Hi all, weve started stripping, the caravan of course. We are tackling our damp problems. Hubbys down to the bare facts now and its revealing that aswell as the back/sides being damp the floor is very damp and showing signs of rotting. We are in the process of mega drying out with several heaters and have the stuff to start rebuilding once dried out, but what do you all suggest can be done for the floor apart from seriously drying out is there anything to treat or put on it to give it some a better chance in life..........
You don't say how old the van is and what make it is, It depends on the age really to speculate money on restoring it.How did it get so bad in the first place?
Weren't they mid to late eighties vans? sorry to hear you have so much damp, I am afraid the Baileys of that era were renowned for it, my parents' Clifton 450 met its fate the same way.
its a 1991 bailey scorpio that we have only just purchased, we know its been standing unused for the last 18months, so has been unloved in that time. Just wondered if there is some sort of resin to bind it back together to see us through the next few years.Or do we cut the bad bits out, roughly 3 ft by 1ft both corners. We have hopefully traced the leaks on grip handles and roof holes.
hi,delamination...frightening no if you set out your stall and take your time.this is not a two hour job as stated,when you have finished you will know why they charge so much at the caravan repair shop.i have just done ours a few months ago.i will go through the steps best i can.ours had gone in two places,next to the door entrance and next to the sink four feet away.you will find that delamination is where the floor is used most.ie next to the sink and the door entrance.first decide how much delamination you have,ie.2 feet (old school) or 6 feet,this information is required when you go to order your epoxi resin mix.one mix will cover about 3 feet by 3 feet.got mine from barrons £25 for both tins.you also need a large syringe to inject the mixed epoxi resin.this will also sell.also the chemicals (glue) are called apollo 1 and apollo 2.i think the code is A8136.the small tin is the hardener and must be used in the time on the tin.the first thing is to remove all carpets or lino.second(must) tape up all joints and the cowls under the caravan .use a good tape.ie brown packing tape,3 in wide.if you dont the glue will run out on to the ground outside through all the seams.you will not know until you see a pool on the path..third ,support the floor under the van in some way so it cannnot bend when pressure is placed on top,do not push up the floor.you can damage the fittings inside.use wood blocks stacked up just touching the floor on the underside in the same place as the delamination.fourth find a sharp 10mm drill .you need to buy 10 mm round wood to cut and plug the holes,sold in 6 foot lengths.this needs cutting into plugs,half inch long and sanded down at one end to make it go in easy.the next step is to do a test hole,find a place that has no gas pipes on the underside.slowly drill one hole until it only just touches the plywood at the bottom.DO NOT DRILL THROUGH.tape up the drill at this depth,use plenty of tape to stop the drill going deeper than it should.mark out the area of delamination,black marker,in a square grid pattern of 4 inch each way .when finished you will have a large square full of holes to the size of the delamination.ie.3 x 3 feet.clean away all and any dust or shavings.have a large polythene bag ready to put over the square,the glue does not stick to polythene.you need a tin or old pan to mix into of the correct size for size of mix.a clean strong stick to stir the mix.only mix what you need within the time allowed.start at the rear end injecting the holes one by one until it flows out then plug with the wood plug.when finished ,place poly bag over all holes.put a heavy weight on top ie.wheels and tyres or gas bottles.leave for 24 hours to dry.sand down all plugs until smooth.you must wear a mask for the fumes and open the windows when you are doing the job.rubber gloves are handy too.CHECK UNDERSIDE FOR GAS PIPES BEFORE STARTING.wish i could type. thought this may help
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
I would cut out the damp wood ( floor top only , don't go through the polystyrene ) then dry the area , now cut some new plywood to replace the stuff you've cut out and using the floor repair kit , bond and screw the new pieces into place .
Here's how Cazanne fixed there floor . cut out the rotton wood, plus some good wood, put new battons across the floor glued new ply underneath packed gap with polystyrne glue new ply on top. treated all the wood with ronseal wood preserver and treated origonal wood against dry rot and wet rot.
right im not going to assume anythingso firstly before you start anything have you sorted the cause of the damp?? no point doing anything untill you have found the source and cured it
ok it may sound like common sence to most but ive seen it before i only replaced the wall last year.....................yes and did you stop the leak???
if you have covered this already then follow michael and wizzard they are both a fountain of knowledge...............if not stop and sort problems in the order they should be adressed
any rot at all should be cut out and replaced no amount of treating or drying will stop the spread....if damp is only in top ply of floor then just replace as for the wall but make joints to center of nearest framework in floor ie dont have a join just supported by the polly in floor
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never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you on experience
I had a very old caravan once and floor was rotten in one area where water came down through caravan wall. The floor was like solid wooden floorboards you have in upstairs of your house. It was not like the modern caravan floors which are like plywood (sandwiches of wood). I used a wood chemical hardener(wet rot wood hardener ronseal) from a diy store to harden the rotten wood and then used a resin based chemical wood filler(ronseal) ( has a hardener to mix and goes rock solid in 30 mins). Not sure what type of floor you have but just in case you had a floor like the one i filled in.
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Do you suffer from an OCD. Obsessive Caravan Disorder.
my word scuba i have only seen one old coach built van like that with a solid floor in all my time in the job and it was around 1990 and the van was over 20 years old then an old van royce
they dont build them like that anymore i bet its still going
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never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you on experience
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Topic: help, very damp floor
thought this may help
