Water damage is the number one cause of serious structural damage in caravans — and by the time most owners notice it, it's already been happening for a while. Here's how to spot it early, what causes it, and what a proper repair involves.
If any section of your floor feels soft, spongy, or gives underfoot in a way it didn't before, that's a strong sign of water damage to the subfloor. Caravan floors are typically timber-based and absorb moisture readily — once saturated, they degrade quickly.
Brown or yellow staining on interior panels is a classic sign of water tracking through from outside. The stain is rarely directly above or beside the entry point — water travels along frames and cavities before it appears.
When moisture gets behind interior wall panels, the adhesive fails and the panel begins to bubble or lift. This is a reliable indicator of sustained water ingress behind that wall.
A persistent musty smell inside a caravan — especially after it's been stored — often indicates moisture trapped inside the structure. It may not be visible yet, but it's there.
Walk around your caravan and inspect every seal — around windows, doors, roof vents, the air conditioner, any external penetration, and along roof joins. Any seal that's cracked, lifted, shrunken, or separated is a potential water entry point.
This is the most common cause by a significant margin. The sealant used around windows, hatches, vents, and roof joins degrades over time — it dries out, cracks, and separates from the surfaces it's bonded to. Every gap, however small, is an entry point for water.
A rock strike, tree branch, or collision can crack external panels or dislodge sealed joints without being immediately obvious. Even a minor impact can compromise a seal.
The joins between the roof and side walls are a common failure point, particularly on older vans. These seams flex slightly as the caravan moves and over time the sealant fatigues and fails.
Previous repairs done without properly sealing the area can introduce new leak points. This is particularly common on secondhand vans that have had work done by non-specialists.
We use a professional moisture meter to map moisture levels across all walls, floors, and ceiling areas. This tells us exactly where water has been and how far it's spread — without pulling anything apart unnecessarily.
Finding where the water is getting in is critical before any repair. We inspect all external seals, joins, and penetrations and trace the likely entry point based on where moisture is concentrated internally.
All compromised seals are removed and replaced with appropriate caravan-grade sealant. This is not a job for hardware store silicone — the wrong product will fail quickly and potentially make things worse.
If the subfloor, wall framing, or panel substrate has been damaged by sustained water exposure, affected material needs to be removed and replaced. The extent of this work depends on how long the ingress has been occurring and how much has been saturated.
Delaminated or stained interior panels that can't be dried and saved are replaced. We match existing panels as closely as possible.
A seal repair caught early might cost $200–$500. Structural floor or wall damage requiring material replacement can run to $1,500–$5,000+ depending on the extent. The most important thing is not to ignore the signs and hope it resolves itself. It won't — and every month you wait typically adds to the repair bill.
The best thing you can do is have your caravan's seals inspected and resealed as part of your annual service. Sealant has a finite lifespan and should be treated as a consumable — not a set-and-forget. A seal inspection and reseal costs a fraction of what water damage repair costs. At Alpine Caravan Services in Kilsyth, we include a seal inspection in every annual service and use quality caravan-grade products rated for Australian conditions.
Seal Repair Only
$200–$500
Structural Damage
$1,500–$5,000+
Noticed a soft floor, a stain, or a smell that wasn't there before? Don't leave it. Book an inspection at our Kilsyth workshop today.
Alpine Caravan Services · 7 Pacific Place, Kilsyth, VIC 3137