Background
I noticed in December 2015 and January 2016 that water had been getting into my mother's caravan via the failed sealing around the two entrance doors. Although it was not a large quantity it had been getting in over a period of time, probably 3-4 years and had soaked some parts of the caravans structural frame and parts of the furniture frames. Fortunately this side of the caravan faces mostly west so gets a large amount of sun which meant that any water that did get in dried out quickly before causing any lasting damage to the wood. This was confirmed by the lack of any damp smell or of rotting wood. As the source of the leaks was quickly found in the seals around the doors they were quickly sealed temporarily using silicone sealant until a more permanent repair could be implemented.
The water was running down the sides of the door frame particularly when there was heavy driving rain then entering the cracks, running down the inner part of the door frame and down the wooden part of the door frame. It then reached the lowest part of the caravan frame at the floor and could spread out from there soaking into any wooden parts it came into contact with.
When investigating the source of the water what came to mind was that when the caravan was built there was never any intention that it would be disassembled nor had any consideration been given to maintenance. For example, when the caravan was first manufactured, the steel frame was built, the floor panels were installed and then one large piece of carpet was laid. The entire caravan was then build on top of the carpet including the structural components such as the side wall frames!
The water was running down the sides of the door frame particularly when there was heavy driving rain then entering the cracks, running down the inner part of the door frame and down the wooden part of the door frame. It then reached the lowest part of the caravan frame at the floor and could spread out from there soaking into any wooden parts it came into contact with.
When investigating the source of the water what came to mind was that when the caravan was built there was never any intention that it would be disassembled nor had any consideration been given to maintenance. For example, when the caravan was first manufactured, the steel frame was built, the floor panels were installed and then one large piece of carpet was laid. The entire caravan was then build on top of the carpet including the structural components such as the side wall frames!
The corner seat was held onto its subframe with large wooden staples hidden in the foam and fabric covering. When this was removed it revealed the water dame shown here. The chipboard base sat directly on the carpet and as there were no signs of water coming from higher up it had to be coming from below.
The corner seat subframe was dismantled, unfortunately there were some hidden fixings and glue used so there was some damage done to the sub-frame. The underside of the frame showed a number of tide marks so i suspect that water had been seeping in over 3-4 years. Fortunately the structure of the wood was intact and the carpet was not soaked nor rotting.
Before re-assembling the frame its height was modified to allow 'feet' to be added under the base to raise it from the carpet. This will minimise the contact area between the base and carpet. The stained areas show where PVA was applied to areas that showed signs of contact with water.
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There were also signs of water damage in the corner of the caravan. I was forced to cut away the wall panel which revealed that the water was getting in from some where above. The vertical wall frame showed signs of damp so i suspected that the water was entering from somewhere above and running down the frame onto the carpet and spreading out to the other wooden parts as can be seen in this picture. The carpet had to be cut to inspect any damage to the floor below.
The corner seat frame was carefully dismantled by removing the staples used to hold it together and all the parts allowed to dry. The edges were treated with PVA to seal them from any further moisture damage. Several coats were applied and allowed to dry between each application.
The frame was then reassembled in place. Rather than use glue and large staples to fix it in place screws were used and light weight staples used to hold the fabric trim in the top surface.
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