Washing the roof

[ColinM50]

Collected the caravan from winter storage this afternoon and on the way back home stopped off at the local clandestine car wash place and asked the chappie there how much to wash the van. He seemed a bit vague and said how about a tenner? OK I told him, "how do you do the roof?". "Oh we send the smallest chap up a ladder and he stands on the edges of the roof and then foams and presure washes the roof". I must admit that scared the crop out of me so I asked him how many times they'd done that and does it cause any damage to the roof and what guarantee do they give against damage and all of a sudden he couldn't speak very good English and didn't understand and he and a buddy started mumbling and shrugging shoulders. By this time a couple of the other lads had the pressure washers out and were starting to wash the rest of the van but I thought better of it and stopped them

Apart from the fact that washing the van for a tenner seems remarkably good value, roof or not, it was the thought of the chappie on the roof that worried me. I went up a ladder at the side of the van and it is a bit green especially around the roof vents and I think the PW will creep inside and make it all wet.

What does anyone else think? Are the roofs of van strong enough to stand on or should I do it from a laddder with a mop and low power hose or am I worrying unnecessarily?

Oh and if it makes any difference it's a Compass Liberte 18/4L

[nagsheadwarrior]

A lot of motorhome roofs are walkable,caravans generally arent designed for it particularly english ones like your compass.
Ladder,hose and extending brush will do the job and its only 2-3 times a year isnt it or get your local dealer to do it,we've got a scaffold at work for doing roofs.

[Tyre Smoke]

Blokey who fitted our satellite dish to the roof of our van was on the roof for ages. He said most vans will take the weight, but he spread it with a board of about a metre square with a bit of carpet on it. He says it very much depends on the van roof construction, but most modern vans are okay.

2011 Sterling Eccles Amethyst.

[mercfunder]

Tyre Smoke said:

Blokey who fitted our satellite dish to the roof of our van was on the roof for ages. He said most vans will take the weight, but he spread it with a board of about a metre square with a bit of carpet on it. He says it very much depends on the van roof construction, but most modern vans are okay.

2011 Sterling Eccles Amethyst.

It does very much depend on the roof construction, and whether the roof is Aluminium or GRP.
I don't think I would be happy with anyone up on it for too long.

[marshal_alan]

do NOT put a pressure washer anywhere near a caravan, it will force the water between seams and seals and invite damp. Gentle hose at most. personally I prefer a good old fashioned bucket and sponge or brush. For the roof spray watered down fenwicks caravan cleaner or muck off on and and give a gentle hosing but be blooming careful near rooflights or joints. Or being a lazy git i generally go out during heavy rain ( I wont rust) and spray on fenwicks and it brings my roof up a treat

al (97 fleetwood garland with no damp)

[ColinM50]

Thanks chaps. In the end I put a ladder up the side and used a floor mop with car shampoo and then a gentle hose off the suds. Didn't see the point of the pressure washer in the end, it wasn't as dirty as I'd thought.

Cleaned all the black streaks off the front with a fibreglass cleaner and then today gave it a clean and spray with a resin polish called Nyalic. Stunning shiny finish. Expensive but very impressed with the ease of use and the finish. Time will tell how it lasts.

Again, thanks for the pointers