damp readings (1 Viewer)

camocam1

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bought myself a damp meter which goes up to 20% checked everywhere I can and all ok (10-12%) EXCEPT above both wheel arches one on drivers side reading 20% the one on the passengers side where the external lockers are is going off the scale !!!
Only along the very bottom at both sides 2" up the walls readings 12%

I suspect the ingress must be coming from underneath somewhere in the wheel arches, any ideas where to look ??
Plan at the moment is to open windows and put on small heater to try and dry out the walls.
Any thoughts comments would be most welcome
thanks
Ron
 
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bought myself a damp meter which goes up to 20% checked everywhere I can and all ok (10-12%) EXCEPT above both wheel arches one on drivers side reading 20% the one on the passengers side where the external lockers are is going off the scale !!!
Only along the very bottom at both sides 2" up the walls readings 12%

I suspect the ingress must be coming from underneath somewhere in the wheel arches, any ideas where to look ??
Plan at the moment is to open windows and put on small heater to try and dry out the walls.
Any thoughts comments would be most welcome
thanks
Ron
A little knowledge is dangerous so take the van to a qualified repairer to seek profession advice

Once damp is in. It's degrading the structure and no amount of heat will resolve the situation
:cry:
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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very true a little knowledge is a dangerous thing but unfortunately the only dealer with 65 miles is the caravan dealer I bought it from 15 months ago who said they had done a damp test and all was fine.

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Terry

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Can't remember ;)
Out of curiosity is your van either a 2005 to 2007 or a 2009 ?
All well known for rotting floors :Eeek::Smile:
Terry
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Terry I believe that is the case, mine is a 2007 but floor underneath is sound (except 2 small areas at the back corners) been underneath and poked about with a screwdriver and all sound even in the areas round about the wheel arches (do that every month or so) damp readings are in the wall area just above the floor in the lockers, no damp reading in the floor area which is also a puzzle
 

rolandrat

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Is it possible to remove the side skirts and rear wheels to access the damp area? It could be that some sealant is missing and needs drying out under cover. If it is left untreated you could end up with floor delamination. At least you are now aware of it and can do something about it. Good Luck.

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haganap

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I'm an oldbie MH number 9
if you could upload a couple of photos that would be useful.

I have had damp in my locker where the wheel arch was not sealed properly. Thank fully, I got to it nice and early and carried out a repair and resealed. All is well now, I have had a little issue in one of the back corners which also seemed a mystery as to where it was coming from. Again a repair, resealing in various possibilities of ingress and all is now fine.

I use my damp meter all the time, there are some gotcha's though, if your close to wiring, I understand that this can increase a reading, (don't know why).

As for a little bit of Knowledge being a bad thing and take it to a dealer. Sadly in my experience, the one thing that many dealers actually lack is a bit of knowledge. Far better to learn and gain the experience to do it yourself to keep your wagon on the road. Every van I have ever had has led me to find a little ingress at some point, mainly on the lockers.

I have plenty of areas on my van that when I've looked at it, thought " looks rotten that sealent" and just added a bit more sealant to sort it out.

10 years of experience has given me plenty enough to keep the beast on the road, I don;t want to buy another, I love this one too much, therefore a Damp meter and learning how to use it has been invaluable. :thumb:
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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yes side skirts can de easily removed and resealed (I think just screwed on) Not sure how I would jack up and support a 3500 tonne MH safely as I have NO jacks etc, But I take your point that may have to be done, just hoping to get it dried out at the moment to stop it getting any worse till I can get it fixed as we are booked up to be away every weekend until the end of November now.
 

