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Importance of checking your roof periodically


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We were at the fort last week and was getting ready for the rain on St Patricks day. Our RV is now two years old and is always stored in a garage. The roof I believe has seen rain probably 6 or 7 times. On Tuesday my wife went to grab a towel out of the front cabinet that is opposite of the front of the RV and all the towels were damp or wet. I figured there must be a leak. Luckily we did not have any more rain on our trip and I did not have a ladder to claim to the roof, I waited till we got home to look. I guess on a lot of TT there is a point where the front cap meets the roof and there is a piece of molding screwed between the both then caulked. Being that most every RV is slapped together very quickly and the craftsmanship that you can't see is usually always shoddy, the morons from Dutchman decided to use short zinc played self tapping screws. The heads of the last 2 screws had rusts off allowing the moulding to come through the caulk causing a gap which let water in. Thank god we noticed the wet towels or this could have gotten worse. I replaced the screws with stainless steel screws and re-caulked. This goes to show, even if you baby your RV and garage it you still have to get on the roof from time to time

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That is probably the only advice from Larry that I thought was good. Eternabond is the way to go.

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Go over all your seams with Eternabond tap. Never worry about caulking again.

http://www.eternabond.com/RV-Leak-Repair-Products-s/22.htm?Click=2112&gclid=CJrfivy0rr0CFbFaMgodwncAvQ

I was going to put this on our new camper when we bought it last year but didn't. The service center told me it caused more problems then it prevented. They said KZ quit using it because of that. So I don't know to use or not to use the stuff.

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We were at the fort last week and was getting ready for the rain on St Patricks day. Our RV is now two years old and is always stored in a garage. The roof I believe has seen rain probably 6 or 7 times. On Tuesday my wife went to grab a towel out of the front cabinet that is opposite of the front of the RV and all the towels were damp or wet. I figured there must be a leak. Luckily we did not have any more rain on our trip and I did not have a ladder to claim to the roof, I waited till we got home to look. I guess on a lot of TT there is a point where the front cap meets the roof and there is a piece of molding screwed between the both then caulked. Being that most every RV is slapped together very quickly and the craftsmanship that you can't see is usually always shoddy, the morons from Dutchman decided to use short zinc played self tapping screws. The heads of the last 2 screws had rusts off allowing the moulding to come through the caulk causing a gap which let water in. Thank god we noticed the wet towels or this could have gotten worse. I replaced the screws with stainless steel screws and re-caulked. This goes to show, even if you baby your RV and garage it you still have to get on the roof from time to time

My 2012 Dutchman 32 rl did the same thing

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I was going to put this on our new camper when we bought it last year but didn't. The service center told me it caused more problems then it prevented. They said KZ quit using it because of that. So I don't know to use or not to use the stuff.

 

I've used the stuff with very good results.  One application is 3 years old now with no issues.  

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So do you scrap off the caulk or just put it right over it?

 

For the application on my trailer roof I had removed the old caulk, because I removed the old sewer vent cap and installed one of the tornado vents.  So I was starting with a clean area where I had removed the old stuff.  I've read of people just applying over caulk however when putting the Eternabond over old seams and such.  I have no experience with that though.

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For the application on my trailer roof I had removed the old caulk, because I removed the old sewer vent cap and installed one of the tornado vents.  So I was starting with a clean area where I had removed the old stuff.  I've read of people just applying over caulk however when putting the Eternabond over old seams and such.  I have no experience with that though.

Ok thanks.

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Clean up the old caulk and roof and just put it right over. It will stick to everything except silicone. That has to be removed first.

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Dicor makes a similar material now. The only reason I can think of for a dealer to not recommend it is that it eliminates water damage and therefore cuts down on repairs. Kind of like a dentist who wouldn't recommend fluoridated toothpaste.

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Clean up the old caulk and roof and just put it right over. It will stick to everything except silicone. That has to be removed first.

That's what I do, just be careful when cleaning the rubber roof material itself. If you follow Eternabond's directions you will have no trouble. If you have an area, like I did on the MH, that has to be painted you need to buy their Web Seal material and besure you paint it . It does not have any UV protection that is already on the regular Eternabond.

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That is probably the only advice from Larry that I thought was good. Eternabond is the way to go.

I hate to say it, but I also got a good piece of advice from Larry. He mentioned that the 30 Amp plugs that we had wired in when we built the garage had to be 110 30 Amp, not 220 30 Amp.  Sure enough, I checked, and the contractor had them wired 220 30 Amp. Saved me from frying my trailer.

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