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Post by sandie on Feb 13, 2014 15:09:28 GMT
I have had a leaking roof vent in my shower room, which I have now removed, but it seems that water has got in between the grp and the outer ply, which is pretty soggy as far in as I can feel it.
I have consulted a full-timer friend who said that there is not much that can be done without removing the roof or at least cutting a section out of it, so unless I want massive expense and disruption the only thing to do is to re-fit the roof vent ensuring it is properly sealed. and not to worry about it. have done this, as I need to at least stop further water coming in. I am concerned that the trapped water will cause further damage, which will not be visible until it is serious. Will it?
Note that as this is the shower room, the ceiling below the wet area is the plastic moulding that forms the roof of the shower, and which looks like it cannot be removed without ripping the whole shower room apart
Any advice?
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Post by robmac on Feb 13, 2014 15:27:55 GMT
Hi Sandie, I have a similar problem, mine turned out to be a couple of small holes in the fibreglass roof I have been planning for about 8 months now to strip out one side of the van and replace the framework/ply and refit cupboards/bathroom etc. It hasn't worked out! Whenever I seem to get a gap to do it (and it is a lot of work), something comes up, like a meet or trip, or my son is not available to help! I have stripped away some of the ply inside one of the cupboards, and the frame is rotten, although I am not sure exactly how far this goes, but I have left this open in the hope that some of the moisture can escape, I leave dehumidifying cartridges in the cupboards. My van is a 1997 Compass Drifter 310, I cannot warrant spending thousands on having it done professionally, so anything that can be done I need to do myself, or just take a hit and sell the van for a lot less money than I paid for it. At the moment, the structural integrity doesn't seem to be impaired, so I am just using the van as much as I can and sort of ignoring it. It is a very common problem, and I have met many people who just say, 'don't worry about it, you will get a good few years out of it yet'. I would not sell it without informing the buyer, so would have to take a large decrease in value. It may be worth buying a moisture metre, (they don't cost much) and see if you can tell how far the problem has gone, although mine does show my problem to be very localised, but it still leaves a niggling doubt! Incidentally, when I first looked at Motorhomes, many dealers were selling vans with similar problems, and they brushed it off as par for the course for motorhomes more than 10 years old! In the meantime, you may wish to look at this site; www.1carpc.co.uk/wcdr/It may give you some idea of what is involved.
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Post by Firefox on Feb 13, 2014 15:31:16 GMT
So your roof construction is outer layer (aluminium/GRP?) Ply lining (12mm?) and plastic moulding forming shower enclosure.
It looks as though from what you say, there is no access to the ply in the middle, in which case you cant do much. The ply should be treated WBP and will be resistant to rot. If you have stopped the water coming in, it may be wet locally but it shouldn't spread. Water is frequently trapped in cavities of houses and vans, As long as there is no more water coming in, it shouldn't spread too far, it can only soak a limited amount of wood.
Ideally you would take some roof off and fully dry out and replace any rotten ply but this is an expensive option. You could also try a dehumidifier unit in the shower room if there are any places where you can form a link with the soaked area - opening a seam or maybe a 50mm hole and then cover with a watertight plastic plug. It may look OK if if you can get a decent match to your shower lining but you don't want to breach the shower lining if can do it by another method.
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Post by n brown on Feb 13, 2014 15:46:48 GMT
one way of getting behind the plastic liner is to cover any hole made with a mirror or other fitting.if these can be put in convenient places to allow air flow.
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Post by sandie on Feb 13, 2014 16:26:50 GMT
I had the main Heki roof light removed and re-sealed a couple of weeks ago. I used a mobile camper &caravan service. As it's really big and unweildy, I didn't fancy doing it myself. Even though it looked like a simple enough job, it could be very expensive if I broke the unit in the process or something. Having seen the chap do it, I was happy to tackle the small unit. It occurs to me though, that the ply on the leaking edge of the main unit is probably soaked just the same, but I didn't see it. The inner trim of the large unit is not re-fitted and there is one place where I can see the roof construction (the majority of the opening of both vents are framed in wood). The roof seems to be a 30mm polystyrene and ply sandwich, with the ply on both sides being very thin (< 3mm). The outer covering is fibreglass, and the inner ply layer has a thin decorative layer (a bit like a vinyl wallpaper I suppose) on the visible side. I suppose the roof structure must must be a wooden framework with a number of such 'sandwiches' in it. It seems very flimsy, but obviously does the job. The over cab section is solid GRP (it's a low profile front)
The wood frame around the vent openings is damp where the water has been getting in, but is not rotten.
Does this info change anything?
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Post by n brown on Feb 13, 2014 18:53:54 GMT
I think it's important to dry the wood,as leaving it damp will cause it to rot,and that means ventilating it or heating it or both.so if you can find a way to leave the vents open enough to allow air flow it has to help.
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Post by sandie on Feb 13, 2014 18:55:08 GMT
Thanks Rob and Vernon and n The link you gave, Rob, was useful in that it showed a section of caravan wall construction, which is the same as my roof, except that the outer of my roof is fibreglass, not aluminium. I have a moisture meter which I bought for testing the dryness of wood for my log burner, so I will have a go with that. Given the construction of the roof, there is, as Vern suggests, not much I can do, but I am heartened that two people have now said not to worry too much about it. I have my van on a hook-up at home and have an electric dehumidifier, so I'll get some warmth in there and run the dehumidifier. With the inner frames of the roof vents left off and the wooden vent frames exposed, at least some of the moisture must come out of the battens, I would hope. The wet outer ply can't dry out except by moisture transfer into the battens, as it's trapped between polystyrene and fibreglass. The big worry about all this is the horrors I've seen while looking for advice - Youtube videos etc. It seems that a whole lot of damage can occur with some types of leaks before you're even aware you have one! Am I going to get paranoid about it? Probably.
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:14:44 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:17:06 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:22:28 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:24:21 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:25:55 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:29:16 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:30:24 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:32:18 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:33:20 GMT
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Post by stonedaddy on Feb 14, 2014 1:37:43 GMT
I hope I have not scared you to death because your van is probably a lot newer than mine and will be nowhere near as bad as that. It was once I started I kept finding more and more and could not stop in the end until it was done. Anyway Sandie good luck with yours. .... Tom ....
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Post by Etienne Le Croq on Feb 14, 2014 7:09:27 GMT
Just to add to the excellent advice,an oil filled rad on low ,as well as some ventilation should dry the inside out nicely .
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Post by sandie on Feb 14, 2014 13:46:55 GMT
Crikey, Tom - what a nightmare! Yes, you have scared me a little, but let's just hope that nothing nasty is happening behind my panels!
My van is November 2002. I bought it at four years old in November 2006. I do want to keep it long term ,which is why I spent £400 getting it professionally re-undersealed 15 months ago. All box sections and the cab doors, pillars etc were injected, too. It seems that there was some corrosion damage in one or two places but not enough to be any problem, and that is now stopped in its tracks. At the last MOT the garage were well impressed.
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