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Hi to all

Im new to this section as my husbands been out and bought a caravan (upgraded from a very large tent). 

The story goes, whilst i was recovering from an operation my husband went and bought a sprite musketeer 1991 4 berth caravan to upgrade from our very large tent.  I didnt go to view this with him he paid £800 for it.  Since feeling better i have been down to have a look (as its kept in storage) first impression looks good and clean, i decided i would give it a wipe round and put my mark on it.  When i removed  the chair cushions i noticed bubbling to the paper, this is under the window, i had a look in the wardrobe and it feels a little soft in the wardrobe and in the bathroom (lower parts only)  I then lifted the storage part under the seating at the back of the van and noticed the bracket that holds the seat has come away from the wall, again this is a little spongy. 

I decided to have a look on here to find out what this spongy wall could be and it looks like it could be damp, there is no smell of damp in the caravan at all.

Ive now spoken to my husband about this and he said theres nothing  he can do about it really, i said if it is damp ive seen on here that it can be sorted, he seems to think it will be okay to leave it for now. 

What im wondering is, is it okay to leave it for now and then maybe i can talk him around to sorting out at the end of the camping season or does it need doing now?

Also is it worth doing on a van of this age? The other sides of the van seem fine and apart from the problem on the other wall the van seems in really good condition with hot and cold water, fridge, cooker with grill and oven all working and fixtures and fittings all in good condition. 

Help advice on what to do please, it is worrying me a bit.

thanks Julie

Hi Julie , yes it is damp see here http://www.1carpc.co.uk/wcdr/my-damp-repairs.htm , it is fixable . Personally I would sort it now rather than leave it . As to it being worth doing it depends on if you have the time to repair it and weather you could put up with sleeping in a damp caravan .
It may be wise to have the caravan serviced to check the gas and electrics are in a safe working order .

atb

Wizard

Thanks wizard for the reply.

I will have to try and convince my husband that it can be done and hope that by showing him the pictures on the link doesnt scare him, lol.

We do both work fulltime but do have weekends free, hence camping most of them from march onwards, so would be able to spend weekends doing the work and have possible help from my step father who is retired. 

Do you know roughly how much would need to be spent on repairing this, bearing in mind it could turn out to be the whole of one side.  Also if its just the lower part thats damp would you need to do the whole wall?  Where do you buy materials from for a job like this?  We live in Cheshire.

Think if it was left to me i would be starting the job now but need the husbands help so will have to talk him round.

Gas and electric have been checked and they are working fine, luckly we have friends who work in the gas and electrical dept.

As much advice on this is appreciated.

thanks again julie

Yeah have thought about that Davewakefield.  New to caravaning and OH been looking for a cheap caravan to tow to race meetings as its easier than pitching a tent then having to sort his bike out for racing.  Saw the one he bought (but didnt know what really to look for when buying) thought it looked good n in good condition only had 2 owners from new, the couple selling have not used it for 18 months due to age and health reasons so this was there reason for sale. It wasnt until i lifted the seat cushions off to look at the storage underneath that i noticed the wall was bubbled and felt cold, the problem is im now looking for things wrong with it which my husband gets upset about. Its possible the seller didnt know about the wall if theyve not used it for 18 months.

Lesson learnt, before buying again will look in more detail and under cushions etc for any problems. 

Hi Julie , a guess at the cost would be £120 - £150 , the wallboard battens can be bought from B&Q , caravan sealant from a caravan shop and wall board too , to keep costs down you could use 3.6mm plywood sheets from B&Q and then paper them . You will find all the info you need on my website see repair items . Before stripping the wallboard out you should try and establish where the water is getting in , either the windows , the awning rails , or both . 

Hope this helps, if you have more questions ask away i'm sure The Fixed it Club members will be willing to advise you .

atb

Wizard

Thanks wizard will check all these things out before doing anything.  We r in the process in selling some of our camping equipment(we have alot of) which will prob nearly pay for the caravan anyway so if we had to spend £500 to put it right it seems to me that it will still be a cheap van.

Stand by wizard for the questions and thanks for the advice.