hi,
East Midlands- looking for serious views and expertise as possible: Am currently still out of the country, but hear from a local friend that my 20+ yrs 2-berth caravan which just had a thorough inside clean 🙄 was affected by the flooding of the local river in January. My friend says the carpet is/was damp - from which I conclude that the electric circuit must be affected (fuses sit under bed side table). Also electric circuit on the whole pitch affected as the shed was flooded which housed a full-size fridge. I believe before/if moving back in, I would need the electric system to be signed off by a qualified electrician? Who can do this? How much work might be required? If it's not too mouldy, I expect I can clean the carpet myself...
Work to be done probably mid March.
------------- Barbara
- enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal -
Hi, having had experience of flooded caravans (I had a 3 year old Bailey)I would say that if the flood water was carpet level and the leisure battery was still connected, it will probably be an economic write off. It will need a complete rewire and all electrical circuits replaced. An auto electrician should soon diagnose what's wrong. Don't plug it in to the mains until it's been checked.
I'd also speak to your insurer to get it assessed as any flood water would be contaminated with who knows what.
CREAKY
------------- relájate, la vida es demasiado corta
Sorry to hear of your situation. I sadly think Creaky has probably summed it up!
Looking at it in a little more detail. Difficult to forecast how extensive any damage may be without seeing it/photos, it could vary from barely 'wicked' water through floor vents that dampened the carpets, to total submersion to some depth, very different challenge and outcomes. Bad news is that flood water is often mucky/polluted, so the cleanup may be very extensive to remove all the (usually smelly!) silty muck, not like a bit of clean rain/mains water ingress and simple dampness, potentially a much more extensive exercise. Immersed in mucky floodwater electric devices are unlikely to be salvageable, drying out dampness aside, any silt deposits may compromise future electrical safety and they were never designed to be cleaned of such deposits!
Sadly, a 20 year old 2 berth van does not have huge market value, so any paid for repairs/replacement parts (and caravan parts are always expensive compared with domestic equivalent!) could easily reach its value! You really need to see and assess the damage BEFORE investing any money in checks/repairs, otherwise you risk throwing good money at a right off!
Assuming any damage is minor and a straightforward safety check will suffice, failing a personal recommendation of a good caravan engineer, the place to look is the 2 trade organisations covering caravan engineers. A caravan engineer is far more suited than a domestic electrician, as they will be familiar with and qualified in all aspects of the caravan, gas appliances/installation (flues, burners etc. may be compromised), and 12v low voltage systems will also likely need scrutiny. They will also have insight into structural damage caused by water ingress.
thank you very much for the details, including caravan engineer. On the plus side, I have kept and enjoyed the caravan as a live-in long beyond commercial criteria, so I guess where safely possible, I might still be willing to improvise... All the more I do appreciate the advice.Feel much more confident thanks to the pointers. Thanks.
------------- Barbara
- enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal -
thanks; pointers help. I take the advice on board and will make up my own mind once I have actually seen the damage. I may well sell for parts/as part exchange... Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
------------- Barbara
- enjoy life, this is not a rehearsal -
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Topic: repair after flood
