Spots of mould inside caravan

[Silversusie]

Our caravan is now 10 years old. The last two annual services have revealed a certain amount of damp at the rear of the van, which has been treated each year. Once we started getting these damp readings, we started putting moisture-removing crystals in the van each winter (when it's in storage and we don't use it). The van is always stored with all doors, lockers, drawers etc open, to allow air to circulate.

When visiting the van a couple of months ago to change the crystal sachets, we noticed tiny spots of mould growing on the walls at the back of the caravan, in the area where damp work has been done in the past, so we moved the new crystals to that area, still leaving all the doors open.

A few days ago, we took the van to the dealers for its annual service. We discovered that the mould spots didn't seem to have increased at the back of the van but there were now also mould spots on the walls in the kitchen area, where the crystals used to sit in their unit. We now plan to put a second set of crystals in that area when the van returns from its service.

Additionally, there is now a grey powdery residue on some parts of the internal woodwork. although all the soft furnishings feel dry and there is no smell of damp in the van. I guess these are mould spores?

So I have two questions: firstly, how can we remove the spots of mould and the grey powdery residue and secondly, how can we prevent them returning next year? (By the way, the dealer was unable to offer any advice, but I have very little faith in him.)

Any help you can give will be much appreciated, as I don't feel so good about going away in the van with all these ?mould spores? floating around in it!

 

[Lutz]

Moisture removing crystals will do next to nothing to prevent damp from getting into the caravan. If the damp needs to be treated every year, then it hasn't been doen properly in the first place. The caravan obviously needs a professional job to get to grips with the problem. Only then does removal of the grey residue make sense. You probably won't be able to get rid of all traces if they have already discoloured the substrate, but one can wash the loose residue away with a mould remover.

 

[James_374408700]

Hi Susan,

I have pointed out before that using moisture absorbers really is a waste of money and are ineffective. Caravans have so many air vents that unless you block them up,all you are doing is trying to dry out the UK atmosphere.Get to the root of the problem as Lutz has stated. If you really want to dry it out , block up the vents and use a dehumidifier. Treat the spores with an anti fungal wash available from DIY stores .

 

[Silversusie]

Lutz, you said "If the damp needs to be treated every year, then it hasn't been doen properly in the first place. The caravan obviously needs a professional job to get to grips with the problem."

Unfortunately, it _has_ been done "professionally" - by an "Approved Workshop". There is a current thread on the General forum about the ineptitude of the Approved Workshop scheme and I feel this illustrates it nicely.

I'm trying to persuade my DH that it's time to go elsewhere to get the caravan serviced (it's way out of warranty now).

So if anyone's got any recommendations for good workshops in the North Bucks/South Northants or points east and west thereof, I'd be very glad to receive them.

 

[Lutz]

Just goes to show how unprofessional an Approved Workshop can be. They probably let some dropout from school without any supervision loose on your caravan.

 

[Glenn_5132962]

Hi Susan,

If like me you've got kids then the mould spots might be nothing more serious than their sticky fingers touching the walls. We've found this a couple of times. The giveaway was mould on the plastic window!

 

[Rodone]

I don't think that the mould spots are necessarily evidence of breakdown of the van structure. I have found that this can occur in pretty well any van that is stored in the open, depending on weather conditions. I keep my van at home, and air it whenever conditions are suitable, but even then, I have sometimes found evidence of the mould trying to get a hold. As others have said, moisture absorbers in a caravan, will achieve very little - if anything at all.

 

[catherine2]

Hi Susan

I reallly don't think you need to worry.

The first winter we had our new van we got a grey residue all over the doors of the units - it was almost like a powder. I spoke to our dealer who advised to wash the walls and cupboards down with a mild antibacterial solution, which I did. The last 2 winters I have done the same at the end of the season and had no problems at all.

One other thing which the dealer recommended and we did was to keep the van's curtains open so that the sun could enter and warm the van from time to time. Personally, I feel that these 2 suggestions have directly cured the problem so perhaps you could try this.