Terry

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Can't remember ;)
They put the blame on failing to seal the skirts to van sides and instruction was given for dealer's to check and reseal where needed :Smile: Not sure what damp meter you have but about 15 % reading is susposed to be o.k.
Best to check all seals on your van including seals around locker doors :thumb: Easy to mask up and stick new sealent on probably make a neater job than the original ::bigsmile:
I don't trust the rubber bubble seals around the window's so I mask up and seal all of them. Only takes an hour or so to do the whole van :thumb:
Terry

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camocam1

camocam1

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hagnap what photos would help as there is nothing to be seen inside the lockers as all looks okay just getting high moisture readings but NO obvious signs of damp to be seen.
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Terry thanks for your comments the meter is a protometer one that cost about £50 so maybe not the best but not a lidle or aldi special.
 
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Don't know anything about damp walls but being as it above the wheel arches isn't it just soaking up spray off your wheels:winky:

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GJH

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Damp can appear very quickly. All the readings taken when we had the habitation check done in January were fine but then Dave Newell spotted a small area of damp in the locker floor (rear offside corner) when fitting a rear view camera a few weeks ago.

The van is currently at Teesside Caravans being repaired. Lucky Dave spotted it before it became more serious.
 

haganap

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I was thinking of the proximity of the locker to where your high readings are?

can you take a reading from the inside of the van or are you forced to take it from the outside?

You said, readings are just above the floor, in the locker? sounds like a classic case of locker not sealing properly and or seal on the outside breaking down.

Water sits at the bottom, gradually climbing and damp...

easy fix, done mine not so long ago. :winky:
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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hagnap
readings have been taken from inside the van under the lounge seats. as I said NO obvious sign of damp but will see what I can do re photos.
chaser
that's what I think but would not think that it should be able to penetrate the van to cause damp as surely should be sealed.

looks like a reseal job on the side skirts and locker which was on my to do list BUT how do I dry it out meantime ?? Can I dry it out ??

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hilldweller

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Plan at the moment is to open windows and put on small heater to try and dry out the walls.
Ron

Not a hope in hell.

Rip open the wet patches dig out any soft wood then blow warm air in for anything up to a month.

Then work out how to repair it. If it's not load bearing, don't panic, you can do it.

And of course, find the leaks.
 

haganap

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hagnap
readings have been taken from inside the van under the lounge seats. as I said NO obvious sign of damp but will see what I can do re photos.
chaser
that's what I think but would not think that it should be able to penetrate the van to cause damp as surely should be sealed.

looks like a reseal job on the side skirts and locker which was on my to do list BUT how do I dry it out meantime ?? Can I dry it out ??

Brian's quite right TBH. Ive used two ways and both have been successful dependent on the requirements.

First is, don't panic!! you would be amazed at how many vans have a little bit here and there.

I have had a sittuation where I have had to dig/cut out the old rotted wood and then replace with new board when reaching the dry bits, simple but bloody messy beyond belief.
I have also drilled several holes around the damp area and inside the damp area. I have used ronseal rot stop and injected it in to the wood and allowed it to dry out over time. The main thing to do is to make sure it does'nt continue to leak. Find the ingress, and cure it. If it is the locker, on my first I added some additional rubber seal to it that I purchased off ebay. Worked a treat.:thumb:
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Don't mind having a go at resealing but don't fancy riping anything out
What about putting in a dehumidifier ??

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hilldweller

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Don't mind having a go at resealing but don't fancy riping anything out
What about putting in a dehumidifier ??

You aren't listening.

I dug out soft wood and it still took a month with a fan blowing on it to dry the good wood ready to rebuild it.

Sounds like you are lucky, it's hidden so it does not matter if it's not cosmetically perfect.

OK - get out a thin screwdriver ( or a big BBQ skewer ) and see how far you can push it in, don't go right through though.
 

haganap

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Don't mind having a go at resealing but don't fancy riping anything out
What about putting in a dehumidifier ??

you can use a dehumidifier but Im sure I read somewhere it's useless in this situattion, and of course the problem will still be there. Also depends on how rotten the wood is. If it's really bad drying it out will just turn it paper like and very brittle.
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Had a good poke about and although soft can't push skewer in too far but have come to the concultion that it's the side skirts needing re sealed as think it was Derek suggested
Plan to get dealer to check my readings and then see where I go fro there
If I reseal myself do you use the mastic tape or a sealant that you put on with a gun as assume it needs to be no setting
Did read that they should be done every 7 years or so

