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Hi, I'm a new member & this is my first post on the forum.

I am the owner of a 1997 Abbey vogue 216 GTS which I purchased last year. The caravan has been used & stored outside on our driveway without cause for concern until our first outing of the season last week. 10 minutes into a shower of rain, water was seen dripping from the internal shelf running above the front windows. I quickly identified the cause which appeared to be a gap between the roof skin & the back of the aluminium trim/gutter above the front window. After much frantic activity involving duct tape, I managed to stem the flow. On my return home I removed the rail & all traces of old sealent from it & the roof. I also noticed that the old sealent between the under edge of the roof & the GRP front panel had become very soft & had lost its "stickyness" so this was also removed, cleaned & re-sealed. New sealant was applied to the back of the rail before it was re-attached. No problem so far. The screws at either end went in & nipped up fine but as I replaced screws towards the middle, they refused to bite. Additional holes were drilled & meatier screws fitted but these also refused to acheive any purchase into what I can only assume is a batten. This all means that the rail hasn't pulled up fully against the roof skin. I have temporarily filled the resulting void of about 3mm with more sealant. My question (before I venture any further) is - What should the screws tighten up to? If it is a batten, I'm guessing that it may be suffering from rot or water damage & that is why the screws won't bite. I'm also presuming that if this is the case, the batten will need replacing or treating so that it will accept the screw. If it does need replacing, how do I get to it? By removing the upper lockers, shelf & curved ceiling panel? 

Any advice or pointers would be greatfully received & faithfully applied.

Many thanks in advance,

Scott 

hi welcome look here

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it sounds like the batten has got rot in, you would need to strip the inside wall and roof panels back to see how bad it is,

mike