Hi, new to all this 'caravaning'. im not new to repairing things😡. any way, just bought a new caravan, well new to us anyway. when i bought it i knew their was a little damp in the rear cupboard in the bathroom, mid level, that is coming in from the rail outside the seal has gone at the same level outside, ordered stuff to reseal and repair. anyway i decided whilst im at it ill go around all the windows and lift the seal 'internaly' just enought to see the timber condition, all where lovely except the tall window at seating area, its L shaped with a tall window. the right hand bottom corner 6" up has disintegrated then goes solid again, all along the bottom is wet only. whats the best way?, do i just cut and replace the 6" of the frame and bond a new piece in?.
Cut the rot out and bond in new wood.
If i were you I would fit a new window seal while your at it.
Make sure you get the seal that has already got the soft mastic attached to the rubber not the plain type .
make sure you get some longer stainless screws for the awning rail as this might be a little soft and hard to get any grip on the screws
Thank for the reply, should have said, I'm putting a new seal at the same time. And going to reseal the strip the window pivots on. Where's the best place to buy new seal without paying stupid prices?.
Hi oxter, I'm in the middle of buying that item, my rails measure roughly 30mm they do a 32mm in the tape, would I be right to buy it the same size or does it need to be slightly larger than smaller?. I've also bought two tubes of sikaflex 512
http://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.asp?intDepartmentId=8
Seals direct they will even send you a sample to try before you buy.
For sealing the window hinge rail you will need 25mm mastic tape on a roll about £9/10
I wouldnt advice sikaflex if you ever need to remove the rail you will almost certainly damage it getting it off.
Use 32mm mastic tape and tubes of soft mastic.
Would the wider 32mm tape be ok?, I'm not bothered about seeing a little top and bottom or even trim it down. I was going to buy two rolls of 32mm but only need half of the other 5m roll. So was going to seal other stuff with the other half of the roll I.e fridge vents and so on. Oh ok, what is the sikaflex used for? Or should I just seal everything with tape?
32mm would be great trim off the excess with sharp stanley blade.
Clean any excess off with turps or white spirit.
Put the tape on the clean rail most important its clean then then run soft mastic along the middle cut quite a large hole in mastic nozzle.
Quote: Originally posted by tommahawk on 01/1/2017
Hi oxter, I'm in the middle of buying that item, my rails measure roughly 30mm they do a 32mm in the tape, would I be right to buy it the same size or does it need to be slightly larger than smaller?. I've also bought two tubes of sikaflex 512
Hmm. The tape does tend to compress and ooze a bit as you tighten the screws. However, you can trim off excess with a sharp plastic blade.
What is the next size down?
I'd think too wide is better than too narrow - especially as you apply it to the rail around the bends.
Don't remove the backing tape until you have an assistant at hand, do a dry run first with tape on and a couple of screws pushed through.
Remove the tape, then very carefully present up to the van. It grabs as soon as it touches, so steady hands are essential.
Quote: Originally posted by tommahawk on 01/1/2017
Oxter I think the next size down is 25mm. Gerona, Do you mean middle cut as in where the roof joint meets the wall joint?.
In that case, go for the 32.
Extra width won't go wrong as you go round the bend :0)
I think applying tube mastic could be excessive but a dab squeezed into the screwholes before application is fine.
I wouldn't mix the breeds though. I'm not a fan of sikaflex and wouldn't use it in conjunction with mastic. You can buy mastic in tubes.
Run the soft masti all along the rail on top of the tape so it oozes out when you fit the rail and don't over tighten the screws clean off excess with plastic scraper then turps.
I've read all them oxter 😂😂. I'm the type of person, where if I've never done a certain repair before, I treat as it's going to be a nightmare and dread it!!. However I am very able and can turn my hand to most things, I'm electrician by trade.
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Topic: Window seal
