The door has obviously suffered from a stiff hinge for a while as we now have a crack off the top left (hinge side of the door). This has then allowed water into that side panel over this wonderfully wet winter/spring/summer so I've got quite a repair job on my hands. Undaunted I will succeed with your help.
I've gone through the job in my head, and having read the intrepid adventures of the Fix-it-club I can do it.
I need to remove the front side cupboard & bed base, and the kitchen to the rear of the door.
The first obstacle is removing the front side cupboard.
This one is visibly fixed to the outer wall inside the cupboard, on the top corner closest to the door:
and at the front end it is fixed to the side wall of the caravan:
and to the rail across the front of the van above the windows:
I guess it has been screwed in place before the roof was skinned?
So the first question of many is how to locate and cut the fixings into the carcase of the cupboard without marking the roof or the cupboard?
It's stapelled from above and with lots and lots of staples. Either use a pad saw to cut through them or as I did get a decent wall paper scraper and hammer it through the space between the ceiling and locker. This should shear the staples.
Many thanks jayc001... lots of staples and a screw for good measure...
So off came the cupboard, and I thought I'd just pick at a hole in the paper to see what's up behind... :-(
and like a scab you keep picking :-( :-(
So, I know I need to clear to the left of the door, and to the floor on either side. I've a dehumidifer in there all the time so it is slowly drying out and will continue as I remove the damp wood.
Once I am down to a damp frame I guess I need to get the materials before removing the rotten frame.
I am taking photos as I take it apart to help with the reconstruction. So now I need to start with a shopping list:
1x1/2" timber for frame
1" polystyrene sheets
Wallboard - plain sheet or papered?
Exterior Mastic for resealing the outside trim - roll or tube?
? Wood hardener for existing wood I don't remove?
? Glue - any preferences?
It looks as if there maybe some adhesive between the frame and the aluminum skin - is this going to be a pain to remove? If so how best to do it?
I am sure there will be more later - I'm still taking in the invisible damage...
My bailey rebuild started as a small area and ended up the whole side of van.
I used rough sawn kiln dried timber from B&Q for the frame. Think 25x38mm. A pack was aabout £12 and did an entire side.
25mm kingspan insulation from Travis perkins.
3.6mm hardwood faced ply sheets from TP again.
I used both mastic roll and seal seal on the awning rails.
Used ronseal wood hardner on the frame areas which were wet but no rotten (ie screws gripped).
Glue, well I used polyurethane, solvent free grab and gorilla glue. From experience I'd no go with pu to bond battens to aluminium skin. Gorilla glue to bond insulation to skin and wallboard. grab adhesive on frame to wall board.
The insulation will come away from the skin easy enough with a blunted wall paper scraper.