Caravan Rebuild - Part 7

Well onto another day, this time we wanted to tackle the last of the wood struts.  We had removed the rotten struts previously and now had to put them back in.  All of the outside rails had been removed to do this.  One thing we had come across is that there had been a roof repair at some point and new joists had been put in, however, they didn't quite reach the sides so we have had to add some braces to give some strength.


The first part we tackled was the locker cupboard.....we had been dreading this!

Before we put these back in place we used 'mastic on roll' to give a seal to the roof, you can just see the mastic above the brace above, this follows the line of the ceiling so it gives a seal on the outside aluminium skin when the roof is pulled down.

This is a difficult section to get into, the wood although discoloured at the front, is sound.  We put an extra wide piece of wood here which we followed the template left on the skin from where the previous timber had been.

Again another bracket connecting the ceiling joist which you can see is some way off - poor job done previously.

We then moved over to the locker cupboard above the fire, first we removed the gas air vent so that we could cut and refit the block of wood that had rotted around the flue.  We also concentrated above the door as well.  Here you can see the new wood struts in place.

You can see some fresh aluminium here that I bonded above the door to give some extra strength, you will also see a couple of ply sticking out between the two new struts at the top - this was to help keep them in place so the new ply ceiling will fit in nicely.

Again on this side to secure the ceiling joist to the side we've used a bracket brace.  We also did as we did in the other locker and ran 'mastic on a roll' on the ceiling feeding it in from outside before pulling the roof down and into place to ensure a good bond when we reattach the awning rails.

My next job was to start fitting the insulation and making the templates for the ply that will be fitted next weekend.  I started above the door first.

Insulation back in place along with new struts.

Paper template made ready for ply, will be papering the ply for these locker cupboards and above the door before putting ply on.  The front section and shower room I am happy to paper the ply in situ because it's an open area, however these tight places are a little trickier, the whole van is to be painted so it won't make any difference.

On with measuring and cutting more insulation for the ceiling and putting it into place.

Scoring the insulation after measuring

Positioning the insulation in the upper front locker cupboard

Taking shape

I have to make a paper template for the wall at the right side, this I found problematic so I went over to the opposite cupboard and checked the template over there.

I've cut the template out and am just checking it out in the clean cupboard

Looking good

Whilst I was in the van, the hubby Mark was giving the awning rail a final clean with white spirit.

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