Rienza Habitation Service

When we bought the Rienza we paid for a habitation warranty and service package. This has now run out so I decided to use a local motorhome caravan garage nearer than Norfolk. 
The service was very thorough with every thing they had done explained to me including the damp check. He found high readings inside the n/s rear corner under the seat. I thought this was odd because the paper work for last year said "unable to check" in this area. When I was shown were he found the damp it was not hard to see and were it has come from. This is some what infuriating considering it was a large caravan dealers that did the last service. I wont name and shame them but it proves the bigger companies cant be trusted. 
Apparently the frame for the locker door had no sealant between it and the side panel. Over the years it must have been slowly letting water into the locker. Considering the motorhome is 13 years old it should be a lot worse than it is. 
We are going to leave the damp problem until next winter when the caravan season is over and the garage is a bit quieter. Another six months during the summer isnt going make things much worse than 13 years worth. 
We have had a lot use out of the Rienza and feel it will be worth having the work done. This is our retirement motorhome and we dont want the potential problems of  buying another motorhome. We could end up with another saga like our Duetto rust monster.

I have been tidying the under seat locker area today and had a proper look at were the damp patch is.
It took a bit of finding prooving how thorough the inspection was this time. It is the very corner of the locker were the side and back come together. Also there is a two inch wide strip of carpeted trim along the underside of the locker opening that must have acted like a sponge.
How far this has gone will only be revealed once the panneling is removed. This must be were any damp collected after leaking past the locker door suround.
Thinking of keeping the damp out I looked at the catches for the locker door to try and tighten the seal when closed. They are a plastic catch with no means of adjustment. The seal looks good so I may try putting something on the seal to keep it from going hard and letting water in.
Hopefully the rest of the motorhome will not have any hidden nasties with the rest of the readings being under ten.

What was the damp reading for the area you have mentioned?
We are looking into a possible damp problem. Found I can go somewhere for a free damp check so going to do that for a second opinion first.

The near side corner inside the locker was 60-80. The rest of the motorhome was no higher than 16. I didn't dispute his findings because he showed me the afected area and it was wet to the touch.
I hope the second opinion doesn't find anything worse than you already know about, I hate unexplained surprises.

That's helpful. Thanks. I hope you are able to get yours sorted. Ours is our retirement and final motorhome too so we need to sort it. Could just have done without this!

If the rest of the readings are true on ours and it has been repaired properly we dont see any reason not to keep the Rienza. There have been lots of thoughts about some thing smaller but I cant go through the trouble of looking and maybe getting more problems than the few we have had so far.
Meanwhile we are going to get the most out of the Rienza until winter then pick a date for the repairs to start. As you said Helen, a hole in the retirement fund so early was not planned. By then management will be fully retired so we will have more time to be out and about so that will be worth looking forward to.

Yes - get out and about and enjoy it as much as possible. We are similar age to you (I think) but our motorhoming days are towards the end due to health problems - it is just getting too much for my husband to upkeep and drive etc. Will hang onto it as long as we possibly can but just so glad we didn't wait for retirement to get one and use it. Lots of happy memories in UK and abroad over 15 + years now. Whatever happens we have to sort out the damp problem anyway whether its to keep and use a bit longer or eventually sell. Will be very sad when that day comes!!

Happy travels and adventures. HH