I'm fairly new to RVing and had thought I'd found a good local (San Antonio, TX) service center to help me keep my fifth wheel in good repair. I just had it in for repairs. They were supposed to check all seals and clean out old caulk and re-seal everywhere necessary. I was in a rush on pick-up, only checked the areas I knew were problems. Those were dealt with, though their invoice indicated they addressed far more areas than I found had fresh caulk. Later, I pulled out my ladder and really went over all the seams (I was doing slide seal maintenance). On my detail check... I found multiple areas where the old caulk was cracked & they did nothing.I took photos and challenged them on the issue since I'd specifically told them I wanted to be proactive and I thought much of the 5-yr old caulk was going bad. Their response: 1) since I'd driven the RV (10 miles), new cracks had appeared due to road stress & flex2) there is no reason to replace aged caulk, just wait for the cracks to appear and only fix the part with cracksI say BS to both. But... I am new and may have an unrealistic expectation. I'm currently planning on dealing with the caulking myself. It can't be all that different from caulking traditional kitchen & bathroom borders and I have done that.Advice / Recommendations welcome!

You are correct, doing it yourself is a very good option. However, just because the caulk is cracked does not mean it's leaking.When removing old caulk, use a hair dryer or a heat gun on low and a plastic scraper. Just take your time.There are chemical caulk removers available.If the old caulk is solid, I leave it in place and apply new over top the old. Clean well before applying the caulk.Use Dicor Self Leveling caulk on horizontal surfacesConsider using Eternabond tape on the seams and wherever practical.If you chose to not to DIY, call a Mobile RV Tech.

It sounds like they didn't do what you wanted however, a lot depends on what you specially asked them to do. Did you ask them to remove and replace all of the caulk? It sounds like you didn't. In that case you left it to their judgement as to what needed replaced. While replacing all of the caulk is probably good it is also very expensive in manhours as all of the old caulk has to be scraped out, the area cleaned and then new caulk added. Due to the high cost most owners only replace the areas that are cracked. Doing it yourself is not difficult just time consuming to do it right. In regard to cracks that you see are they surface cracks or do they go all the way through the old caulk?

Yes, the cracks went all the way through the old caulk. In some places, the caulk was completely broken away and gone. BTW - the worst example of what they missed is the vertical seam on the side at the very back of the trailer. It is all cracked and at least 25% is completely gone.I didn't tell them to replace all of the caulk, but I did tell them that wherever it was cracked, they should clean and reseal the entire seam. I'd expected it to be pricy and had been surprised when the cost was so low. The price was fair for the limited areas they actually took care of. It definitely a disconnect between my expectations and their 'professional judgement'.

I would think that if the price was less than you expected you got less than you expected. Take it somewhere else or call a mobile tech and explain EXACTLY what you expect. Good luck.

Think twice before you pay for someone to do the recaulking. It is slow work to remove the old caulk and recaulk. You are going to pay a lot of money for a simple task you could do yourself. As long as you are agile enough to get on the roof, it just takes some time. It is also best to do it yourself because any mistake can lead to a leak and serious damage.

RV Service Centers... and Caulking | Good Sam Community

Hondavalk
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2018
Agree with DutchmenSport on not removing the old caulk. Have always just cleaned and touched up. Also to afidel it is fairly common to just replace a single bad coil pack although I don't understand why the engines head was pulled for replacing the pack???
D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Jun 12, 2018
I am going along with the DIY crowd. I was not aware of the Winnebago caulking requirements for the roof to body seams and evidently neither were the previous two owners. Last raining season 2016/17, the roof leaked and I didn't see it until we pulled it out of storage and opened the slide. The white ceiling material was badly stained and the caulking an absolute bugger to replace. Plastic scrappers were useless and I used a utility knife, window paint scraper and hooked tool I made myself to remove the caulking from the fiberglass roof and aluminum body trim.

Heat was of no use at all due to the location and after the caulk was removed the cleaning and drying and scrubbing and all those other adjectives were a pain. I'm not too spry, my 78th birthday will be Father's Day next week and I developed tendinitis due to the shape of the rungs of the ladder.

Had I taken it to the local dealer or had the guys at the storage yard do it it would have been 8 tubes of caulk($12 to $15 a tube and all would have been self leveling and that is not what is called out in the Winnie manual. I know this because they caulked our last rig and didn't remove any old or damaged caulk.

I can live with the pain in the heel but not with more leaks, it's done and it was done correctly. And it only took three and a quarter tubes of caulk.
afidel
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2018
Hondavalk wrote:
Agree with DutchmenSport on not removing the old caulk. Have always just cleaned and touched up. Also to afidel it is fairly common to just replace a single bad coil pack although I don't understand why the engines head was pulled for replacing the pack???

Transverse mounted V6, can't get to the rear bank without pulling the intake manifold (sorry, disremembered what had to be pulled, just remembered it was freaking expensive on the labor side)
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 15, 2018
I've never removed old caulk, either. I found Eternabond tape to be an excellent alternative. Just apply over the old caulk, making sure to use the proper tape width so that there is enough area for it to seal to next to the caulk( if I recall, I used 4" width tape). It's usually a permanent fix when done correctly.

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