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Having found damp ingress caused by a leaking entry door seal and one window seal, the dealer I was trading in my old van with, knocked £400 off his offer price, which I was not too happy about. I was shown the areas of concern and they did go into the red part of the damp meter and they told me that if it had been left over this winter it could have got much worse and more expensive to repair.

I went ahead with the trade-in and my new caravan (secondhand) is under 2 years warranty which includes damp ingress however just this week I found a small pool of water lying next to the rear hatch door which opens up into the rear cupboard of my van. I was really worried so took it to dealers and they did a check with the meter and fortunately it was clear of any sign of damp in any of the panels. His explaination was that it was probably condensation from the cold walls running down and congregating in the loacl area, but my view is that with the torretial rain of the last few days it is forcing some water past the door seals. Needless to say I am worried and am monitoring the situation but my van is stored 25 miles away from home.

I am therefore considering buying my own damp meter so would be grateful if someone can recommend a cheap but effective unit and where to buy same. At least then I can do a check in the area regularly to make sure the wallboards are not being affected.

Regards

KevinBFG 

Have a look here http://www.1carpc.co.uk/wcdr/checking-for-damp.htm 

atb

Wizard

Thanks for all the advice and in particular to LawrenceR as I bought the same meter as indicated on his website pages (a Rapidtest model from Amazon) at just £14.99.

Very easy to use and although is maybe not be as high a spec as the ones the Caravan dealers use (costing £150 plus), it will give me confidence that I needed... rest assured if I get a reading at all in lower scale the van will be back at the dealers ASAP.

Just to prove it works I checked an area of brickwork near my front door where the step is above the damp course and hey presto there is a reading - have always suspected this area in past...now I know!  

Just done a full check around the van behind seals in doors windows etc and no problems at all. Looked closely at the area in rear wardrobe and it has dried out now.

Worth the money I think and intend to use once a month.

Kevin 

this may help when checking for damp.the type shown is the one i have also have the B+Q type as well.

http://www.caravanhospital.co.uk/damp.htm

true see

Readings between (0-15%) no cause for concern Readings between (15-20°10) dealer to make a note of these readings and re-check at next service. Readings between (20-24%) possible early signs of ingress, look for tangible evidence or ask for a re-check. Readings between (25-30%) moisture evident, remedial work required; may not need stripdown unless surface damage (staining, pimpling, and softness) is apparent. (There is a risk of wallboard deterioration due to retained moisture in the structure if resealed only.) Reading (31 % and above) structural damage is occurring, deterioration inevitable. a full stripdown of the affected area is required.