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I am renovating a caravan for my teenage son. I have never renovated anything so have no idea. I have ripped out half the caravan and have found some floor damage. I'm happy to do whatever it takes to get it right. I just want to know if when replacing and finishing do I do the floor or walls first. As I was removing damaged walls I noticed that they go under the floor... Which would be easier. And what material would I use to replace floors and walls. Any help would be appreciated.
Community manager's note: Check out How to renovate a caravan for expert advice.
The length of a caravan is often referred to by its floor length so an 18ft caravan would be approx 18ft floor or 5.5m, they're also often either 7ft or 8ft wide so ideally you'd lay the plywood across the van, making sure the joins are supported by the chassis. Plywood sheets are 2.4x1.2 so you'd need 5 sheets and have a bit left over.
Depending on the age of your caravan, you may have noticed it was originally one large piece with no joins and would've been laid before the caravan was built on top. As you can see from the below ad, even though the ply looks raw, it did have a protective weathershield.
It's great to see that @twocutekelpies has already provided a helpful answer, @michelekeane74.
Please let us know if you have further questions.
Mitchell
So have laid the first layer of floor and will do the second layer next weekend ☺️.
Fantastic work @michelekeane74! That's looking great.
Many thanks for the update. I can't wait for the next one.
Mitchell
Great work, @michelekeane74. I'm living vicariously through you, as renovating a caravan has been a dream of mine for many years. Just remember, if projects like these were easy, you wouldn't experience the overwhelming euphoria of completion.
For the wall panels joints, I'd suggest using a flexible and paintable gap filler such as Polyfilla 475g P10 Gap Filler.
Mitchell
Sorry to disagree Mitchell but there's just too much flex in a caravan for gap filla, it has a tendency to crack and/or fall out. 3mm wet panels joiners are great for covering joins, corners etc, although not as great as they used to be since they've made them smaller and shallower, less room for error but still ok for making tidy joins. Variety of joiners available here https://www.bunnings.com.au/search/products?q=wall%20art%20joiner
You can see in the below pic, I've used internal corner between ceiling and wall, external corner around the cupboard, joiner between ply sheets above the door and capping around the door and where the cupboard meets the wall and ceiling.
Do you have a trim router? Using a trim bit with the ball bearing on it, these are great for tracing out the windows nice and neatly.
And then to cover the edge of the window frame, you can get flexible camec window moulding from most caravan repair places. Unfortunately, the plastic angle that Bunnings has is quite stiff and not the right size.
Prior to putting up your wall panels, have you thought about where you're going to attach your cabinetry? I like to add noggins in my frame to give more anchor points to screw into. Cabinetry was originally screwed/stapled in from outside before the cladding went on, without being able to do that again, you're limited to only being able to attach to minimal frame, hence adding noggins out of either pine or meranti.
Hope the above helps.
Shelley
