Rust on exterior, from inside drip rail/rain gutter.

I,d look at the screws they used, if there rusty? remove and by stainless ones. one size bigger. and put a dab of a good rv sealer in the hole and on each screw.

midnightsadie wrote:
I,d look at the screws they used, if there rusty? remove and by stainless ones. one size bigger. and put a dab of a good rv sealer in the hole and on each screw.

These are screws under the drip rail (covered by it), the only way to get to them would be to pull it all off the RV. I don't think that is going to happen.

I will post pictures.

I have a small gutter above the slideout on my KZ and suppose many brands have the same. Despite the trailer being stored indoors except when in use, the screws rusted due to poor workmanship. The gutter had butyl or putty tape that only served to guide water to the screws. I repaired using fresh tape in the right location, stainless steel screws, caulking and fiberglass repair resin. Photos

So how do you get the rust stains off the body?

buy a bottle of CLR it should do the job. just my .02cts worth ,I,d pull all those screws. , your in florida, nice time of year to work outside.

The screw that is rusting is covered by the drip rail. There is no getting to it other than ripping the rail off, which ain't gonna happen.



It was getting a little dark so you can't see, but the rust streak comes out from under the driprail, not from the driprail. Most of the driprail is caulked on the bottom, this part isn't (about 4 inches).

apr67 wrote:

midnightsadie wrote:
I,d look at the screws they used, if there rusty? remove and by stainless ones. one size bigger. and put a dab of a good rv sealer in the hole and on each screw.

These are screws under the drip rail (covered by it), the only way to get to them would be to pull it all off the RV. I don't think that is going to happen.

I will post pictures.

The screws are under the vinyl snap trim. Typically they install the roof membrane and let it hang wild over the side, then screw the gutter or awning rail over it. If they actually used butyl tape is hit and miss. Then they seal the top of the gutter extrusion to the roof membrane with non sag roof sealant, take a razor knife and cut the excess roof membrane off at the bottom of the gutter, and snap in the vinyl. The vinyl snap trim is not water tight by a longshot. If the gutter gets debris in it water is getting in that snap trim and to the screws.

Most manufacturers do not caulk the bottom edge of the gutter or awning rail to the sidewall. This lets any water that gets behind the snap trim and to the screws run out between the extrusion and the roof membrane in theory if it gets through the screws. Once the screws corrode enough chances are its getting inside the wall. Once it gets in the wall that is how delam starts.

Pull the snap trim, replace all the screws with ss screws and pump a good sealant in the holes before you run them in. Then remove all the sealant from the underside of the rails at the sidewalls. New snap trim is cheap.

So as it turns out I was kinda wrong and right.

The head of every screw holding the drip rail on is rusty as hell. However the only rust on the side is where they failed to caulk the underside.

So I am going to caulk it and ignore it, knowing that Jayco did a cr@p job and that this driprail will fail and delam down the road.

If I understand your last post correctly, you are going to caulk the underside joint between the drip rail and the sidewall, which is only going to trap water behind the drip rail. The fact that rust is running down your wall means that water is getting through the screw holes in the gutter, and maybe all the way into your wall. If you stop the water from running out from behind the gutter, where will that water go?

As you've already been advised, I think the smart thing to do is remove and replace the screws, and caulk behind each one as you go. You can do them one at a time, so you don't have to remove the gutter. If you don't stop the water from getting behind the gutter, you are going to have bigger problems.

It is also possible that the builder didn't seal the top edge of the gutter, where the rubber roof tucks behind it. While you're up there, clean and caulk this joint as well. The Geocell caulk you mentioned should be a good choice for both jobs, just stay away from silicone caulk.

Finally, make sure your gutter is cleaned out, straight, and drains water. It looks as though it's trapping and holding water, judging from those rust stains at the screws.

Good luck!
Regan