We found damp on our Avondale Dart 556/6 (2003) after very recently buying it and thought it was just a metter of resealing the toilet water inset where it was coming from (and which we have done), drying that small area out and covering with wallpaper / perspex, but.... after further investigation have seen that the damp has spread and goes down the along the bottom of wall and floor and along the wall either side of the bathroom and even goes on behind the bottom bunk and the other side into the cupboard. It seems to go up where the joint is in middle approx of caravan. We can't afford £2k plus to get it reapired at a dealers so need to do it ourselves which means putting pin pricks in the walls and using a dehumidifier or a heater for couple of weeks in the hope it will dry it out. In a couple of areas my husband said he could put his finger through and it seems quite rotton - do you think we can just dry it out and re-cover it or do we have to change the wll boards? My poor husband is so busy he really hasn't the time and after spending £5050 didn't think we would need to do all this work! He is very unhappy...
Can anyone give us some advice re wall boards or any other handy tips? Thanks, Angela
Hi Angela , sorry to hear about your damp problems , there really isn't a easy way to fix things i'm afraid , if the wall board is soft it needs to come off , could you send me some pictures of the effected areas both inside and out , email address below , so i can take a look . Was the caravan a private buy ?
Thanks for your reply - I will try and get some photos taken today and get then over to you for some further advice! It was a private buy and they were a long away away... They said they will send £200 towards any costs which isn't really helping that much but better then nothing...
Hi Angela, don't get down about the job in hand. It tempting to look out of your window and see a nightmare on your driveway where you caravan used to be but like some have said before - it's really only alu sheets, insulation and wallboards at the end of the day. Wizard and co are great and I'm sure they'll help you the way they've helped us. All the best, Natalie
My husband has put everything back in the bathroom etc as we are going away tomorrow for 4 nights so I will have to take photos after..... sorry! I will get some over to you though as your advice will be greatly appreciated,
Hi Angela - just finished repairing my 2002 Avondale - bought the 3.2mm vinyl covered ply off ebay £4.48 a sheet - I have some real horror photos of the mess behind the boards - but ! - It really isnt that difficult to repair them - they are not as well built as youd imagine - Also you can use better quality pse softwood for the frame repairs and use screws instead of staples and glue where extra strength is required - my total repair bill came to under £200 and was quoted between £1700 - £2500.
Regards Terry
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Topic: Damp Avondale Dart 556/6
and thought it was just a metter of resealing the toilet water inset where it was coming from (and which we have done), drying that small area out and covering with wallpaper / perspex, but.... after further investigation have seen that the damp has spread and goes down the along the bottom of wall and floor and along the wall either side of the bathroom and even goes on behind the bottom bunk and the other side into the cupboard. It seems to go up where the joint is in middle approx of caravan. We can't afford £2k plus to get it reapired at a dealers so need to do it ourselves which means putting pin pricks in the walls and using a dehumidifier or a heater for couple of weeks in the hope it will dry it out. In a couple of areas my husband said he could put his finger through and it seems quite rotton - do you think we can just dry it out and re-cover it or do we have to change the wll boards? My poor husband is so busy he really hasn't the time and after spending £5050 didn't think we would need to do all this work! He is very unhappy...
