument. It has been a very wet winter so if the weather breaks a bit, get the van as dried out as you can to reduce spurious readings. If you have a damp meter you may want to recheck yourself shortly before trade in. Good luck
Mel

 

[kennywood1]

I've just had experience of that. Last week we decided to upgrade our 2015 Elddis Affinity 550 through a main dealer and part - ex on a Swift Icon Trend twin axle. We agreed a trade in value on our fully serviced pride and joy subject to their inspection. On retrieving from winter storage to take home and spruce up a noticed a small crack on the top left front panel just above the awning rail. I phoned the dealer and informed them and sent a photograph. They said they would have to see what damage had been done. I took it down on Saturday morning and after an hour was sat down to be told there were high damp readings around the front right window (I've since found another crack above the window rail) and most alarmingly on the front offside floor. No high readings found there on last years service.
47 hours labour plus parts £6,600.
The deal fell through. I can't believe such catastrophic damage as this can occur on what are fairly high value items supposedly built to industry leading standards. I wish someone had told me about this before I took caravanning up 4 years ago.
Anyway I'm done, I'm not taking any more chances and I'll sell up and limp off to do self catering - several thousand pounds out of pocket.

 

[otherclive]

Sorry to hear of the problems with your caravan. Unfortunately it’s not unique and as vans have got more sophisticated in front end design the complexity and cost of repairs has sky rocketed. I think there have been at least two on the Forum that have had front end problems on late model Eldiss It’s not just caravans a friend of mine is taking a dealer to court wrt £10000 damp ingress in his mitorhome. Have you considered action under CRA2015. Which website has good explanation of your consumer rights and provide expert legal advice for a subscription.

 

[kennywood1]

Otherclive - thanks for that advice, I'll follow it up.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I've just had experience of that. Last week we decided to upgrade our 2015 Elddis Affinity 550 through a main dealer and part - ex on a Swift Icon Trend twin axle. We agreed a trade in value on our fully serviced pride and joy subject to their inspection. On retrieving from winter storage to take home and spruce up a noticed a small crack on the top left front panel just above the awning rail. I phoned the dealer and informed them and sent a photograph. They said they would have to see what damage had been done. I took it down on Saturday morning and after an hour was sat down to be told there were high damp readings around the front right window (I've since found another crack above the window rail) and most alarmingly on the front offside floor. No high readings found there on last years service.
47 hours labour plus parts £6,600.
The deal fell through. I can't believe such catastrophic damage as this can occur on what are fairly high value items supposedly built to industry leading standards. I wish someone had told me about this before I took caravanning up 4 years ago.
Anyway I'm done, I'm not taking any more chances and I'll sell up and limp off to do self catering - several thousand pounds out of pocket.

HEllo Kenny,

I'm sorry to read of your experience, but sadly i'm not surprised. Your caravan may well have been built to "industry leading standards", unfortunately the leading industry standards are so low, frankly it's nothing they should be proud about. As you say, it seems reasonable to expect such a high value item to remain waterproof for many years, yet the caravan industry have actually had over 100 years to work out how to stop caravans from leaking, but the they prefer to spend money on the latest fashion fads rather than fundamental construction techniques to resist water.

Actually they're not to far from it, as you will find some owners who don't have any such problems, so it actually comes down to the manufacturers failing to build consistently.

Do look into the CRA 2015 (Consumer Rights Act) becasue some caravanners have had success with claims against the seller several years after purchase.

Best of luck.

 

[Buckman]

I've just had experience of that. Last week we decided to upgrade our 2015 Elddis Affinity 550 through a main dealer and part - ex on a Swift Icon Trend twin axle. We agreed a trade in value on our fully serviced pride and joy subject to their inspection. On retrieving from winter storage to take home and spruce up a noticed a small crack on the top left front panel just above the awning rail. I phoned the dealer and informed them and sent a photograph. They said they would have to see what damage had been done. I took it down on Saturday morning and after an hour was sat down to be told there were high damp readings around the front right window (I've since found another crack above the window rail) and most alarmingly on the front offside floor. No high readings found there on last years service.
47 hours labour plus parts £6,600.
The deal fell through. I can't believe such catastrophic damage as this can occur on what are fairly high value items supposedly built to industry leading standards. I wish someone had told me about this before I took caravanning up 4 years ago.
Anyway I'm done, I'm not taking any more chances and I'll sell up and limp off to do self catering - several thousand pounds out of pocket.

The cracks can be repaired for under £1000. Can I suggest Premium Towing services in Birmingham who have an excellent reputation?

 

[Mel]

I agree with Buckman, go to someone else and get a sensible opinion and quote. You have nothing to lose.
Mel

 

[Raywood]

I think I would go with Buckman and get the cracks repaired and then try to dry out the caravan before selling it on.
Not sure the CRA will help, but we would need more of the history to give an useful opinion. If it was bought new you are eight years or so down the line and frankly it could be very difficult to pursue a claim. This does however look like a familiar problem with Eldiss models which is well known in the trade, so there is a possible basis for the claim, but it would need an expert opinion and a fair slice of luck to win this.
People will say you have six years from the purchase to make a claim, but in fact time runs from when you could reasonably have discovered the problem. Assuming you had the caravan serviced regularly this should cover that point.
If you can get it fixed for about £1,000 proceedings though are unlikely to be worthwhile. The claim would have to be against the dealer, assuming they are still trading.
If the caravan was bought second hand from a dealer you may have a better case, but more detail would help.
If bought privately then I am afraid you have no real case.

 

[Dustydog]

I've just had experience of that. Last week we decided to upgrade our 2015 Elddis Affinity 550 through a main dealer and part - ex on a Swift Icon Trend twin axle. We agreed a trade in value on our fully serviced pride and joy subject to their inspection. On retrieving from winter storage to take home and spruce up a noticed a small crack on the top left front panel just above the awning rail. I phoned the dealer and informed them and sent a photograph. They said they would have to see what damage had been done. I took it down on Saturday morning and after an hour was sat down to be told there were high damp readings around the front right window (I've since found another crack above the window rail) and most alarmingly on the front offside floor. No high readings found there on last years service.
47 hours labour plus parts £6,600.
The deal fell through. I can't believe such catastrophic damage as this can occur on what are fairly high value items supposedly built to industry leading standards. I wish someone had told me about this before I took caravanning up 4 years ago.
Anyway I'm done, I'm not taking any more chances and I'll sell up and limp off to do self catering - several thousand pounds out of pocket.

What area of the U.K. do you live?
Don't panic too soon.
As suggested there are some very good reasonably priced repairers . There are cracks and cracks.Ive had a couple of cracks on a rear panel for years. Drilling a small crack stop hole and applying Capt Tolley’s sealant has kept her dry. Whilst there may be a high damp reading around the window, sealing the crack and drying out the damp can often save the day.
I fully agree you need a second opinion.