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hi everyone. i am a total caravan virgin, so can you tell me if certain makes are more prone to damp than others. if a van has had one leak is it more likely to get another? are some panels designed to show internal wrinkes when they get damp so you can track it down?

TIA

claire:-}

All caravan is prone to damp

I have seen a 2year old caravan rotted with it, most caravans will suffer with it at some point so its up to the owner to keep a check on it if you have iot serviced on a regular basis damp will be detected early enough to be repaired.

The older Baileys were notorious for it.

Ali

swifts from the 80s and early 90s seem quite bad from what ive seen, buccaneer (not a cheap caravan) from about 92 onwards are prone to leaks , seen a few leaky Lunars and some awful Baileys as well.

guess any make can get damp though

Go with the view that Swifts are prone to it. I looked for our first van - which I wanted to be a Challenger 480 or similar at 8 - 10 year old & the first 6 or 8 I saw all had damp in the front awning side top locker - it got to be a cliche so I gave up & got an Elddis.

In the end the only difference was that that previous owner was better at covering up the leaks than those with the Swifts! Expect a bit & then it won't be such a schock when you find it!

Get a good meter & do a leak search yourself. It will pay for itself when you buy your 1st van!

Frank JB

thanks everyone bought an abi award sunstar and thought it was ok - but once we got it home and re- damp metered it by going through the walls not just on the top its got damp in one corner and by the door :-{

claire:-}

ours is wet- my damp meter went nuts when stabbed through the wall and the nice man at the repair centre got a 60% reading :-{

if it was dry and spongy i would probably leave it but it is also the wall the supports the bunk bed :-{

claire:-}