Glenn's comment about the children's sticky fingers also seems accurate and the antibacterial solution - kitchen cleaner - should sort that out too.

 

[Silversusie]

Hi Susan,

If like me you've got kids then the mould spots might be nothing more serious than their sticky fingers touching the walls. We've found this a couple of times. The giveaway was mould on the plastic window!

Hi Glenn

Nope, can't blame it on the kids...they live in Australia and America respectively and never caravanned with us (we worked our way through camping to get to a caravan).

 

[Silversusie]

Thanks, Catherine, I'll try that. I'm going to make it my goal to get to the storage compound more often to air and clean the van from now on. As I said to Glenn above, I can't blame it on the children!

Today we collected the caravan from its annual service. It now has a damp reading of 60% in one area, which I know is really high :-(((

But from what people have said above, it seems to suggest that damp in the structure of the van doesn't necessarily bear any relation to any mould/mildew that might form on hard surfaces inside. Have I understood this correctly? I suppose I put two and two together and made six when the mould spots and mildew started appearing after we started getting raised damp readings.

 

[Stephen_374341239]

Hi there

Spores will grow on any area which has a little bit of dirt, Push your hand onto a surface leave it in storage for a few months and in right conditions you will have spores growing in the shape of your hand print.

The best way to stop this is clean and polish ALL areas in the van before storage takes place.

To deal with Susan problem she will have to wash the caravan with anti fungal wash and dry it out. Then polish well all surfaces and ventalate the caravan well. Spores are air born so once thay start they will grow very quick so you must act just as quick as soon as you see them. They just love to grow on dust and a little condisation and there growing.

 

[paul_374410560]

difficult to pinpoint without knowing exact circumstances but the white residue is common in caravans on the woodwork,ive seen a lot, wash down with a mild small amount of washing up liquid and water dry off and it should be ok.

if you are in the van a long time before you store it for winter, the amount of moisture that you put in the van will be a lot, the day you store it open all windows and lift up all upholstery to stop cold spots. you have still got a damp problem at the back is it on the side of the toilet what is your layout this can give me chance to diagnose it

 

[catherine2]

As other people mentioned (and I forgot to), polishing all the surfaces is also a good idea. After I've cleaned the surfaces i give everything a quick wipe over with some of those paper cloths which are impregnated with pledge or similar - very quick and easy to keep in the van.

 

[Silversusie]

A huge thank you to everyone who has replied with suggestions - I'll be giving the van a really good internal clean as per your instructions.

Paul, you asked about the internal layout of the caravan. In Practical Caravan magazine, it's layout S - side dinette, end bathroom. The layout of the bathroom is (panoramically): as you step into the area, the shower cubicle is directly left. The wardrobe is diagonally left ie in the offside rear corner. Next, along the back of the van, is a small storage cupboard, then the washbasin with a cupboard under, which runs along to and round past the nearside rear corner. Then a gap and then the toilet. Then back into the main part of the van.

The 60% damp is in the rear nearside corner, so it _is_ on the side where the toilet is, but about 2-3 feet away from it. There is no internal damp evident in the cupboard under the washbasin.

The damp report shows a line of x's down the rear nearside corner ie the awning rail. The dealer told us that the rail would be removed and replaced.

So this brings another question - when the workshop does this, do they allow time for the damp to dry out before the rail is replaced? Otherwise, wouldn't the damp just be trapped inside? We've been told that the work will take 4 hours, which doesn't seem very long to dry things out.

 

[paul_374410560]

the 4 hours for removing and replacing the awning rail is correct yes the damp will still be inside but the place that its coming in would be sealed so no more would come in,

60% is high but not major, i would have the rail done but i would check all the sealing around the toilet door on the outside and if you have a water filler door for the toilet as well they have problems with water ingress there as well

good luck

 

[MandyDavies10]

Might be worth investing in a dehumidifier, seen some on here and I've heard they work really well in caravans -http://meacodehumidifiers.co.uk/