Wooden Floors

[Nick_374386147]

I have recently bought a new Avondale Dart, and see that the underside of the floor appears to be bare wood. Friends tell me that it has probably been treated with a preservative, but Avondale are obviously not in a position to comment (in receivership. The dealer says I could coat with a bitumastic of some sort. Is it worth doing this, or should I leave well alone?

 

[john_5040743]

Hi Nick I had a new Avondale some years back and the ply was like yours, i asked Avondale if i could cover the bare wood on the underside they said it was not needed and would invalidate the guarantee if i did it. I had my Avondale for about 10 years and the underside was has good as new when i sold it. My friend has a new Dart 545 2009 bought at the show from the Caravan company his ply is the same.

Hope this is of some help

 

[rob_jax]

Nick,

I'd leave it as it is - but to explain why I need to tell you about Eriba caravan floors...

Eriba are known to be long lasting caravans - and are a good test bed for exposing problems that crop up after many years of ownership.

In the 1970's and 80's, the Hymer / Eriba factory coated the wooden underfloor with a bitumastic type product - completely sealing the floor from the elements.

And now those floors are proving to have a few issues - if the coating is damaged and damp gets into the floor, it never gets out again and then you have the possibility for problems to start.

Earlier Eriba plain wooden floors "breath" and naturally dry as the weather changes - and are still in great condition. Newer Eriba floors are coated with a breathable coating, protecting the flooring from splashes and the odd river crossing (there's a photo on here showing an Eriba + LR wading a river in a tiger reserve in India) but still letting it breathe

So - I'd leave it alone...

Robert