Our Caravan Repair


This is what our caravan looked like the last time we went away.       Before
                                                                   

We first noticed a small puddle of water on the shelf at the bottom of the front windows.  The water had travelled down the inside of the runner for the window blinds.  As soon as we got the van home for the last time before the winter we investigated further by removing the window blinds.  The wall board underneath was very soft so needed to be removed for further investigation. 


It was obvious we had a major problem when the wall board was removed.  The wood was rotten in places and if you look carefully at the picture on the right you can see a drip of water between two of the pieces of wood so the amount of water getting in was substantial.

. top of window  above window


  smaller   Stowaway
 We tried to remove the pink fascia from the shelf but couldn't.                    My Dad getting into a an awkward space to remove the screws holding the lower shelf.

 The idea was to get the window frame out in one piece to use as a template.  The wood which the frame was made of was too rotten and just ended up in a pile we tried to carefully remove it. 
 The windows were removed so the rail above them could be taken off and the rail above was also removed as all the wood behind these two rails was to be replaced.  
  a lot of rot  Summer use only    

 The pile of wood from the old window frame was carefully removed from the inside if the caravan and, jigsaw fashion, was laid out in the garden to make a template for the new frame.

  window frame  next

 The picture on left above shows the new frame, from the outside of the van, ready to be fixed in place.  The second shows the detail of the corners and you can also see the frame was assembled completely, including attaching new  wallboard, before it was fixed.
 
  offered up  offered up 2

 As you can see from the above pictures the new frame was a perfect fit.  

mastic  staples

Mastic was applied before the window rubbers were replaced.  Lots of staples hold the window rubber in.

window rail  windos
The rail which hold the windows is roughly placed to allow correct positioning of the wood behind.  All the rubbers and the rail are in place.
inside

The windows are refitted.  

I didn't manage to get the inbetween photos of all the fixtures going back but below is the finished artcle
finished 2  finished 3



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