Water Damage To Table

[Chrissy and Martin]

I suspect my ploy of touring Scotland for the last few weeks in the Romahome was floored. I kind of expected bad weather but hoped for better!

The most consistently bad set of weather I've ever experienced was what we ended up with. Part of the joy of Romahoming is being able to sit outside the van from time to time. Very little opportunity for that I'm afraid! Where ever we ventured on the tour it was pretty much the same story. Being on the tall side, I am unable to stand up in a romahome and so being confined to barracks for such long periods is particularly hard.

The three of us made the best of it with some walks and excursions but my first visit to Scotland for thirty years was a tough one. I remember following the ashes test series from a very sunny London via the radio whilst the Scotland weather was washing away any semblance of summer.

The most disappointing thing was that our two year old outlook began to let in rain water from the front passenger window when the silver screen was attached. Worst aspect of that was that the water dripped onto the table (which we store on the front seat overnight) and has caused water damage. The inner square got so wet that it expanded and popped out of its fitting. (meaning that we now have a huge protrusion sticking out from the table.)

I'm not sure that I can force it back in once its all dried out but any pointers would be welcome if anyone has ever suffered the same fate?

Some of the highland camp sites were absolutely flooded out and we felt really sorry for some of the tent campers we saw.

I suspect that we'll look back and laugh one day, but for now we're still in never again mode! As we have to stick to school holidays we shall avoid going that far North again during August. I suspect that spring / autumn would be more suitable for Scotland camping. Its a lovely part of the world and I'd really like to experience it in its full glory one day.

Any suggestions about the table welcome. Are replacements available and if so how much? Also has anyone else experience a leaky silver screen? We've had ours for 18 months and never suffered a problem before. We have the original silver screen product which we always fit to the outside of the van.

Next year, we'll take the van in a southerly direction for sure!

[Graham]

Hi Chrissy and Martin

Sorry to hear you tale of woe regarding your holiday in Scotland, I'm afraid we have found that it is very much a matter of pot luck with the weather, we have been there in August in absolutely gorgeous weather but then again we have had weather the same as you have described and there is nothing worse than knowing that the rest of Britain is swathed in sunshine.

Try France next time the odds are much better the futher south you travel.

Sorry I can't help with the water damage to your table, hope you manage to get it sorted.

[viv]

Hi Chrissy and Martin,

Shame about the weather, we had 'OK' weather in Wales a couple of weeks ago whilst the south was basking in a heat wave, but 'OK' is better than what you seem to have had. One night I left my window open in the Outlook and in the morning the wet had cascaded down the inside below the window and my bedding was a bit wet. Has not happened before or since so think it was the angle of the rain and the window. Maybe we were parked a bit on a slope or who knows! But no damage for us thankfully.

The only hope I can give you is that about 5 months ago our shower room in the attic flooded and the hardboard covering over the floorboards and under the old tiles and new lino had buckled really badly. Lumps everywhere. I was all for ripping it up and re-doing it. My husband said be patient, it will go back. Took months but now, after all this time, it is almost back to normal. Don't know what it is like underneath mind!

Certainly worth waiting until your table is totally dried out before you do anything but if it is chipboard that has soaked in I don't think anything will help.

Perhaps you could try clamping it in place and weighting it down for a time. Without knowing the type of table not sure exactly what you can do.Good luck.

As a matter of interest we don't take our outlook table with us, we bought a cheap small £5 folding wooden one from Morrisons that folds flat and fits between the bench seats nicely and is stored behind the driver seat. Just takes two plates and a bottle of wine!

[barry5933]

Sept 2, 2009 13:01:48 GMT Chrissy and Martin said:

I suspect that we'll look back and laugh one day, but for now we're still in never again mode! As we have to stick to school holidays we shall avoid going that far North again during August. I suspect that spring / autumn would be more suitable for Scotland camping. Its a lovely part of the world and I'd really like to experience it in its full glory one day.

We were up there during April/May and out of the 36 days on tour, we had about 25 days of rain! Of the remainder, 4 dry days were actually in Northumberland and the only totally "dry" Scottish site we enjoyed was at Clachtoll on the north west coast.

I think that this year has more or less been a washout for Scotland, but I seem to remember that last summer the Scots enjoyed good weather while we were sheltering from gales and rain in Cornwall during June.

Just goes to show that you can't win when trying to predict the weather.

[sandwoodfolk]

It certainly has been dire. We have had very few totally dry days since the start of July, until the last week. At least heavy rain keeps the midges down, and the smaller number that do venture out are the best-washed midges in Britain!

Hoping to get up to Arisaig next week-end - often the far west coast is dry when it's wet inland. We had one weekend on the Ardamurchan peninsula when we came home sunburnt, while all the rest of the country had been drenched.

Paul