My DIY damp repair project

[The_Kraken]

Hi,

This thread is intended to be a documented progress report on tackling some damp repairs in my motorhome. I hope it helps others and would like to invite anyone to chip in with help, suggestions, technical info and support.....because I am completely new to this.

Firstly, some background info:
Location: Herts
Motorhome: 2004 Fiat Ducato (2.8ltr) Autotrail Cheyenne 696gSE
Previous owners: at least 4
Mileage: 54,000
Damp issues: Garage area (around locker doors) and hab door (around bottom hinge)

I'll add photos and info as I'm going along.

 

[The_Kraken]

Issue no. 1

We discovered that the hab door was stiff and the hinges needed lubrication. This led me to discover that the door frame was twisting when I opened and shut the door. I found a screw and attempted to tighten it but, it just spun. I managed to extract it and assumed that the wood that it used to be screwed into was no longer there!

I peeled back the rubber seal and sure enough, the clips that hold the door frame in place were not clamped on to anything. Seemingly, the soft bit was fairly local as 6 inches away the wood was solid. I will know more once I get a chance to strip it back more and investigate.

I took some photos at lunchtime and what wasn't visible to the naked eye is showing up in the photos. There's a definite damp patch at the bottom of the wall board near the broken screw area.

So, I will need to remove the furniture nearby and replace the damaged parts.


You can see the screw hole here - screw has been removed.

Rubber seal pulled back, you can see the damp patch and the soft wallboard - a part of it has also broken down at the bottom. The three clamps here aren't attached to anything so the frame is twisting freely

Solid a bit further up though!

Here's a close up of the broken, soft wallboard. You can see how much the door frame is out of alignment

 

[ambulancekidd]

Nice one, keep us informed of your progress please.

Robert.

 

[The_Kraken]

More photos when I get a chance to begin stripping her down. It looks like I will need to replace the whole wallboard?

 

[hilldweller]

It looks like I will need to replace the whole wallboard?

The wallboard is largely cosmetic, it's the frame that is essential.

I'll bet that once you remove the door frame it will look relatively simple to a man with a multi-tool.

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[Mike800966]

Great stuff and its a subject in which people can save themselves a lot of money.
Jim is there any way that these postings could be held in seperate file?. People who need inspiration or courage might be helped if there was just one place to look? Needless to say they would have to subscribe to everything
Just a thought
Mike S

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Thanks for posting. It will interesting to follow progress. O'Leary's apparently keep stocks of wallboard in the right colours -

 

[The_Kraken]

Thanks for posting. It will interesting to follow progress. O'Leary's apparently keep stocks of wallboard in the right colours -

I did look 0n the O’Leary website but couldn’t see the right wallboard. Magnum’s definitely have it though. Going to buy a 4 pack of it. Kenkle I believe it’s called.

 

[The_Kraken]

The wallboard is largely cosmetic, it's the frame that is essential.

I'll bet that once you remove the door frame it will look relatively simple to a man with a multi-tool.

I’m sure you’re right. Once I’m standing there looking at what will be revealed behind the wallboard, it’ll be straight forward.

Multitool arriving tomorrow!

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I’m sure you’re right. Once I’m standing there looking at what will be revealed behind the wallboard, it’ll be straight forward.

Multitool arriving tomorrow!

Multi tools are awesome...... unless you are a clumsy idiot like me in which case they are still awesome but in a very messy way

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[hilldweller]

Multi tools are awesome.....

My most amazing one was wallpaper. Bathroom waterproof wallpaper. I was really struggling and then I remembered the multi-tool. I could not believe my eyes, the paper just flew off the wall with no damage to the wall.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

My most amazing one was wallpaper. Bathroom waterproof wallpaper. I was really struggling and then I remembered the multi-tool. I could not believe my eyes, the paper just flew off the wall with no damage to the wall.

Your skills clearly exceed mine, Brian........ I have sexy hands - anything that I touch I f***...... hopeless case

 

[Flook]

Hilldweller, I have never ever thought about using my multitool to remove wallpaper, what type of blade did you use?

Sorry to semi highjack an extremely interesting thread. What part of Hertfordshire do you live Kraken, PM me. Some times two heads are better than one, there again.

Flook

 

[The_Kraken]

Some progress today.

First job was to remove the door. This required the disassembly of the hinges. They unscrewed easily and it became apparent the the bottom hinge was seized. The other hinges slid off the central hinge pins easily. The bottom one need gentle persuation. I will emery cloth the pins and grease them all before reassembly.

The door came off in two parts - the inner door (fly screen) and the main door. The flyscreen needs attention so I will refurbish that before I refit it.

 

[The_Kraken]

I then removed the door frame which was a simple case of unscrewing the frame clamp plates. These stainless steel clips screw into the edging of the frame and clamp onto the wallboard around the door frame.

There was lots of old sealant. Some had dried ip and some was still soft. I scraped some of it off (I’ll finish that another time) and had a good look at the wooden framework around the door. I was pretty happy with what I found. No rot or damp aside from the area I have already identified. Phew!

