appalling material to consruct a motorhome interior

[Neil Hunt]

I used some insulation tape to help secure a wedge to hold the fridge door open when not in use and have found the tape removed the PAPER VENEER off the side of the cabinet. I had placed the tape on the fridge door and on to the cabinet side to hold it in place and slightly ajar as the door itself has no facility for this.

 

It is hard to believe that a motorhome, which even with careful usage will inevitably suffer knocks and spills, would be constructed from such a flimsy, fragile and unsuitable material. Last seen in my experience on a child's doll's house.

 

Can anyone help with any ideas for a cover up of the ugly white scar of under surface now showing? I have tried a wood stain to match the paper veneer colour but the board will not take this.

 

 

[Guest Tracker]

I am indeed surprised to hear that your fridge has no means of holding it ajar - what model is the fridge?

 

If it is the type held shut by a pin through a metal bracket and into the door itself at the leading edge of the door it is simplicity itself to drill a new hole very close to the door's inside edge and inserting the pin in this second hole will do the job very well.

 

If it has a locking catch midway along the top of the door then this catch has two positions the second of which holds the door ajar.

 

I am far from surprised at the damage sustained as it seems to be symptomatic of modern vans and their makers quest to reduce costs - oh sorry I mean reduce weight don't I?

 

Paper veneer has been used for many years in van furniture construction and has always been susceptible to easy damge but the quality of the veneer does not always now seem to be what it once was - now where have I heard that before!

 

The easiest repair solution may be the Blue Peter way with sticky backed plastic!

[colin]

Without seeing it, it's hard to tell which grade it was made with, but just to let you know paper veneer, or as we used to call it catafoil(trade name) is widely used throu out all the furniture industries, this even includes school furniture which I would guess takes a lot more punishment than your average motorhome.

[Neil Hunt]

Hi Tracker

 

Yes the fridge is the very common Dometic with the lock in the centre of the door. If you drive with the door in the 'ajar' position in rattles like mad hence the tape. I have also used a small piece of wood with two pins to hold the door open a little more and let more air circulate

 

Hi Colin,

 

I have absolutely no knowledge about what's usual practice in furniture construction but I have had the pleasure of spending most of my working life in education and if furniture was constructed with this stuff it would not have lasted five minutes. From recollection most tables and cupboards I came across had a durable hard plastic finish, ugly perhaps but hard wearing.

I also have a newish but very, very cheap contract filing cabinet at home from Viking I think, which has a plasticky veneer that would not come off under the attention of some insulating tape or a wet cloth.

 

Whatever the reasons for use of the material in my van, and I suspect it is an appearance/cost equation rather than one of durability/cost , it has very limited durability if maintaining its appearance is a standard.

[Brambles]

Artists paints! Mix and match, and repaint the wood grain effect.

Alternatively find an area of the same panel material, such as in a locker, where you can remove a thin slice of the 'foil' . Then use to patch the damaged area.

[Guest Tracker]

I would never drive with the door held in the ajar position as I consider that lateral movement would put under pressure on the plastic catch - as well as make it rattle - and a rattling catch is a weakened catch!

[shirles]

We have a swift bolero and cupboard door above the hob kept coming open when on the move,so we stopped and put some tape over it. When we got to are site the veneer came off with the tape.When the van went in for it's habitation service the dealer said it was quite common and applied some touch-up paint.Since then we've had other problems with the build quality and when on the move it creaks like an old boat. That said we still love it.

[Neil Hunt]

Hi Shirles

 

Same here "love the van hate the build quality". Copious use of door and window draft excluder on cupboard doors has reduced the noise considerably, no longer sounds like a biscuit tine full of marbles.

 

I'm sure the manufacturers first priority is looks rather than durability and function. Maybe that's their main market's priority too.

[flicka]

Not offering an excuse for the Manufacturer's, but I suspect Dometic's use of "print veneer" is due to them being able to match ALL the different manufacturers differing choice of wood effect / colours.

It would be economically unviable for them to produce all the different shades required in any other material. Never mind the delivery delays it would entail.

 

Neil, is it possible to match your Fridge Door colour / shade with wood effect "Fablon" or similar, (still stocked by B&Q+ others)

[Brambles]

Flicka, Dometic is not the problem. Dometic supply with a standard range of veneers and they are of fine quality. If a customer wants to match (the motorhome builder) he buys the fridge without panels, or removes the supplied panel, and fits his own to match rest of furniture. So no need to defend Dometic.

In the orignal post it is noted the insulating tape was attached to the fridge door and wrapped around onto the furniture panels. It was on the furniture housing the fridge the surface was removed. That is what I read out of it anyway.

 

[Randonneur]

Neil Hunt - 2010-09-15 10:57 PM

 

Hi Tracker

 

Yes the fridge is the very common Dometic with the lock in the centre of the door. If you drive with the door in the 'ajar' position in rattles like mad hence the tape. I have also used a small piece of wood with two pins to hold the door open a little more and let more air circulate

 

I don't understand why you would want to drive with the fridge door open even if its empty. Surely you would close it and then when parked up for a period of time then keep the door ajar. As soon as we empty our fridge and park the van at the side of the house then the door is left ajar but when on the road, even if empty, we close the door.

[Brian Kirby]

You now know, the hard way, that certain internal finishes are fragile!  On the basis that you won't do that again, the problem is the repair.  I assume you tried the wood stain on the area, so any further attempts will have to cover the effect of the wood stain? 

