Hello,

My mother has asked me to take a look at her caravan, a Elddis Tornado 1998.. It has an internal damp problem. She took it to a professional caravan workshop for repair. Then took it back for more work as she was not happy. She thought it was okay second time around, but the guarantee on the work has now expired and I do not think it is dry.

The damp is around the off-side window nearest the front. I hired a professional damp meter and took readings of 45% about a foot below the window, 37% between the side of the window and the front of the caravan and 27% above the window and in the above locker. Around the front windows and behind the front off-side window the reading was 10-13%. I stripped away the vinyl wallpaper over the damp area apart from in the locker. I found dark patches, mold and soft areas of wallboard.

Using a oscillating multi-tool (thanks Aldi) I have cut away a large area of wallboard under and in front of the window to expose the 'ribs'. These are discoloured in places but seem sound. Sadly the cut-away board broke up because of the soft areas but the damage to the ribs and polystyrene insulation was minimal. The rubber strip around the window socket has taken some grief during this process but the timbers round the socket seem okay. Externally the visible sealant above and below the awning rail, front rail and off-side window hanging rail is cracked.

I think the way forward is to re-bed the window hanging rail for the off-side window, replace the rubber window socket seal and try removing then re-applying the sealant above and below the other rails. I have some Caraflex caraseal IDL 99 to use to re-bed the hanging rail. Is it also good for resealing the other rails without removal? I know some folks use Sikaflex 512 for this but it is an adhesive/sealant, so the other rails may not come off if they need to be re-bedded in the future. Where is a good place to get a matching rubber seal? Apparantly there is a company that matches samples of the old rubber to get an exact fit. If I strip the wall paper in the locker can I paint the wall board with wood hardener after it has had a chance to dry? It would be a nightmare to replace the wallboard in the locker but I do not want to melt the polystyrene or anything.

TIA