Next I unscrewed the bench / bed and slid that clear to get a good look around the side locker. As I had read elsewhere, the bench seat wasn’t exactly a wonder of modern construction! I am amazed it takes my weight to be honest. It is supported by an inch and a quarter wooden batten, screwed into the wallboard in 3 or 4 places! I will try and strengthen that up when I come to reinstall the bench.

It’s amazing how grubby it is down there. Please excuse the mess!

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[rosalan]

I repaired something similar a while ago. Once you take courage and rip out anything that has any damp at all, it has to go, the whole task should be clearly seen and much easier to plan out.
First locate where the damp began to penetrate, damp can travel a long way but usually downwards.
Cut out any suspect timber completely as you cannot fix onto bad or soft wood. I cut out bad timber at an acute angle and fitted new timber with a two part Marine glue available from a chandlers and where possible fitted screws or even thin bolts. I used hardwood timbers as recommended at a wood-yard. After re-packing with some form of insulation material the job is almost complete.
I used thin marine ply after the area had fully dried out (a heater helped) which I glued and tacked in place. The appropriate wall covering material should make the job all but invisible.
Sorry, no pictures as the van (still running I believe) is no longer mine.

 

[The_Kraken]

Now I could get in to see if there was evidence of damp around the locker. As you can see in the photo, it looks like a little bit in the bottom left hand corner. I took the locker door and frame outh and this confirmed it. Not too bad to be honest.

I knew I woukd have to take some or all of the wallboard out adjascent to the damp area by the hab door frame. The complete section of wallboard goes from the floor to the ceiling and from half way across the door frame to half way across the window. To remove the whole thing would mean taking the cupboard above the windowdown, the window rubber out and even more awkwardly, the control panel above the hab door.

I decided that I’m going to remove a section of the wallboard. For now anyway. I think it’s a reasonable trade off to add in a join between the door frame and the window, horizontally. What do you guys think?

As you can see from the photo, underneath the removed section of the wallboard, the insulation (polystyrene) is in good nick. The timber is rotten down in the corner but, I knew that. All things considered, i’m very happy. It looks like its a simple case of cutting out the section of batten that is rotten.

 

[The_Kraken]

Here’s picture of the wallboard joining strip. This is what ‘I plan on using to cover the join when I splice in the new section of wallboard

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I think a lot of people have joined the wallboard in the way that you say. Had it done by the window in my first van. Neat(ish) job.....looked OK

 

[rosalan]

I cut back the wallboard to a convenient stringer and later fixed a parallel timber to the stringer to hold the new piece of wallboard. The wall fabric covered the new gap.

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[The_Kraken]

Another shot of the rotten wood.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Nice......... where are the mushrooms?

 

[The_Kraken]

Using my new multi tool, I cut out the rotten wood - being very careful not to damage the aluminium outer skin of the motorhome. As advised Rosalan, I will cut an angle into the batten to make a stronger join.

 

[The_Kraken]

Thats about it for today. Please remember, I’m a complete newbie at all of this so if anyone has any advice or see’s anything here which I’m doing wrong etc, please shout!

I do need to order some bits now so, I’d be really grateful if any of you could recommend anything about the following:

What will I need to use to fix the new wallboard section back in? I’ve seen wallboard adhesive on ebay. But i’ve also read about adhesives melting the polystyrene insulation?

Pulling the old section of wallboard off has taken a shallow layer of polystyrene off with it. I assume this is ok? I won’t need to replace the insulation right?

What adhesive do I use to glue the batten in?

 

[The_Kraken]

Nice......... where are the mushrooms?

What mushrooms? I need mushrooms?

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[Ivory55]

You can cut your timber replacement to size , width and length and then get them pressure treated to stop any trouble spreading.

 

[The_Kraken]

Oh, I have found the right wallboard - Magnum has it, it’s called Kenkle. They dont’t have the wallboard paper but, I found that on another site. I also need to get joining strop (it’s the push in / knock in ‘half round’ ish tupe. But they don’t do it in Kenkle!. So, does anyone know if the wallpaper is self adhesive so that I can stick it to the joining strip?

 

[The_Kraken]

You can cut your timber replacement to size , width and length and then get them pressure treated to stop any trouble spreading.

Interesting, what type of wood should I be using? and how / where do I get it pressure treated?

It’s looking like a couple of short lengths are required? is pressure treating them necessary?

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Oh, I have found the right wallboard - Magnum has it, it’s called Kenkle. They dont’t have the wallboard paper but, I found that on another site. I also need to get joining strop (it’s the push in / knock in ‘half round’ ish tupe. But they don’t do it in Kenkle!. So, does anyone know if the wallpaper is self adhesive so that I can stick it to the joining strip?

Can you get joining tape in the same colour as the board? I had an Autosleeper repair done that way (not damp, it just unglued itself a bit)

 

[Ivory55]

Interesting, what type of wood should I be using? and how / where do I get it pressure treated?

It’s looking like a couple of short lengths are required? is pressure treating them necessary?

Soft wood is what they would of used originally. In King’s Lynn a timber firm will pressure treat timber that is cut to size ( Patrick and Thompson ) is their name , but am sure there would be similar firms near you. It generally a week or 2 turn around as the timber has to drain before it’s allowed to be transported.

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