Hi all, i have noticed recently on our van that the floor area around the bottom of the door frame had a slight amount of give. On further inspection i can now see what the problem is. The entire floor area is ok (no damp), but running the entire lenghth of the van, both sides at the bottom, are 2 sections of 2"x 2" baton which are totaly rotten in some places and are starting to go in others . Can this be repaired by myself or will it have to go in to a specialist . Any help would be appreciated .
Hi Martin , Deb & Anicia , hope i've spelt the last name right , could you post some pictures of the area/area's ? , you can either post them in your profile or send them to me ( Wizard ) or ALs ( Alan ) , you can find our email addresses at the bottom of this webpage http://www.gtfavouritecaravanparks.co.uk/caravan-cancer.htm .
just looked at your pic in your profile and it looks like the same problem we have on our pennine (similar to your qauntock), ours appears to have been caused by a leak from the water inlet pipe. Since sorting the problem the area is now dry as a bone but we need to replace the pieces of wood that have been affected by the leak so will be interested to see what the fixit gang have to say
------------- -x- Diane -x-
May 13 - Cala Gogo, St Cyprien (didn't go, hubby too ill to travel)
May 14 Ranc Davaine
August 14 Les Sablons
August 13 - Camping Playa Brava, Pals
Hi Martin , from what i can see the wooden baton is part of the wall rather than the floor , see pic baton 1 , you will need to remove the baton and replace it where it is rotten ( it may possibly be better to replace most if not all of the baton length to retain the strength ) .
To have a chance of removing it you'll need to remove the screws that screw through the side of the caravan , the aluminium trim that runs along the outside inline with the baton will have the screws in it , the screw heads will be covered by a plastic insert ( you'll need to remove the insert to get the screws out ) .
Now that you've got the screws out , on to removing the baton , to be quite honest i think the only way to get it out would be to break it away in small pieces ( ALs may have a better idea ) you need to be careful that you don't stick a hole through the aluminium skin when removing it , and it's likely that the baton is bonded to the aluminium skin . Once you've got the baton out , replace it with a wooden batten that's been treated with a wood preserver , you'll need a extra strong glue to rebond it to the caravan skin , then it should be just a matter of replacing the screws that screw through the aluminium trim , then through the new baton and into the floor baton .
Or the alternative is to dry the rotten baton out thoroughly using a fan heater ( don't place the heater too close ) , once it's dry then treat the baton with wood hardener along it's length ( allow to harden off fully ) . Now add a strengthening strip of 8mm thick ( there abouts ) plywood 6 inches wide and along the full length of the effected area , bond / glue the strip in place and also screw up into the wall baton ( rotten one ) and up into the floor baton 2 on the picture ( don't use screws that are longer than the floor section ) .
Note if you go down this route , after drying out , remove loose rotten baton before using the wood hardener . It may be difficult to keep the hardener up to the baton ( you'll have to work out some way of keeping it there ) .
I hope this helps , it's the 2 ways , i'd repair it , if it were my caravan .
See what ALs comes up with as well before deciding what to do .
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Topic: Floor edge problem
. Can this be repaired by myself or will it have to go in to a specialist . Any help would be appreciated 
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