Gutted!! (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

Just been out to check on van and noticed distortion on bathroom wall?? On further investigation all the back wall of van seems spongy.
Really gutted to see this and now need advice as to what we need to do next?
I fitted the cover onto the MH last Wednesday so its covered. Also got a fan heater on the go inside.

We were planning on our first proper trip in the MH in February but at the minute just worried as to what to do next? I suspect this has been a problem from before we bought the van and further indication that we should have sought some better advice from people in the know. ie some one with a damp meter.

Any advice would be great

Cheers in advance
Rob

 

[Judge Mental]

exactly! and no good simply sealing a failed seal either, before area allowed to dry out..if not extensive. yo dont wasnt to be sealing moisture in as that equals rot




need pictures

 

[Gorse Hill]

I know this considered boring, but when ones looking at all these impressive looking shiny boxes on wheels...but anyone buying a van that does not get a professional damp check and weighs the bloody thing to see if it's a practical proposition, need their heads examining!
Also one thing having a proper meter, quite another having the skills to use it, being able to identify ares of concern and make a judgement. So what if a survey costs a few pounds..better loose a few quid then buy a lemon![/QUOTE

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[Doobray]

Sorry to hear I know how you feel I have just bought my first motorhome and advertised my caravan only to find the front inside wall is spongy. I contacted a mobile reparer who has quoted £1000, which I think would be dearer than your repair as all 3 windows have to be removed and new seals fitted as well as a new wall it kind of gives you an idea of cost. Best of luck.

 

[Andyfi]

Similar experience. Bought used Ducato coach built recently from car dealer selling one off motorhome. Anyway all looked tidy inside. Lots of servicing receipts. No recent habitation checks but interior inspection from me and the missus didn't find anything to worry about. Bought the van.
A week later habitation check finds a number of interior damp areas. Went back to original seller who has agreed to pay approx 50% toward damp repair costs.
A damp meter would have been a good investment but I suppose we live and learn.
Hope you get things sorted Rob

Cheers
Andy

 

[Rob]

Hi all

Thanks for all the encouragement

Got the caravan medic coming to give me a quote in the next day or two.
This will do one of two things......No.1 completely p!ss me off at the expense and convince me to have a go myself or No.2 be pleasantly surprised as its not as expensive as i thought and get a professional to do it with a guarantee in place also.
Ive done some research and got some costs together for materials so ive an idea how much it will cost. Also have an idea of how long it should take based on some tutorials ive watched. I know these will all vary but the repairs look similar to what i would consider my worst case scenario. If he is too expensive i will set about taking some photos and posting them on here for advice.
Im also going to contact the previous owner on the off chance he may be a bit sympathetic (nothing ventured ...nothing gained and all that!!}

Anyway fingers crossed its not too much!!

Cheers
Rob

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[Terry]

cannot see a problem with taking and posting pics anyway

 

[Puddleduck]

Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Good luck.

 

[MikeD]

cannot see a problem with taking and posting pics anyway

And perhaps a few words on problems encountered during repair please Rob

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[Rob]

Waste of time taking any pics before anything has been removed as you wont be able to see anything as it is.
Will do Mike...especially if i attempt it myself

 

[Rob]

Well... the caravan medic wont touch it as he is mobile only and it needs to be done under cover and he says its too big a job? I think he was a bit sceptical on the removal of all the plastic bits around toilet and shower.
Anyway...got in touch with a couple more people who are hopefully going to quote me a decent price at the weekend. Just want it sorting as its starting to get me down!!!
Tried the previous owner and guess what.....................................................no reply!!


Rob

 

[Rob]

Will take some photos tomorrow evening just to show where the problem areas are

Rob

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[Badknee]

Bummer, keep trying.

 

[Jaws]

Oddly, my son in law has the same make van ( though a 2007 ) and he had exactly the same thing.
That was 3 years ago.. It had been caused by a bad joint between the roof and the rear panel
We just resealed it properly, parked it up with the rear facing the sun all the time, and it all went back to how it should be and has shown no ill effects at all
Not saying this is right or wrong, not saying your problem is the same.. just saying that it might not be as bad as suspected

 

[westy77]

We had a 1988 Karmann Cheetah that we found damp in. The way they are constructed is the internal walls/cupboards are fixed to the chassis. Then the inner wall boards. Then the frame with poly insulation in the gaps. Then the outer skin (ally sections in this case) we noticed damp in the bathroom wall and started poking, we found this under the inner wall

We kept digging

A trip to the local timber yard and a bit of measuring got us this

It had spread across the roof too!

