Is it expensive to renovate a caravan?

[Busygirl]

is it expensive to renovate a caravan if you hire carpenters, electricians,plumbers etc. . I can paint and decorate myself. Wondering If it’s worthwhile. Thankyou.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Busygirl. It's sensational to have you join us and many thanks for your question on caravan renovations.

The cost of renovating a caravan can vary depending on the scope of the work. Hiring professionals like carpenters, electricians, and plumbers will increase the cost. The overall expense depends on the caravan's current condition, the extent of the renovations, your choice of materials, and how much of the work you plan on doing yourself. 

Doing a refresh on an existing interior can be completed for a reasonable cost. However, if you intend to remove all the interior linings and cabinetry, the costs increase dramatically. Often, when completing caravan renovations, you can uncover damage that isn't obvious. If your otherwise in good nick caravan turns out to have a rotted floor, that's a considerable job to fix, which can be costly.

Let me mention one of our caravan renovation experts @twocutekelpies to see if they have some general advice on selecting caravans to renovate.

Also, make sure to read through this three-part series on How to renovate a caravan. If you need inspiration, this is a great place to start: 10 caravan renovations.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[twocutekelpies]

Hi @Busygirl, 

As Mitchell said, professionals definitely increase the cost so the more that can be done by yourself the better. I do all of my own work (with hubby's help for mechanical and him being a boilermaker is an added bonus for chassis work), the only professional I use is an electrician and I can still spend up around $8-10K on a reno/rebuild easily.

Whether it's worth it or not is based on what you're hoping to achieve from a caravan renovation. If flipping, then no, not worth it at all. If wanting an old retro style caravan that looks heaps better than some of the new super expensive caravans and happy to not have all the bells and whistles that come with that, then absolutely yes. I think there's so much more style in an old Viscount/Franklin/Millard etc than a box on wheels with way too many mod-cons. 

If you're on Facebook, check out Bb's Custom Vintage Caravans, Just Retro Caravans or Palace Caravans, no affiliation with them, just a fan of their work. I believe they do work on customer's caravans as well as buying and flipping. 

Happy to help if you have any questions. 

Shelley 😊

[Busygirl]

Thanks so much for that information Shelley. I wanted to flip one and also do one for myself. I don’t have anyone with any Reno skills. So I’ll give up on the flip. But still would love a renovated retro van. Thanks again. Gail. 

[EricL]

Hi @Busygirl 

If the renovation bug should ever bite you, we'll be more than happy to provide advice and information.

Eric