Caravan repair

Hi Carol,
In my experience with most vans, they are built from the inside out, which means that they build the framework, then line the inside, then fit all the cabinets fixing them from inside the framework/walls, then do all the pre wire for electrics and then when all the internal is complete they then line the exterior of the van.
This makes it very difficult to remove any cabinets without doing damage to the cabinet/walls
iF YOU HAVE A CAREFUL LOOK AROUND THE CUPBOARDS, i THINK THERE WILL BE NO VISIBLE FIXINGS AS THEY ARE DONE FROM INSIDE THE WALLS.
Being a builder I think its a very strange way to go about it

Hope this helps
Cheers Wayne H

HI Carol,
As others have said caravans are built in a seemingly strange way.In most vans cupboards,beds,tables etc, actually form the structual strength of the van to minimise movement & flexing of the outer shell. Take the "furniture" out and the whole thing would collapse pretty quickly.What i am suggesting is that you can replace something as it was or very similar.
Maybe worth getting a professionals opinion, most good traders are helpful & dont mind sharing their knowledge unless they think that they are being "used".
Mike.

Hi Carol.

i've got a mid 80's van and had to replace 2/3 of the floor. Not overly difficult, but there was a fare amount of expletives being thrown around during the process. I pulled out one small corner cupboard next to the bed to see how it was fitted. What I found was that the plastic strip you refer to was stapled to the wall from the outside, meaning that it's stapled through the internal vaneer before they put the aluminum cladding on the outside. So when the cupboard was removed i had a row of pointy staples sticking out the wall. I took to them with a grinder and then used "no more nails" to fix the cupboard back to the wall and srewed the base into the new floor. If I was going to remove anything bigger I would certainly get a professional opinion. As previously stated, it's the furniture that pretty much keeps it all together.

Good Luck

Brett

Thanks To all who replyed.
Yes now I can see how it would be done,I will tackle the job with taking off the cover strips and placing laminex over the problem area.It is only the top of the cupboard that is damaged,so I think that will solve that problem.
I do appreciate the answers given.

Hello All,
I have fixed the problem cupboard my way,I think it works well.
I got some vinyl floor covering from Bunnings that looks like wood panel,same colour as cupboard and I cut it to size ,I striped as much as the damaged veneer as possible and then got some very good glue and simply stuck the vinyl to the cupboard to cover the damage.
I asked a very friendly man who works at our local bunnings store and he was doing up a horse float as a camper and he gave me some good advice on it.