With the winter months now drawing in, the leaves falling off the trees and a cold chill in the air, the time of year has arrived once more when we all start to batten down the hatches and think about protecting ourselves against potentially torrid winter weather.
Late autumn and the start of winter is also the time of year when caravan owners will need to complete essential winter care to prevent spending significant sums on caravan repairs Yorkshire when the sunny spring season arrives next year.
But, what exactly do you need to do to protect your caravan against the onslaught of the winter weather? Are there essential winter precautions that every caravan owner must take to ensure that they’re able to repeatedly hit the road once the warmer weather returns? Yes. Here’s a handful of top tips to protect your caravan this winter?
Cover the Caravan
Let’s face it, garaging your caravan can be quite difficult, especially if you have a single garage or a household with two cars. Wherever you choose to store your caravan throughout the winter months, you must ensure that it’s protected against the poor weather.
Covering your caravan is integral to preventing mobile caravan repairs Yorkshire. Not only will this prevent your caravan from potentially becoming damaged over the winter months, it will minimise any cleaning you’ll have to do in the spring season.
Covers should be durable, whilst not completely engulfing your caravan in a taught material. Allowing enough air flow under the cover is imperative to ensuring that you caravan will be well-protected. Alternatively, you could choose to apply an inexpensive, yet tough protective coating to the exterior of your caravan. This will protect your caravan throughout the winter months and is easy to wash off come the spring.
Make Sure the Bodywork is Protected
Even if you decide to add a protective coating to the exterior of your caravan, to prevent caravan body repairs Yorkshire, you’ll still need to make sure that the caravan is sparklingly clean before covering it for the winter.
For the best results you should use caravan-specific cleaning products. These have been specifically formulated for caravans and will provide an optimal clean. Avoid using pressure washers as these are liable to damage the paintwork and seals.
Whilst you’re cleaning your caravan, take the opportunity to carefully inspect for existing damage or mould. Before you store your caravan for the winter, make sure to fix any underlying issues. This will prevent further damage throughout the winter season.
Clean the Interior
It’s paramount that you clean the interior of your caravan. This serves two separate purposes – you remove the opportunity for mould to spread throughout the damp winter season and ensure that anything potentially important isn’t left unattended to in the caravan and forgotten during the winter season.
If you wish to prevent the build-up of mildew, simply leave the fridge door slightly ajar. It’s also important that you remove and store any cushions away from caravan walls and make sure that all windows and doors are securely locked. This will prevent any expensive spring caravan servicing Yorkshire. Simple as it may sound, it’s also important to do this to protect your caravan against opportunistic thieves.
Drain the Toilet
It may not be the most pleasant job but cleaning and draining the toilet help maintain its functionality and potentially save you on the expense of caravan servicing Yorkshire in the spring.
Cassette toilets should be drained and cleaned thoroughly before storing and the waste tank will need to be cleaned and sterilised. In addition, the valve blade that seals the toilet from the waste tank should also be cleaned before being wiped with a suitable lubricant and then left open to ensure that it won’t become stuck throughout the winter.
Make Sure the Gas is Disconnected
Finally, we can’t emphasis enough how important it is to make sure that the gas is disconnected when you store your caravan for the winter months. Always close the cylinder valves and disconnect the gas from the mains.
Always make sure that you store cylinders according to safety instructions. Any caravan repairs Yorkshire will be completely unnecessary – not to mention it being extremely dangerous if your caravan incurs damage from not efficiently managing the gas supply throughout the winter months.
If you’re using a caravan storage operator this winter, make sure that you consult their guidance before storing gas cylinders and, a word of caution, some storage operators will refuse to store gas cannisters with caravans. If this is the case, you’ll need to find an appropriate and alternative means to store your gas cannisters safely.
Follow these five guidelines and you’ll safely and securely store your caravan this winter, saving you costly potential mobile caravan repairs Yorkshire and give you complete peace of mind throughout the winter months.
