HELP - NEED SOLUTION TO REPROOF PU GROUNDSHEET

Need some advice...

I recently bought a vaude spider 2 off ebay as I was looking for a 3 man 3/4 season tent on a small budget and won it for £45 + £10 postage.

Its a brilliantly made tent...very well stitched and reinforced...quite retro looking with its purple guy and peg attachments and its aluminium guy runners...and very very good v pegs.

The tent appears in such good condition you would imagine it was barely used...except...when I put it up on some damp grass I noticed that no matter where I put pressure on groundsheet it wetted out...basically groundsheet isnt waterproof.

Ive since agreed to half my purchase price back so if I can sort this cheaply it will be a bargain!

So basically...I am not considering replacing groundsheet...so want to know if anybody has had any success at reproofing them? Its not sili nylon, neither fly nor groundsheet appear to be ripstop ie little squares...

I was considering fabsil gold...but a few people have suggested they have used Thomson Waterseal to reproof groundsheets? And somebody suggested clear PVA mixed with spirits...similar idea to silicone mix for sili nylon?

Its a new one for me so any thoughts appreciated

Aquaseal Polycoat is supposed to be the thing - not tried it myself though....

a supplier

Interesting...I was about to say you'll be lucky..but Mole suggestion looks very interesting

Silicone mix (50:50 clear silicone bath sealant: white spirits) can be used on anything and is cheap & robust, but doesn't give a great finish aesthetically and is quite hard to get right on a large area. I've used it on PU successfully.

Alternatively, you could use a different barrier. Of my current 6 tents, only 2 have properly bombproof waterproof groundsheets, but this has never caused me a problem. I always use one of 1) a thin layer of polythene drop cloth (the really thin stuff used for decorating), 2) polycro, 3) thin foam mats, or 4) thick survival bag polythene under the tent and never get damp coming through. Also keeps the groundsheet clean.

I find that any tent used enough ends up with small holes in the groundsheet, particularly if, like me, you sometimes cook in the tent and get occasional sparks...

Zuma wrote (see)

silicon mix oesn't work on PU proofed fabrics 

I've yet to hear of a tent being saved when the PU coating has gone.

Good luck.

It's entirely possible for the PU coating on an old, but little used tent to degrade.  Let's hope the coating on the flysheet is either silicone, or hasn't degraded too...

Grounsheet coatings are generally on the inside of the tent, where they're relatively protected.

> and won it for £45 + £10 postage

<pedant>

You bought it on eBay.  If you pay for something, it's not 'winning'; that's just eBay's psychology to get people into a bidding frenzy.  Don't fall for it.

</pedant>

Vaude got back to me and sort of said in a roundabout way...tough luck.

Bought some polythene to make a cheap but light footprint and am currently mixing some concoctions from DIY store onto scrap nylon to see what the results are.

Shame, but worth a try.  I wonder if they offered a solution?

FWIW, Terra Nova do repairs and mods to others' tents.  But probably not that cheap.  Tundra may be able to help.  Otherwise, suggest manage as best you can to see what you make of the tent then, if you really like it, consider longer term options?