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TheBig1

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speak to a specialist in damp in buildings, and ask about getting the wood injected with their chemicals. after sealing, it will prevent the rot from travelling and harden the currently soft part.

once damp has got hold and rot started it travels quickly. sounds like you caught it very quickly:thumb:
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Good idea big1 as I happen to know someone who's co carries out damp repair
Wonder if you can buy something off the shelf ??
 

denscab

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hi all new to this forum just got a autoquest 130 2013 model with grp under floor does any one have any info ie are they good underfloors

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rainbow chasers

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speak to a specialist in damp in buildings, and ask about getting the wood injected with their chemicals. after sealing, it will prevent the rot from travelling and harden the currently soft part.

once damp has got hold and rot started it travels quickly. sounds like you caught it very quickly:thumb:

You can get this stuff from TRADE paint suppliers - they use it on listed building windows. It turns damp wood into a resin.

Your corners patches at the rear floor are from the roof. Either roof skylights or body seals/joins. Reseal them and the damp will dry out.

Your other damp is probably coming from a locker door. No-one ever seems to reseal their locker doors - its' a hole, so reseal as you would a window.

If you can't get the skewer in too far, it may just be surface damp - ie not rotted into the core of the wood. The chemical will stop it going further - but prevent the leak first. Reseal the locker door and skirt and you should be fine.

Drying out can take a long time - it you need to remove the section of the wall where it is out of sight - then leave it open over the winter in a warm van for a few months to dry properly. If only partially wet, you can use sodium crystal packs, but bag them to the wall. That is seal the area, and have the crystal pack inside the bag keeping the bagged area as small as possible to help it draw out the moisture. DON'T dry out completely - you need a little moisture for strength - which is why dehumidifiers are often overkill.
 

hilldweller

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hi all new to this forum just got a autoquest 130 2013 model with grp under floor does any one have any info ie are they good underfloors

Welcome to FUN, but if you want a proper answer to this question start your own thread then it will get proper individual attention.

All you have to do is scroll to the top of this page and you'll see >motorhome chat.

Click it.

You'll then see a "New Thread" box. Click this and repeat your question under a heading that will get it noticed, like "Floor on XXXXXXXXXX"
 

Terry

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Forget dehumidifier simply because it will draw moisture from outside all the time unless you could seal the van up completely or stick it in a sealed room ::bigsmile: As I already said Renew all seals using Sikaflex, tigerseal, Gu 40 type sealant:thumb: once that is done look at injecting :thumb: personally I would be taking parts of the boarding off to inspect how far it's s gone :thumb: I assume you can get to the board's seeing you can get to them with your meter, if so you can cut through them very easy with a stanly knife just under the seat base and remove lower foot to look :thumb:
Terry
 

rolandrat

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Whilst some express doubt about de humidifiers, they do have a place in helping to remove dampness before repairs are carried out but in a proper undercover workshop. The best way is to let the damp dry out naturally in a dry airy atmosphere but not many owners have large enough premises to allow this to happen. My local motorhome damp repair company always uses this method. Damp repair bills can be eye watering.
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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just back from the local caravan centre who have confirmed the damp and as said by everyone its either the side skirts or wheel covers under the van as the damp is on both sides although worse on the sides with the locker door which may imply its needing resealed.
He has said that it appears to be along the bottom so does not think it is in the insulation yet!!! just the bottom rail. He does not carry out damp repairs !!! so looks like I will be busy resealing and will see if I can get something to inject into the bottom timber rail to harden it. He did say that once everything resealed then it SHOULD DRY OUT.
Other problem is I do not have any under cover available to take the MH so will have to wait for a sunny weekend with no rain forecast, at this time of year in the north of Scotland I could wait a long time !!!
thanks for all the advice so far
cheers
Ron

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