New roof

This is it all back together dry as a bone and is still going strong. We had no idea what we were doing when we started, we did one side, the roof and the front in one week on the front drive. We were lucky that it did not rain till the last day when it was just sticking the final bits on. Most of the job was making sure measurements were right and the worst but was cleaning the edge moulding rubbers up. The leak on this van was where the dip in the roof is and the join to wall, the water runs in and soaks through the wood, it will never dry out, just rot. Ours was bad as it had leaked for a long time and the prev owner had bodged very badly. I just wanted to show that even if it's real bad, it can be done.

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[Deleted34567]

Well done Westy77
Tidy job that is mate, and hope the OP gets sorted too..... Chin up mate, you'll beat it.

 

[funflair]

exactly! and no good simply sealing a failed seal either, before area allowed to dry out..if not extensive. yo dont wasnt to be sealing moisture in as that equals rot




need pictures

You can and should still seal the outside as all drying out if indeed it is damp has to be from the inside, what goes is as water has to come out as vapour so needs a big exposed area to dry not a tiny little break in a outside seal. OP needs to get it damp checked for a start.

 

[DanielFord]

Bloody hell @westy77 that isn't a repair, that is a complete restoration!

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[Rob]

Westy that looks spot on.
Fantastic job
Got a bloke looking at ours on Saturday so fingers crossed!

Rob

 

[John.]

Top job Westy77 nice to see a job done correctly & quickly more importantly
you took the time to put the photo's up to show Rob how easy it is to do a major repair if its tackled in the right order.

I had to do this on our static caravan once you've exposed the frame work the rest is self explanatory.

Good luck with yours rob

 

[VivaroSteve]

I had a caravan in the 1990's the wall seemed all spongy.
the wall had de-laminated but was not damp when checked.
It stayed that way and was sold to a dealer who did a damp check.

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[Live Life Now]

My post was a generalisation not aimed at OP at all. You see it at shows all the time, people impressed by cheap flash, taken at face value, never asking about what's under the skin. The UK motorhome industry plays on nievity....and it really don't have to try hard at all!

The above is a lesson for us all!!!!
My thoughts on dealers is as follows and appears on the Dealer Forum Review of this site. I whole heartedly believe in NAME AND SHAME. Also praise when deserved, we work to hard for our money to be treated as some choose to treat us. The free and unbiased speech we have on this site is fantastic just make sure your comments are an honest opinion. BE LUCKY AND KEEP M-HOMING

"Having lived and worked abroad for the last 20 years it was always my intention to purchase a motor home on my return to the UK when I retired. I spent a lot of time and effort to find the right vehicle and eventually settled on a Devon Tempest, 2 years old and with 1500 miles on the clock. What I should have done was completed the purchase after the dealer Dolphin Motor homes had done the habitation check. my mistake!. The van was sent off to their Southampton branch for the habitation certificate to be issued and in my opinion that is what they did, issued the certificate because they certainly DID NOT DO THE WORKS SATISFACTORY, the van was delivered to me with a faulty fresh water tank, waste water problem, toilet badly functioning and other jobs either done badly or not done at all.
The waste water tap was ceased and needed renewing the electrics on the fresh water system were faulty there was a bolt missing from the strike plate on the rear door the swivel seats would not swivel the radio and Sat nav system did not work along with other problems. All of these problems I was assured would be corrected but the van had to go back to Southampton as the Iford branch only has a valeting bay and not a mechanics workshop, image my surprise 3 days later when I phoned Southampton to be told “NO” we do not have a bay to lift the vans and our man has taken his tools to Iford to carry out the faults there, (I assume laying on his back on the floor)
The offending problems were all done bar the radio/sat nav which apparently 3 people had tried to correct, the main dealer had been contacted , who was not prepared to give free advice and eventually the MD fiddled with the system (his words not mine) and after 15 minutes did manage to solve part of the problem. I have solved the remaining fault with a friend. I now intend to have the gas check done by an independent engineer All of the running about has been at my expense and I feel that the company had no interest what so ever after my monies had been banked..
I started by explaining that I had been abroad for twenty years and am aware that the UK is named RIP OFF BRITAIN; service like this only adds fuel to the fire. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY"

 

[androidGB]

