Can a touring caravan be disassembled and then reassembled easily?

[Simon Robinson 4Participant @simonrobinson4]

I might be able to get a 4.5 metre long Luna Meterorite touring caravan which I’d like to use for storing stuff. Problem is I can not get it into the back garden because the garage is in the way and there is no other access to the back garden for large items.

Could the caravan be dismantled side by side and carried through to the back and then reassembled?

[Simon Robinson 4Participant @simonrobinson4]

[Robert ButlerParticipant @robertbutler92161]

No!

Robert Butler

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

It is probably rivetted together so half of them will drill out ok but the other half will spin. So you will need to get at the other side to hold them though I guess you would have stripped the inside anyway.

I think you would be better off finding a not too old tin garage someone wants to be taken apart and removed. They are held together by selftapping screws typically which will cam out the screwdriver but you can get at the inside to undo them with mole grips.

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

I certainly wouldn’t want to take mine apart, get a bloke with a crane and lift it over the garage, they’re not very heavy.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

I helped strip one down to build a camper using many of the parts .The internals are nailed from behind. Literaly has to be destroyed to strip. Big job but not impossible. Anything can be done.

Steve.

[JellyParticipant @jelly]

Posted by Baz on 12/03/2023 23:01:45:

I certainly wouldn’t want to take mine apart, get a bloke with a crane and lift it over the garage, they’re not very heavy.

I have known someone do this with 2 × 40ft shipping containers, bought a "contract lift" from Ainscough to pick them up off a truck in the road and drop them behind his house, done at 2AM to minimise disruption to traffic.

It wasn't expensive relative to what he was doing (buying two refurbed containers as an alternative to having an outbuilding constructed), but it wasn't an inconsequential amount of money either.

Unless Simon is good pals with a crane owner, I probably wouldn't bother asking as buying a cheap shed would be more economically.

As an aside, caravans (and portacabins) inevitably suffer horrendously with leaking, leading to intractable issues with damp, mould and fungus as they deteriorate with age, and I wouldn't personally consider using one as a storage unit for that reason.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Bit like a cross between dismantling and reassembling a house and a car. I would not go there.

Couple of cheap self-assemble garden sheds from the hardware store might be better.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I copied Tommy Walsh's basic design to build my own.

 

Martin C

 

PS I didn't put in any glazing and only made a plain gable ended roof (but plenty of lighting).

Edited By Martin Connelly on 13/03/2023 08:40:51

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for that link, Martin

MichaelG.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Not a hope ! get a crane or BIG hiab ! Or formulate plan B ! Noel

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Not possible. Even getting the awning rails off could be a nightmare. I have just done the awning rail seals & replaced the shower room wallboard in my 2007 Bailey 620/6 and that was bad enough. Caravans are glued and screwed together in a way that makes it very difficult to dismantle them.

regards

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Caravans are a flimsy steel chassis, then a thin ply floor, a basic wooden structure and aluminium or plastic panels stuck over the top. The cabinets, bed base and other features are structural. There isn't much room inside them considering the space they take up. This all makes them a poor choice for storage. Buy a shed instead.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Would it be easier to dismantle the garage? Obviously not if it is brick and tile construction.

Mike

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

No it is not possible, basically!]

A caravan of any sort is not designed to be turned into a kit and re-assembled!

They also deteriorate with age, without a lot of maintenance more difficult than that for a conventional shed. Eventually they develop leaks that are not impossible, but are difficult, to locate and repair.

A shipping-container is poorly-ventilated but prone to heavy condensation. The latter can be ameliorated by insulation but you'd need be mindful of condensation betwixt lagging and steel. The lack of ventilation, unless you fit adequate an form, is shown by that ones lost overboard from container ships take a very long time to sink, and depending on their loading can float submerged.

A caravan or shipping-container looks like what is is – a false-economy substitute, fine in good condition and in their context, but very unattractive with weathering.

There is a further point. A container will take it, if correctly stood on levelled pads; but a caravan floor is designed for a few people walking on it, and is slightly elastic. A caravan would not be suitable for anything more than storing items that will fit though its narrow door in one side; and to a modest overall mass. It would be useless if you later want to operate machine-tools in it without more extra work, even if you can put them into the caravan.

As others have said, by the time you have bought a caravan or container, hired a crane to install it, and modified it to suit, you will have been far better off in hours and ££ buying a proper sectional building. It will also look the part, in a domestic garden!

Looking at the video-link photo reminds me of a useful modification I have seen to the gable of a concrete-section garage used as a store. It is fitted with double doors readily allowing most of the joists' area to be used for storing long but fairly light-weight items like extension-ladders and PVC building materials.

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