Sealant joint and maintenace

homer1959 · 03-01-2015, 05:09 PM

I fully understand the importance of good maintenance, I've watched many video in regards of roof maintenance, however something isn't clear.

I understand that you have to look around any opening on the roof, a.c. vent etc etc , you also have to look at the junction of the roof and the front and back wall.

The sides however look different to me, there is a joint on the street side running from front to back and another one just above the awning if I am not mistaken. They are little lower than the roof line, that looks to me like a trim screw in the the side wall and recover from a rubber strip , am I making sense so far ? I'm going by memory only since I dont have my trailer here with me.

What should I do with these seal and the one that are similar at the vertical junction of the side , front and rear walls ?

I'm asking since there is no silicone visible along those seal and I wonder if I should add sealant in those location ? Thanks guys !

Paintinfool3 · 03-01-2015, 06:57 PM

Good question I have not looked at what they do with the top side of the side wall to roof trim ... I would say it should be sealed as there are screws under the trim that go into the wall .... Unless there is a sealer on the backside of that trim that seals off the screws and the roof material to wall then water would definitely creep under that and possibly into the wall

homer1959 · 03-01-2015, 08:56 PM

I would think too, so some Dicor on the top of the molding would not hurt ?

**Crabman** · 03-01-2015, 09:24 PM

These metal joints on the side of the roof and on the trailer corners have a butyl type tape caulk under them and they are held on by screws. Then there is a vinyl trim insert that covers the screws. From what I understand the only way to properly reseal them if the sealant fails would be to remove the insert, screws and joint, remove the old sealant and apply fresh butyl tape and then put the whole thing back together. This would be quite an undertaking and hopefully would not be necessary for many years. Not sure if your suggestion of applying sealant around the edges would help or not.

Another consideration is these screws can rust and shrink over time, possibly leading to leaks. I suppose that is why we have heard the expression here on these forums "Its not if an RV will leak, but when".

homer1959 · 03-01-2015, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabman

"Its not if an RV will leak, but when".

Well I really liked this one

Adding sealant to the vertical line at front and back is probably overkill, but for the top horizontal one ? My idea is if the water cant go to the butyl tape the water cant go behind it ? Anyway like you said we cant win

**Crabman** · 03-01-2015, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homer1959

Well I really liked this one

Adding sealant to the vertical line at front and back is probably overkill, but for the top horizontal one ? My idea is if the water cant go to the butyl tape the water cant go behind it ? Anyway like you said we cant win

I suppose it could help. The next time I am up on my roof for my Spring inspection I will give that roof joint a good look over.......

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