water getting in - sealing advice

[walsie]

had a 2011 Swift 565 3 days ago. Its rained for 3 days and theres a leak in both rear top corners. Boards feel cold but solid, slight bulging in the areas, my damp meter shows quite high readings (over 30) right in the corners and gradually falls to about 10 half way down the wall, seems to only be affecting a few inches from the join with the back panel.

Got up on my ladder to take a look at the top rear corners outside, off-side looked fine, nothing obvious bar the awning rail slightly away from the body, revealing a 3mm gap with a loss of sealant, just where in curves around, seems to be in the exact area where the bulging is inside, remainder of the rail is flat against the body.

Near side is similar with the awning rail having a 3mm gap right on the corner. but this side also has a 3" crack right on the top corner, it was hidden under a piece of white tape so i didn't spot it.

I've resealed the awning rails in the immediate areas and slightly beyond, filling in the gaps, and also sealed the crack and applied new tape.

In theory that should have rectified the problem as theres nowhere else other than the seal strip which goes across the roof at the back and that looks just fine. The side lights are below the affected areas but i will reseal them as well.

Now theres no real way of knowing if my 'fixes' have worked unless i note a drop in the damp levels with my meter, time will tell i guess.

I've got it booked in to a specialist but not until september as they are stacked at the moment.

Have you experienced caravaners got any advice for me as to what else i could do/check. I understand its going to take some time to dry out.

The last time it was damp checked was around June 2018 where there were no levels of concern.

So lets say the leaks started around that time, would 2 years be enough for serious rot to set in, or now that the leaks are hopefully fixed should i just not worry about it and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get any worse and regularly check it with my meter to see if the levels are dropping?

Many thanks!

 

[Beachball]

Have you any pictures of the areas you can upload because someone on here might be able to put you right

 

[otherclive]

You have done the right thing in sealing it. Keeping tabs on it with your meter is good too. If yourbathroom is at the rear it could take a while to dry out as there’s the rear caravan panel one side and a relatively impervious surface inside. Your caravan is still worth a decent value so having a proper inspection and recommendation for repairs would be worthwhile. There’s no way really of telling if any real damage has been done as 30% in summer could have been substantially higher in the wet winter we had this year. Have it checked out would be my recommendation.

I think that you can get overfitting roof corners to go over damaged cracked corner pieces. If there are cracks in the panel roof join they can be drilled old tape and mastic removed and the panel- roof join resealed. The awning rails should be inspected resealed and replaced. An AWS technician should be able to advise.

 

[Damian]

With readings over 30% there is a high likelihood that rotting of internal wood is taking place, and that the wallboard has started rotting too.
Unfortunately it is only when investigating that the true extent of damage will be shown.

You say that you have resealed a couple of places, by this I assume you mean just using a silicone sealer in the places you have done.
Again, unfortunately , whilst your temporary fix may stop some water entering it s only a temp fix as new sealant will not stick to old.

 

[Buckman]

With readings over 30% there is a high likelihood that rotting of internal wood is taking place, and that the wallboard has started rotting too.
Unfortunately it is only when investigating that the true extent of damage will be shown.

You say that you have resealed a couple of places, by this I assume you mean just using a silicone sealer in the places you have done.
Again, unfortunately , whilst your temporary fix may stop some water entering it s only a temp fix as new sealant will not stick to old.

Plus they are sealing in the damp?