Damp repairs nearly finished (1 Viewer)

[scootir706]

Well after a few months a few grand and the samaritans refusing to take my calls im nearing the end of fixing the damp repairs on the motorhome.Ive taken lots of pics which ill get round to posting later.
To anyone with damp issues with their pride and joy all ill say is......yes its daunting......yes it will drive
you mad at times and yes you will get the feeling that you have bitten off more than you can chew.
But when you can sit inside and hear the rain bouncing off the roof and know that none of it is coming in
you can smile and say....i fixed that :]
I will detail later the parts used and where they were sourced .....prices etc.
I have had a steep learning curve on the crap way expensive motorhomes are thrown together and had
a lot of good advice from funsters on here so any tips i can pass on feel free to ask.
The one easy tip ill pass on at the start is..ask online if your not sure......there is always someone who has
been there done that and will point you in right direction.Shop around for parts.........think chandlers.....
boats need to keep water out..............so do motorhomes lol

 

[TheBig1]

well done look forward to seeing photos of your torture... er i mean work

 

[wigster]

fair play and well done i say

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[alfandM]

Well done, it's nice when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel,so now it's just to sit back and Enjoy

 

[irnbru]

Would love to see your photos detailed with the work you done.

 

[StitchesnFluff]

Pictures when you can please

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Highwayman1]

I`m still at mine , but now that I`ve taken out , identified and resealed where I had the issues I feel a bit better. The smell was absolutely disgusting as I ripped out the soggy rotten wood from board to batten. It was so disheartening to find the actual extent of that little bit of an `issue` once I got started. I`ve ended up taking out nearly a whole side of the van to get back to `good`. That`s capillary action for you I suppose. However I found lots of things that had been covered up previously and identified where the ingress was occurring. Due to parental restrictions and fighting a legal matter against the Education Authority, I have had to take my time, but when I have been in there to do some more work I feel a sense of peace and pride not madness and despair anymore. Now however with the possibility of a move on the cards, I have to speed things up but will still make sure it is done properly. Good on ya Scootir and enjoy the summer in your new improved motorhome. Where there`s a will there`s a way and where there`s MHF there`s a wealth (of knowledge and support).

 

[maison]

Please do post your pics and any supporting info re your repairs. They can be of great use for most of us.

Glad to hear that you are nearing the end of the project and will soon be able to enjoy the rewards.

 

[scootir706]

Just had a search on my pc and seems ive lost a lot of the pics i took during the repairs but i have got before and after pics which ill put up and hopefully find the rest at some point.During the rebuild ive used a lot of materials and sealants.Sealants used include sikaflex,tigerseal,evostick superflex,non hardening caravan seam sealer,soudall fix all
and pu18.All did what they said on the tube but i think the best value and easiest to use was the pu18.Its a polyurethane sealer/bonder and had the best flow from the gun no matter what the temp was.I cut out all affected wood with a great piece of kit called a multitool(bosch 190e) which was invaluable for getting into corners and tight spaces where an ordinary saw wouldnt be any use.Some of the wood i replaced with ali box section where possible sourced from the aluminium warehouse and any wood i used was treated with an epoxy resin solution before fitting.
Most of the wood was bought from the local bnq for handiness rather than on price then cut/ altered to size with a tablesaw bought from screwfix.A good cordless drill is also a must.Plenty on the market but i bought a bosch item again as i got a deal at bnq when buying the drill and multitool together.After replacing the rotten wood all the roof trims and seals were refitted with loads of sealer and stainless steel screws as the mild steel screws fitted from new
had caused a lot of the problems when they rusted and pushed the trim covering them up and letting rain in.Some of these screws were bought from ebay but i got a lot of them from b&m and Aldi/Lidl depending on what store had them on offer.I never replaced the covering trim and opted to run a bead of sealer over the screws instead as most of this is never seen as its on the roof.Doesnt look as pretty as the trim but keeps water out.I kept an eye on the inside for a couple of weeks to make sure no more leaks were evident.Next was the insulation,another bnq item.Came in the right thickness which was 25mm and was in easy to cut boards.I opted for 3.6mm exterior plywood boards again from bnq to reline the walls as id already decided to change things up a bit with some nice tartan wallpaper for the bed area.After the insulation and ply was bonded on i went over all the new wood with a pva solution before hanging the paper.
I am now just about finished with the washroom/toilet as we decided to make some more room by taking out the swivel toilet and go for a bench style with fold up sink above on the rear wall .At the same time i have clad the walls with 1.5mm thick white pvc from the cladding warehouse to make it more of a wetroom and easier to clean.
Ive probably forgotten loads but thats the kinda jist of whats been done.I doubt if i could have paid a dealer to carry out this work and yes it is prob not up to dealer standards but im happy enough with the results and know whats been done.........not just told its been done!It is a lot of work and cost a fair bit but the tools aquired will do other jobs and the van lives to fight another day.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[tonyidle]

Very nice work. I like your wallpaper - and the new toilet / basin arrangement.

 

[DavidG58]

Hovering over the like button, couldn't bring myself to use it, many thanks for sharing though, great looking results

 

[Faye Macnaught]

OMG, it sounds very similar to what we are going through (we found out yesterday, bascailly the entire back and side of the van has water ingress). I'd really appreciate some guidance as we got a quote and its £3k plus so no choice, we have to do it ourselves. We are crap at DIY! I pretty much spent most of yesterday, crying! Your guidance on where/how to start, would be very much appreciated. If you want me to send you some photos, I can - I think ours might actually be worse than yours!!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Brightonian]

Opps, just had a thought! Is it to late to epoxy resin the wood i've put in or will it melt the polystyrene which is now nicely glued?

http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/repair-under-way.130846/page-3#post-1884708

PS. Hats off to you, fantastic job you done there

 

[scootir706]

Ouch......I know how you feel....it is daunting.If the motorhome is still usable i would maybe think about getting the summer out of it and then starting the repairs.I know myself i would hate to have it stripped and miss out on any good weather and chance to get out.If your not very confident about doing the repairs yourself and dont want to pay dealer prices you could possibly look for a local handyman or joiner/retired joiner to give you a quote/help.
There might even be a funster member near you who could give you a few pointers or know of someone in your area who can repair it for a reasonable price.It will be fixable but could be time consuming.It wont do any harm to put some more info/pictures on here in case anyone has had the same problem with a simliar model of m/home.
Good luck and keep us posted how you get on.Ian

 

[Faye Macnaught]

Thank you so much. I've got someone coming round today who is a handyman but works with a retired carpenter so I'm praying they can help me....seeing how you have done yours gives me hope it's repairable. I've uploaded some pics on my thread so feel free to monitor the (slow!) progress.that said you've probably seen enough wet wood for a lifetime!! Fingers crossed....

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}