About to pick up our new caravan a week on Friday (Bailey GT60 540/6... can’t wait, I’m more excited than the 2 young ones ), but I’m now in a dilemma about which storage option I should go for.
I’ve been offered inside (well, within an open disused cattle shed arrangement) or the option of open air. The indoor cost is an additional £100 per year.
What are the benefits and disadvantages of keeping indoors, and is it generally considered worth it?
I’ve been told the caravan will actually get more grubby due to the dust, especially during the drier summer months.
It’s also been mentioned that the seals can dry out when kept indoors and that its actually better to store the caravan outside?
Lastly, manoeuvring the caravan is defiantly a 2 man job indoors where as outdoors, i would feel confident picking up and dropping off by myself.
It seems there are degrees of indoors! Where mine's kept there's absolutely no chance of it getting grubby as the place is spotless, but there ya go, ya pays yer money and ya takes yer choice! Seems like your place might be handy for roosting pigeons etc to do naughties on your roof as well!
As for seals 'drying out', wot a load of tosh. Mine's been stored inside from new and yes my seals are dry unless I take it out and it rains, but I can't see any difference in them, they still seal!
Pete
Gloucester
Indoors as you describe would be better, but any birds' muck won't get washed off by rain. The muck is alkaline but I don't know if it will mark modern paint.
We've had ours stored both inside & out & I can't say it got dirtier in either, so far it has only had bird poo on it when it was outside but it wasn't a problem.
I personally prefer it indoors, last year we had 3 weeks of snow & I hated it being stood under a permanent layer of the stuff.
For an additional £100 no contest,inside storage for an extra £2 pound a week i think thats a very good deal.
My caravan is stored inside a large ex commercial pig shed thats been converted into a first class storage facility with alarms electricity (for working on your van) water for wash down electricly operated bollards and your own keys for 24 hour access but the cost are high.
advantage (caravan still looks new when compered to others of the same age
disadvantage ( high cost)
yours sounds like a bargain,i dont know your overall costs but £2 a week extra sounds good to me
yes ours is in doors wouldnt have it any other way ours is very clean yes you get a bit of dust but it washses off very easily not ground in dirt but the best thing is we live quiet far away from our van and in the winter months its hard to get there and we know when its windy we dont have to worry about a sky light being blown off and the van being flooded (just an example) imo indoors every time
Store mine indoors ....worth every extra penny .....Huge waiting list at our storage yard for a inside plot .Ours is in like a cattle shed and can get a little dusty in the really hot weather but so do the outside stored vans as well .Congrats on your new van by the way
Think last winter...6 inches of snow and ice on your van roof for three months or so. All that extra weight, pressure, freeze and thaw physics. Snow melting down your fire's vent.....mine is stored outdoors at a storage facility....NO TREES....and its fine but I would like a roof over it. If you get access to electric as well even better
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
PS your seals will dry out/get brittle.... they do on all caravans.....after about 8/10 or more years!!!! Your new caravan has weatherproofing non setting sealant that has an appropriate amount of flexibility. It takes years to harden. If its going to dry out under cover imagine what it will do out in the sunshine in next years gloriously hot summer!!! Not worth taking it out is it? As Pete said "Tosh"
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
Ours is indoors, in a small aircraft hangar like building(was a workshop I think). It is dry, no black streaks on the van very little dust either. Worth the cost IMHO!
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Inside every time for me, we used to have a space in an old hangar and the van was much easier to clean and still looked new after 6 years. Unfortunately the place was deemed 'beyond economical repair' about 5 years ago so we are back outside.
For an extra £100 I would definitely go for your 'inside' spot.
Agree with everone else that if you can store it inside then its worth the extra money. Ours was stored outside our house and the black streaks running down from the roof were horrible to see and even harder to get rid of :( The day after it was washed more would be appearing. It's hard to get all the dirt off a roof lol.
We were fortunate to find extrmely good indoor storage and wouldn't like my 'van to be outside in all weathers! I think we do pay for the benefit but don't mind as we know our 'van is snug and secure!
It doesn't get dusty and still looks as good as when we bought it 3 years ago! Also no fear of our little furry friends deciding to set up home in there!
... wouldn't like my 'van to be outside in all weathers!
I find that quite funny - here we are with a caravan, supposedly designed for outside use in all weathers, not wanting to have it outside in the rain, snow and wind.
What next?
Indoor caravan sites...
perhaps with huge screens showing sunny skies and Mediterranean scenery complete with huge sun lamps during the day and a light balmy breeze during the evenings
Sorry Lassie - couldn't resist putting in print the image that your statement produced - no offence
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Storage - in or out - pro vs. con`s
), but I’m now in a dilemma about which storage option I should go for.
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