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UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: oliver collins on December 02, 2010, 10:41:29 pm

Title: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: oliver collins on December 02, 2010, 10:41:29 pm
Hi Guys

Pulled out 500lt of clean water from a flooded static caravan, first job of this type for me

I have four tubo dryers on the job under the carpets will be putting in three dehudifers, taking up the carpets tomorrow carpet fitters coming to take them up,the problem is that the floors of things get carpeted first then the walls and units go in so need good accsess to all the walls

No heating in the caravan by the way ,and i have been misting in santizer soultion and any positive advice is welcome

Regards Oliver Collins Rise & Shine Cleaning
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: Mike_Roper on December 03, 2010, 12:10:08 pm
Oliver,
Just doing one myself,only reason being their a custmer already, or I wouldn touch it !.Without ny heat in there its going to be difficult - refrigerant dehums only work above 5 degrees. The uy on the site asked me to leave a card as there will probs be more to do. No thanks - diary is already full and wouldnt want to do them anyway. Give me a ring if you want. Off up to St Andrews now to rescue the girls from sister in laws.
Mike
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: jasonl on December 03, 2010, 08:00:02 pm
Went to a static today , I have done hundreds over the years , (260 once on one site) .

They often do not have enough amperage to support all the drying equipment that you would ordinarily need , running electric heaters to get the temp high  enough to use refrigerant dehums  would not be possible on only a 20 amp fuse box .  Desiccants will work at low temperatures though they are often too expensive for the customer to rent.

Today I extracted all the water from this 2010 static , applied sanitizer and installed 3x airmovers and 2 electric heaters , I then cracked open the windows and locked them all open to allow the wet evaporated air to escape. 
I will check up on it next week ,and expect it to be dry in 14 days.
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: oliver collins on December 03, 2010, 09:10:51 pm
Hi Mike

Good advice will put some heaters in , would not have touched it but i get loads of work friom this site so didnt want them to go any where else,no idea how much to charge any advice

Regards Oliver Collins
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: Ian Rochester on December 04, 2010, 07:54:17 am
If caravans aren't correctly drained down then something will go pop in the cold weather.  We had ones last year that didn't get noticed for more than a month and were soaked through out
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: pro-clean on December 04, 2010, 08:47:03 am
hi
    get a indirect heater form a hire shop.  Duck the clean dry air  in. On low use a air mover to duck the moist air

    OUT she will be  dry within a few days

    richie
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: jasonl on December 04, 2010, 09:03:44 am
hi
    get a indirect heater form a hire shop.  Duck the clean dry air  in. On low use a air mover to duck the moist air

    OUT she will be  dry within a few days

    richie

I introduced that method to the UK , its not that simple!  Lots of people have come unstuck not understanding psychrometrics.
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: pro-clean on December 04, 2010, 02:29:02 pm
" introduced that method to the UK , its not that simple!  Lots of people have come unstuck not understanding psychrometrics".


True. 'science of drying' . we played with  heat for many years. we have a large unit  similar to the flood shcool .

May be i should of said gradual bring heat up to approximately 80f to 90f this should be more than safe. However you most

monitor the Structural. To be honest i don't remember drying a caravan before but the materials with in the caravan should,t

differ to much.

.

If you diced to go the heat rout it will be far quicker and contractors can also crack on. As said Jasonl  has a lot of 
 

experience dealing with caravans and i,m sure he will advise if needed as we will  good luck


richie         
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: martin19842 on December 04, 2010, 02:54:20 pm
hi there

i havent done any static caravans, but my concern would be the amount of laminated products in the structure and fittings, the heat control is critical to ensure that the laminates dont start to debond.

weve dried out places in freezing temperatures, one thing that we have done many years ago, was to heat a house up for short time to get rid of the worst of the moisture, before starting a controlled dry.

i think that the heat drying is fantastic, but there still seams to be an element of resistance amongst the authorising authorities in the UK, when its used so widely in mainland europe and usa.

have a great weekend, and keep warm

regards

martin
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: JandS on December 04, 2010, 03:31:15 pm
How did 500L stay inside a static caravan?

John
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: Neil Williams on December 04, 2010, 05:40:11 pm
How did 500L stay inside a static caravan?

I wondered that too, and stand to be corrected but
500L = 17.65 cubic feet
If it's a 30ft x 12 ft caravan = 360 sq/ft of floor space
This would then require just one sixteenth of an foot of water to get 17.65 cubic feet or 500L

Having said that there are floor vents all over the place but the carpet could easily hold that amount.

(amended to one one sixteenth of a foot not inch of water)
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: calmore on December 04, 2010, 07:46:00 pm
hi there

i havent done any static caravans, but my concern would be the amount of laminated products in the structure and fittings, the heat control is critical to ensure that the laminates dont start to debond.


That was my first thought-most of the fittings are chipboard with a vinyl laminate surface glued on.

I'd also be concerned about the construction of the floor. I bet under the carpet/lino are sheets of chipboard which could start to disintegrate if they have been wet for two long.

What'll happen if the floor starts to crumble after you have done your work? Who will they blame?

Qualify the job with the custy before starting.
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: oliver collins on December 04, 2010, 09:27:42 pm
Hi
This van had underlay that was soaked as well,  its drying out well now though
both the bathrooms still need drying out the flooring is chipboad i think , of which none has blown so far anyway

Regards Oliver
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: Mike_Roper on December 05, 2010, 06:30:09 pm
The flooring should be 'marine type' so shoudnt pop . As postings so far indicate drying statics is not much fun . As regards charging - it needs to e what your happy with for the hours you put in, whether this is ok with the customer is another thing.
Mike
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: John Kelly on December 05, 2010, 07:49:48 pm
Make sure you survey every square inch when completing the drying. Any moisture left in hidden voids etc could lead to future problems including dry rot.
Title: Re: Flooded Static Caravan
Post by: Neil Williams on December 05, 2010, 07:51:17 pm
whether this is ok with the customer is another thing.

The ONLY people to blame when this happens are the owners. I should know because we have two and the middle of November at the latest is drain down time where we physically blow out the water system, and disconnect at the mains.