Try getting the 2 x 2 off the outer .06 mm Ali skin without going through it. then ask how difficult it can be yeah it's easy if you know what you are doing and have all the tools I reserve judgement until I see pics

I know it's all about weight saving But I'm pretty sure the aluminium skin is thicker than .06mm

Andrew

 

[Terry]

I know it's all about weight saving But I'm pretty sure the aluminium skin is thicker than .06mm

Andrew

edit Sorry Andrew ment 0.6
Nope it's not (on most vans not all)in fact I am probably being generous in a lot of vans it's .5 mm -You can buy rolled sheets and caravan sides to repair vans that have been damaged The strength comes from it being glued to the polystyrene or Styrofoam if lucky - most vans are .5/6 ali a soft wood frame less than 2 ins with polystyrene glued in between then 3 mm internal wall board of course there are variations on this some use the Styrofoam and some use fiberglass outer skins -indeed my own ex ambulance is a sandwich of 1.5 mm ali bonded to 4/5mm ply bonded to 45 mm Styrofoam bonded to 1.5 mm ali -then I stuck 3 mm ply onto that for the internal board -The floor has a extra 4/5 mm ply stuck between the ali and Styrofoam and ceiling has two different hardness stuff that looks like Styrofoam bonded to the ali and then I added the 3 mm board Even the fiberglass is a lot thinner than you would think
terry

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[Rob]

Hi all
Had a bloke come out and have a look at the damage to our MH on Saturday and to be honest was not looking forward to hearing how much of my hard earned cash this was going to cost.
The chap was very reassuring and i didnt feel as bad about the whole situation as i had previously. It is going to be a straight forward job and he thinks that the leak on the back of the van has happened through a bad seal on the bathroom window and also an ill fitting trim on the nearside rear of the van.Until this is at his workshop and stripped down then its a bit of a guessing game. The one thing that he says he may be struggling with is a match for the wallboard inside the MH. Cant see it clearly enough if i were to take a picture so was basically asking if anyone knows of anywhere that i could try and get some from? He is going to bring some samples on Saturday for us to look at , but as yet hasnt got an exact match.

Cheers

Rob

 

[Puddleduck]

I can't tell you where to get the wallboard, I think there is someone who trades at the shows.

However a contrast is always better than a bad match if you can't match the original.

 

[Terry]

Hi
http://www.olearymotorhomes.co.uk/
and http://www.magnummotorhomes.co.uk/ both have a good selection of older type boards or if you find out the name of the boards I can ask around who may have some
terry

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[jaykay]

Hi
http://www.olearymotorhomes.co.uk/
and http://www.magnummotorhomes.co.uk/ both have a good selection of older type boards or if you find out the name of the boards I can ask around who may have some
terry

I'll second that Terry, I was in Magnum yesterday but have also used O'leary. Both very good with a large stock of almost everything you may need.

 

[Rob]

Well......

Having had the new boards delivered from Magnum yesterday , the call was made to the repairer and our MH has been taken away today for the damp repair.
Decided to change all the boards as couldnt get a good enough match to the existing ones that needed changing at the rear and also down one side. Boards only £21 each.

Was told that the damp had occurred due to a bad leak around bathroom window and also there had been a repair to the rear bumper in the past and it hadnt been sealed properly and a leak was found here as well.

So in just over a weeks time (hopefully wont find any more damp)we will get it back and can then look forward to our first proper trip away in February. Going to York for a few days.

Hoping to get back the excitement of owning a motorhome for the first time, as since we found the problem its sort of took the shine off of everything!!

 

[maison]

Well......

Having had the new boards delivered from Magnum yesterday , the call was made to the repairer and our MH has been taken away today for the damp repair.
Decided to change all the boards as couldnt get a good enough match to the existing ones that needed changing at the rear and also down one side. Boards only £21 each.

Was told that the damp had occurred due to a bad leak around bathroom window and also there had been a repair to the rear bumper in the past and it hadnt been sealed properly and a leak was found here as well.

So in just over a weeks time (hopefully wont find any more damp)we will get it back and can then look forward to our first proper trip away in February. Going to York for a few days.

Hoping to get back the excitement of owning a motorhome for the first time, as since we found the problem its sort of took the shine off of everything!!

Just come across this thread.

Hope everything works out OK. You deserve a bit of luck at this stage!

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[MikeD]

Pleased to read that everything is getting sorted out Rob. I am sure the excitement will return on your trip in February.