- Dec 16, 2019
- 77
- 239
- Funster No
- 67,427
- MH
- C Class
- Exp
- Newbie
A brief(ish) summary of the story so far...
We bought a 2007 Hobby Toskana 650 GFLC privately in October just gone to live in full time. We love the layout, size and spec of the vehicle it's perfect for us! It's also plated at 3850Kg which gave us decent payload (cheaper road tax
), I'm a young'un so I did my medical & sat my C1 test within a few weeks to drive it.
I did some research on buying motorhomes (looking back on it no way near enough - but hey hind sight is a great thing), learnt a little about habitation checks, damp and a plethora of other points. We checked the vehicle mechanically, test drove it and had a poke around for damp. There was no damp smell as I've experienced before in other older motorhomes that have/had problems and it looked relatively tidy (no visible mould or mildew), no obvious water stains except one in the headlining of the cab that we raised and were happy with (at the time - now alarm bells would be ringing). We agreed to purchase subject to a Combi & fridge service, waste handle repair and habcheck, we paid a small deposit.
A few days later the owner contacted us saying that the the guys he usually uses to do the checks and for repairs are fully booked until November and he couldn't get anywhere to get the bits done before we pickup the vehicle, at the time, we had plans to goto Spain for the end of October and had planned to meet friends there. He proposed that he'd give us a discount for the remedial work, service, etc, so we (very stupidly) agreed and picked up the vehicle as he was going away on business. As I hadn't got my C1, he drove us home via a weigh bridge (our plan was to temporarily down-plate it) it weighed 3300kg so I just expedited the C1.
Fast forward a few weeks to the start of November, C1 passed and we've decided to delay Spain and go on a shake down run over to (rainy) Wales and see family. We had a great time, wild camping on the way over and found a nice spot in Carmarthenshire on the coast. We wake up on morning to find water dripping from the ceiling light over the table. It had pooled overnight on the table, ruined my new Mac Book Pro (I write computer software for a living), damaged other stuff, luckily our phones are waterproof! We were recommended a firm (Balmoral Motor Homes) back down towards Cardiff who kindly got us in and temporarily fixed the leak on the same day (thanks guys - saved our bacon on that day ?) We were advised of a rather extensive list of problems and some 'oddities' (which I'll touch on later), they ran a damp meter round the unit, let's just say it was painful. There were more 30%+ readings than you could shake a stick at, peaking at a full house of 100%. After a chat, a ring around and realising that we were looking at unfathomable figures to get professionals involved, we opted to have the roof resealed and made right and carry out the internal works ourselves. So we booked in within them a few weeks later and the resealed large parts of the roof that had long been neglected (again, stupidly, we hadn't properly checked the roof before purchase - knowing what I know now, we should have been up on ladders!).
We have agreed to house sit from January until April in Suffolk in which time I am planning to carry out the internal and external works myself. I've got a barn to put her in, dry her out and refit where necessary.
Started this thread as a progress report, have been greatly inspired by the following other threads on damp repairs, all of differing levels, age vans, desired finishes and all sorts.
@The_Kraken - My DIY damp repair project
Peter Waller - Replacing rotten flooring on Hobby 750 fmse 2001
scootir706 - Damp repairs started !!
scandude - Total newbie in need of MASSIVE help.
Wildbill - Project camper sorting out a damp
Relative newbie, I'm looking for advice & encouragement, definitely not a motorhome expert, but capable and willing to learn!
We bought a 2007 Hobby Toskana 650 GFLC privately in October just gone to live in full time. We love the layout, size and spec of the vehicle it's perfect for us! It's also plated at 3850Kg which gave us decent payload (cheaper road tax
), I'm a young'un so I did my medical & sat my C1 test within a few weeks to drive it.I did some research on buying motorhomes (looking back on it no way near enough - but hey hind sight is a great thing), learnt a little about habitation checks, damp and a plethora of other points. We checked the vehicle mechanically, test drove it and had a poke around for damp. There was no damp smell as I've experienced before in other older motorhomes that have/had problems and it looked relatively tidy (no visible mould or mildew), no obvious water stains except one in the headlining of the cab that we raised and were happy with (at the time - now alarm bells would be ringing). We agreed to purchase subject to a Combi & fridge service, waste handle repair and habcheck, we paid a small deposit.
A few days later the owner contacted us saying that the the guys he usually uses to do the checks and for repairs are fully booked until November and he couldn't get anywhere to get the bits done before we pickup the vehicle, at the time, we had plans to goto Spain for the end of October and had planned to meet friends there. He proposed that he'd give us a discount for the remedial work, service, etc, so we (very stupidly) agreed and picked up the vehicle as he was going away on business. As I hadn't got my C1, he drove us home via a weigh bridge (our plan was to temporarily down-plate it) it weighed 3300kg so I just expedited the C1.
Fast forward a few weeks to the start of November, C1 passed and we've decided to delay Spain and go on a shake down run over to (rainy) Wales and see family. We had a great time, wild camping on the way over and found a nice spot in Carmarthenshire on the coast. We wake up on morning to find water dripping from the ceiling light over the table. It had pooled overnight on the table, ruined my new Mac Book Pro (I write computer software for a living), damaged other stuff, luckily our phones are waterproof! We were recommended a firm (Balmoral Motor Homes) back down towards Cardiff who kindly got us in and temporarily fixed the leak on the same day (thanks guys - saved our bacon on that day ?) We were advised of a rather extensive list of problems and some 'oddities' (which I'll touch on later), they ran a damp meter round the unit, let's just say it was painful. There were more 30%+ readings than you could shake a stick at, peaking at a full house of 100%. After a chat, a ring around and realising that we were looking at unfathomable figures to get professionals involved, we opted to have the roof resealed and made right and carry out the internal works ourselves. So we booked in within them a few weeks later and the resealed large parts of the roof that had long been neglected (again, stupidly, we hadn't properly checked the roof before purchase - knowing what I know now, we should have been up on ladders!).
We have agreed to house sit from January until April in Suffolk in which time I am planning to carry out the internal and external works myself. I've got a barn to put her in, dry her out and refit where necessary.
Started this thread as a progress report, have been greatly inspired by the following other threads on damp repairs, all of differing levels, age vans, desired finishes and all sorts.
@The_Kraken - My DIY damp repair project
Peter Waller - Replacing rotten flooring on Hobby 750 fmse 2001
scootir706 - Damp repairs started !!
scandude - Total newbie in need of MASSIVE help.
Wildbill - Project camper sorting out a damp
Relative newbie, I'm looking for advice & encouragement, definitely not a motorhome expert, but capable and willing to learn!
