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USMC46's avatar
USMC46
Explorer
Dec 04, 2013

EternaBond Tape on Roof

I would like to apply EternaBond tape across the coach roof on the front seam. Currently there is EternaBond tape there with caulking along both sides of the tape. Can I apply the new EternaBond tape over the existing tape and caulkiing or does the old tape and caulking have to come off first ? Thanks.

5 Replies

  • USMC46 wrote:
    I would like to apply EternaBond tape across the coach roof on the front seam. Currently there is EternaBond tape there with caulking along both sides of the tape. Can I apply the new EternaBond tape over the existing tape and caulkiing or does the old tape and caulking have to come off first ? Thanks.
    The old tape and caulk does not need to come off as long as it is not coming loose from the roof and that the caulk is not silicone (aka RTV) based. Also using caulk along the edges of EternaBond really isn't necessary. The concept is about like wearing suspenders and a belt.

    The problem you may have covering the old sealant is appearance. It's going to look pretty ugly with all the lumps, bumps and such. EternaBond should last a very long time as much as 10 years plus. Unless it's damaged or not installed properly I would leave it along but it you want to move forward I would remove as much of the old tape and caulk as possible. I rework the front seal on my coach two years ago. Scraped a lot of former owner caulk and replaced with EternaBond. Now I have one smooth continuous seal that I should never need to worry about.

  • remove old caulking and loose bond. clean with mild solvent then soap and water. then alcohol. then you can apply new material over old. But, the old material must be in good shape.
  • I used Eternabond on my metal roof motorhome seams running the length of it, I did not use it on the front and rear seals, there I uses the self leveling lapping sealant. If I were to do it over again I would have not used any Eternabond, but would have wire wheeled the metal seams clean and used the sealant. The sealant lasted 23 years if it was original and looked like it was. I would have rather cleaned any old off and resealed, than o cover with the tape
  • Ebond will stick to itself if you clean it first. I recommend you remove the existing with a heat gun first and then apply new Ebond. I did that last spring to an area on my MH roof.
  • Eternabond will stick to itself very well, but will not stick to silicone. Usually you can buy it in a roll wide enough to go over the silicone, depending on how much silicone was applied.

    I have a small area on my roof where I had to apply a strip of tape and, to ensure coverage, applied one more strip on each side covering the first strip to the half way point.