If so, Brambles suggestion of judicious use of artists' - preferably acrylic - paint, offers the best bet.  If you experimented with the woodstain elsewhere, you may be able to get a good match for the grain by using good quality artists' coloured pencils. 

The key is to experiment elsewhere, and then transfer the best technique to the affected area.  You may find a base coat of acrylic, in the lightest colour present, worked over with darker coloured pencil to match the "grain" figuring works best.  To finish, try fixative, or even hairspray, to seal the result.

[Rod_vw]

Yet another reason for building my own interior!

 

Vohringer laminate for the timber parts, SMEV for the cooker, Grill & Sink Unit, Waeco fridge / freezer (yes I know they are both owned by the Dometic group) Reimo for the seat / bed mechanism, etc.

 

Folks say that this style of construction looks a little utilitarian but it withstands use as an every day vehicle without all of the above problems.

 

The only rattle I have is from the flame guard on the hob lid, fixed with a tea towel folded on top of the hob. My Waeco fridge is designed to have the door in the 'vented position' when on the move and not in use.

[peedee]

Have you looked in the DIY shops for sticky backed plastic (Fablon). When I damaged a top surface in a caravan I simply bought a sheet of this which was as close a match as possible, cut it to the size of the whole area and stuck it on. You would never have known a repair had been effected unless you were told.

 

peedee

[Brambles]

There is another way to hide the damage.

Take a digital picture of a matching section of the pattern, print it out on a label (or paper), and cut to shape and stick over the damage. It takes a few printing tries adjusting the picture but once matched is surprisingly effective.

If you have a colour laser printer even better because you can use acetone to transfer the image from the paper to the surface, ink face down rub back of paper with cloth and acetone. The toner transfers to the surface.

 

 

[PJay]

you can buy tubes of filler for repairing laminate floors. (in different shades)This spead on , then sanded down may do it. We damaged the top of one of our work surfaces and this is what we used to repair it

Though why you teravel with door open does seem daft.

PJay

[JohnP]

Is it possible for you to paste a photo of the damage so that we can access the possibilities of a repair.

 

[dwaviation]

Remove the damaged panel and recover with any of these

 

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Vale-Veneers__W0QQ_fsubZ10

 

The repair should be undetectable

[Blizzard]

Neil Hunt - 2010-09-15 5:02 PM Can anyone help with any ideas for a cover up of the ugly white scar of under surface now showing? I have tried a wood stain to match the paper veneer colour but the board will not take this.

 

 

Neil,

 

We suffered a similar problem when the previous owner had stuck one of those plastic self adhesive tea towel holders on to the facia behind our travelling seats (adjacent to the fridge) It pulled away a few months ago, tearing the veneer from underneath and exposing the base wood.

 

I bought an oval shaped piece of wood that had 2 small metal coat hooks mounted on it and trimmed the damaged veneer to an area slightly smaller than the oval. I then applied a "no nails" type adhesive to the oval and lightly screwed it over the damaged area.

 

This has given us a reasonably strong coat or tea towel hook and the adhesive has sealed and covered the damaged veneer, preventing it peeling any further.

 

Obviously this will only be of use if the damage is in a suitable area,

 

 

Ken.

 

[pilote742]

Try fence paint which comes in all shades it is a very good way of hising small marks, some m/h use this in the edges of the wood to match the colour. I would advise trying on a place that cannot be seen first and build up with a number of coats.

 

Philip

[roger s]

I queried the stick on wood grain with A-S earlier in the year by calling it Fablon and was told the wood finish in our van is "Cherry" - no arguments over it being stick on and like yours its suffering.

Our last van a "real" A-S had real wood doors with s woodstained finish which was still like new when it was sold 8 years old. Maybe the use of stick on wood finish encourages people to swop vans more often

[Neil Hunt]

Many thanks for all your ingenious suggestions, some of which are remarkably hi tech (colour printers etc) I do appreciate your help.

 

It is only a small area although visible as you enter van. I have an obsession with things being well engineered and fit for purpose and so a lot of my irritation arises from that. While I would not abuse the van I don't like the idea that I have to 'nurse' it either.

 

The reason I sometimes drive with the fridge ajar is we have a small drive and I have to move the van frequently to get around the back of the house and I also use it to pop out to the shops and sometimes forget to jump in the back to check everything.

 

If I haven't then secured the door properly on its centre locking position the door flies open or bounces on the lock causing it to jam and requiring the lock to be removed and reset. (I have seen the Dometic lock in the accessory list on one of the sites suggesting this is not an infrequent occurrence for others too.)

 

So when 'laid up', some insulation tape from the fridge door to the cabinet side seemed an simple solution. The glue on insulation tape has limited grab unless wrapped around itself so I it did not occur to me that this would be a problem.

 

I think there is general problem with vehicle construction being focused on appearance (it does look nice even if obviously fake) and it is not difficult to see why manufacturers do this. Other consumer products, cameras, TVs, white goods, and cars are reviewed on the basis of functionality and sometimes with looks as but one standard. It would be helpful, and possibly a driver for improvement, if the same applied with motorhome reviews.

 

One small example from our van, the seat cushions are held in place with small straps that attach to a stud screwed in to the wall board which is something like 3mm ply. There is no way the tiny screw will support the stress put on it by the weight of the cushions, and similarly the loose screen frames on the windows may well result from the same problem. Larger screws would risk damaging the shells and would have no more grip eventually in the thin ply either. I am sure there must be a specialist fixing that would give adequate strength.

 

Anyway mustn't grumble have just got back from a great weekend at the Cornish Bluegrass Festival in Newquay enjoying all the comforts of our camper van.