can anybody help with a flooring problem underneath my van where the wood is starting to riot.Can this be painted with Hammerite paint.This van is a Luna Meterorite and is a 80s model
Its actually counter productive to paint the underside of a caravan floor. If you seal up underside it will hold any water that comes from above & cause floor to rot even more. Rot is caused by damp from above, not water splashed from below.
Plywood that old will tend to delaminate as the glue degrades. Assuming caravan is not leaking through body then easiest quick repair of crumbled floor is with IsoponP40 which is glass reinforced car body filler. This has worked well on mine where floor corner has crumbled away.
I thought Isopan P40 was water proof when hard. some caravans have a black plastic sheeting on the underside. treat with a sealent that will make water tight but still let wood breathe if not to bad IE Cuprinol. If the rot is exstensive you will have to cut out and replace with marine ply. If only started to delaminate from under side you can drill holes in lowest part of sheet and pump in an adhesive push together using a piece of board and couple of bottle jacks until adhesive is set. Dont lift van with jacks
I assume you do actually mean rot and not riot as you have written William. Painting it will not stop it rotting. The only way really is to cut out the offending area and replace it is this is practical.
If it is actually rioting I suggest you call the police.
Cuprinol used to do a paint that could be put on soft timber and hardens it, it may still be available.
If its really bad then cut and replace is the solution. You can get treated timber which lasts longer.Alternatively there are plenty of timber treatments in DIY shops.
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There's a delamination kit you can buy to fix this problem, see this thread.
You will also need to find out where the water has come from and fix that as well. It's unlikely it's come from underneath the caravan, it's more likely to be a leak from the sink, taps, through the door, or something like that.
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