Hope you are well ok despite the horrendous summer.
New on here and recently had a bad leak spring up in our caravan. It's been ok the last few years. Having investigated further (pulling off wallpaper, curtains, blinds etc.) I've found a pretty big patch of dampness around the front window, see pics
We've had a repair quote from a workshop today and they're saying £1500 - £2000. We really don't want to spend that, but we also don't want to be without the van (the dog loves his caravan holidays!)
Is this even feasible as a DIY job? I'm relatively handy with car repairs, motorbike repairs, DIY etc, but don't want to start something I realistically can't finish.
Hi, God it doesn't look nice. It would nice to know age and make of caravan. Also a couple of photos of the front exterior of the caravan. It may help folks on here who have attempted a repair like this to see where the water has been getting in and if it is worth the time and effort. We all love our caravans no matter what make or age they are. All the best.
Cheers.
thats not to bad to fix, just time consuming, and assuming you have the tools and the knowledge of diy. but first thing is to find where the water is getting in and cure that, then start stripping out all the rotten wood, taking pictures and measurements as you go, it loos about the same level our caravan was at and took 2 weekends for my husband and son to fix. and that was done in the storage yard with no power to speed things up. the final cost was around £200 and most of that was on the window rubber seal for the 3 windows at the front of our van
Sure, I’ll get some more pics when it stops raining.
It’s a 2006 Sprite Major 5. I’ve managed to stop any forther leaks from the outside for now. Looks like it was either getting in from under the screws on the water run off rail bit above the front window or from the seal above that rail itself.
I’ve got old sealant away, put new on. And, also had all the screws for that rail out and filled them too. The crews were quite rusty and some snapped instead of screwing out.
The previous owner had the window replaced and lions like whoever did it didn’t do it very well.
As marg says if the window seals are not good then that is a decent expence. I replaced the front window seals earlier this year on my coachman pastiche. When I bought the van last May it had been sitting on someone's drive for over 3 yrs. The front windows were welded to the window seals. I managed to prise the window off the seals but it destroyed the seals. As long as you have sorted the leak then it should be a straight forward job to replace the rotted timber,but time consuming.
More than likely it is the window hinge bar needs removing and re sealing if the timber for fixing into is still firm and not rotten. If so replace timber first.
OK, sounds like it's definitely fixable. Thanks for all your replies and comments. They're really helpful.
It absolutely chucked it down before but it looks like no more water is getting in (the front anyway :P). It's a bit of a bodge job for now, but it's working and I'll do a proper job once I've sorted the inside out.
The main issue for me is I don't have an indoor space/covered area if the window needs to come out. But I guess I'll just have to tackle this whenever we get a dry spell.
I have nearly finished doing the very same job on my 1992 Elddis. The wood around the front windows was well rotten. I still hope to get a few more years out of it as I can't afford another one.
It has taken me quite a while to do as I have been working outdoors, and we haven't had decent weather. I am also working alone, I'm 74 and not as flexible as I once was. Still, if I can do it anyone can.
Quote: Originally posted by dakeos on 31/7/2023
OK, sounds like it's definitely fixable. Thanks for all your replies and comments. They're really helpful.
It absolutely chucked it down before but it looks like no more water is getting in (the front anyway :P). It's a bit of a bodge job for now, but it's working and I'll do a proper job once I've sorted the inside out.
The main issue for me is I don't have an indoor space/covered area if the window needs to come out. But I guess I'll just have to tackle this whenever we get a dry spell.
you really need to sort out the leaks before doing anything inside, you dont want your hard work being ruined by rain getting at it again do you?
also a large builders sheet of plastic is what you need once those windows come out, cover as much of the roof as you can while leaving enough hanging down to cover the windows DONT use sticky tape to hold in place as you will likely pull any paint off the caravan
Quite often when you remove the beading above the windows you can see where the rain gets in.
Usually the sealer between the roof panel and the front panel joint has denatured, its just a matter of cleaning this off and applying new sealer.
We are in the same boat and are in the process of doing our elldis now. It's along process and we are also doing it out side. We have come across many problems 😕.
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Topic: Can this be fixed DIY
via mobile 31/7/2023 at 4:15pm
