I've been brought a rather old perle calyspo 4 berth for my 21st birthday hehe :-) I'm really pleased with it, Its perfect for me and the kids to go away in for cheap breaks, but once it was delivered i noticed a damp patch in the right hand front corner, upon furthur inspection...
I've ripped the whole front wall out from the floor to just underneath the window. I've found where all the water is coming in, which i imagine i can just stick some sealent round the window frame?
I was googling and came across Wizards Website, which gave me a rough idea of what i have to do...
But I have no DIY skills so this is going to be a very interesting project for me!
I guess i'm just looking for a little bit more guidance if it is available! today will be spent getting the rest of the rotten wood out of the caravan!
I had to rip it back right down to the outer aluminium frame all the polystrene (please excuse my spelling!) was rotten through aswell!
I definatly cant afford to get it repaired and I'm pregnant so get tired very easily now! Oh this is going to be fun :D
Hi Lollypop, while you have it all stripped down you might as well do a proper job on the window frame rather than just stick sealent on it.
Its pretty simple really, i was really worried when i found my van was damp but its easier than you think to do the repairs, and its pretty cheap to, ive done the whole side of mine for less than £100.
Read as many of the web sites that are posted for ideas and the people on here will help you as much as they can their really helpful.
Hi lollypop88 , welcome to UKCS , just a quick note to say i'll post some info soon as i get time , might not be tonite though . Could you post on here or email me ( address below ) some pictures of the damp area , more pictures the better .
Hi lollypop88 - what a great lady, with lots of courage. You certainly deserve the help I know you will get on here - I have browsed through lots of the DIY repair sites and there are some truly great accounts of repairs to what must have seemed hopeless cases.
I know that at some stage in the future I will probably be calling on the skills of those who have gone and repaired before me, as we have recently bought a 1995 caravan and although there are no obvious signs I bet in the fullness of time my skills will be tested.
Go for it gal - but take your time and you will do a good job. Quite a few have done so and freely admitted that they possess only the basic of DIY talents. Looking at all those pics it appears that the construction of most 'vans is pretty basic.
Best of luck
Pete
Well i'm absolutly cream crackered after getting up at half 6 with the terrible 2's stage, off to B&Q to buy all the bits i need got some timber to make the frame, loads of poly & some 3.6mm plywood as i couldnt get 3mm anywhere apart from the caravan shop and they were charging £25 a sheet! so i've sawed the extra width of the struts between the seat and wall so it will fit nice and snug, built and attached the timber frame, cut out and fitted the poly so i need to do the plywood tomorrow.
It doesnt look to great you can tell i have no DIY skills but i'm pleased with myself, I feel all Macho! but my pink toolkit isnt as practical as it is pretty lol! however i really just want Kala (caravans name) to be warm and dry for us all!
Blimey - you don't hang about, do you!!
Well done - seems like you have it licked. What a great tale to tell to the kids when they have grown a bit.
Pete
take your time on it and do the best you can, it'll be as good if not better than original. I didn't realize how crappily these things are constructed till I ripped mine apart for similar repairs two weeks back. good on you. Harry
Hi lollypop88 , well done , i was going to tell you how to go about the repairs , but it looks like you've got stuck in and done most of the hard bits already , if you do need any advice just post on here , i hope you found enough info on my site and the Fixed it Club members sites .