Help, just had a wonderful week away in our 2004 Bailey Ranger 510/4. Unfortunately a tin of peas fell out of the cupboard and smashed a hole in the worktop below. Our caravan servicing man says it is a huge job to replace the worktop.
Does anyone have any tips or advice about repairing it.
I was looking around a Caravan dealers a couple of years ago and saw in a caravan a worktop where someone who owned it previously had inserted some tiles( i think 4 small) into worktop. They must have had damage and took off top veneer of worktop down to the depth of tile. I suppose this would only work if damage was in middle of worktop and you could insert tiles in middle and make it symmetrical. Its an idea anywhere to camouflage damage.
Yes with caravans being so lightweight, the nature of materials outside and inside are easily damaged, worse luck.
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Do you suffer from an OCD. Obsessive Caravan Disorder.
You are never going to make an invisible repair. And you need to get the surface such that you can keep it hygenically clean if you prepare food on it. If the hole is really large, I think I would cut out a sqare section, with the corners radiused, and make an exact size inlay. I would use a contrasting colour to make it look like a deliberate design.
But it would take time, patience, and a reasonably high level of DIY skill.
Depending on the value of the van, and how long you intend to keep it, there may be a case for facing the cost of a replacement work surface. The cost would probably balance out come time to sell; if the damage is visually an eyesore after repair, a buyer would want a hefty chunk off the asking price. It would also go against you in a buyer's assessment of how well the van has been cared for.
hi there, we bought a caravan from our local dealer, and even though the van was ten years old, they offered to fill in the dings on the worksurface, which he said was a small job and it came up a treat.
It was a wooden finish, and I recall they use crayons to finish and it looks really good.
If you need to make further enquiries I can post a link or number, they are based in the vale of Glamorgan South wales, but I would assume any dealer could sort it for not a lot of money..
For small holes use Epoxy resin (araldite) poured into the hole and when almost hard "plane" off the excess with a razor blade. It can be "coloured in" afterwards with felt tip or whatever.
I glued a placemat (the kind with a picture on the front and a cork back ) picture side down on mine. The cork blends well with the oak coloured worktop, it's thin enough that it doesn't interfere with the folding and latching, and as I used silicone, I can replace it when it gets tatty. It makes a great place to put pots from the stove and acts as a non slip mat for the chopping board. I was lucky that my "ding" was fairly central so the mat could also be centred on the worktop.
You would be covered by your insurers for a replacement of it. If it is a big job it would be expensive but your insurers would pay it. You could also go and buy a piece of formica that would cover the whole surface, if you get one that is similar to the rest of the worktop it would be fine. Just clean the surface underneath and stick the formica on with evostick. Cutting it square is easy, cutting curves is much more difficult.
you could fill in with a hardwood filler,then get a thick smoked glass top cut to your size,this would hide any imperfections and give a better work surface.this would need to be removed for transport.only a second to fit.
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Topic: hole in worktop
