Evening gentlemen. Well, I'm new to the forum and recently purchased a damp 1998 ABI Jubilee Equarry. I purchased it extremely cheaply.
Now I'm going to repair her. I've been doing my research over the weekend and I'm going to go for it with the help of you guys on the forum. This is the plan of attack.
1) All external rails, vents reseal etc.
2) All windows reseal
3) Dehumidify
4) Take everything out of the inside, attack the inside
Would appreciate any advice / help / moral support and a shoulder to cry on from experienced repairers.
If the damp is extensive then you'll likely need to fix the internal frame before resealing as the awning screws might not get a grip in damp/rotten wood.
Strip back internally all round the upper frame where the awning rail is screwed. Check how strong the wood is and take it from there.
Quote: Originally posted by jayc001 on 28/5/2013
If the damp is extensive then you'll likely need to fix the internal frame before resealing as the awning screws might not get a grip in damp/rotten wood.
Strip back internally all round the upper frame where the awning rail is screwed. Check how strong the wood is and take it from there.
Thanks for that. I was intending to use the caravan for the rest of the summer and do little bits and bobs to the exterior before I took out anything on the inside. You think this is not the best way to go then?
Maybe i'll wait until the winter then to tear the interior apart.
If it's really damp and the frame is rotten then removing the awning rail to reseal may mean you are unable to get it back together as the screws might not bite.It's quite amazing how what you think was initially asmall area of damp can end up as a major rebuild.
Having just done a major damp rebuild on mine if you intend to get a summers use then I'd remove the wall paper in all the cupboards and lockers and get a dehumidifier in there to start drying it. I'd also cut a few small sections of the wallboard out to have a look at the framework behind.
If you do the above and it's not too bad then drying it out and a quick external reseal will likely get you a summers use.
Jayc001 is 100% correct. I would avoid removing any rails untill inside is repaired.
Get the van undercover.
Rip out the inside.
Locate leaks and areas that need re seal.
Dry out.
Repair inside
Re seal outside.
It took mine about 2 days to dry out with heaters on. Half a day to remove funiture. Half a day to remove effected boards. 1 day to refit walls and structural wood. Half a day to re board. A day to seal outside. Spread this over 2 week to allow to dry etc
Personally sealing the outside was the worst part of the job.
Good advice from both Jayc001 and robdashwood. Have to agree with robdashwood, cleaning up the awning rail and resealing it was a nightmare as was the central roof strip. Inside was enjoyable after discovering the true extent of the problems and getting over that.
Good luck - take some photo's as you go if you can it's nice to have a record of how bad things really were when you've repaired it back to health.
IN another thread, I'm covering how I am starting to repair an ABI Rallyman, though of older vintage than yours. Maybe some mutual moral support is called for :-)
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Topic: ABI Jubilee Equarry Repair 1998
