Northwood factory sealant/Sikaflex useable shelf life

I keep all my sealants, Dicor, Eternabond and Butyl in the freezer until I need them, then I take a tube out and let it get to room temperature and use it. Never used Sikaflex. I imagine the same regimen would work however.

Sikaflex 521 UV was used by Snowbird / Snowriver at the factory. It is a UV resistant polyurethane sealant material.

Joe, just remember once you Sikaflex that joint it will become permanent. I remember when Snowriver TC's used Sikaflex on everything and Bob, the owner of Snowriver, would demonstrate the strength of Sikaflex by removing the screws that held the camper jacks and the camper just stood there.

thanks so much for posting this, It looks like I will be doing the same thing as my seams are coming apart as well. please keep us updated on the fix and what northwood says. I am sure northwood is going to point the finger at you somehow and not take any blame for anything...they seem to be good at that.

I did a lot of work sealing an area with Geocel caulk that apparently was too old. Anyway the caulk did not stick well and I had to redo the whole job. Is it really worth trying to save a few dollars when doing an important job?

If it can be applied in a normal manner it is usable. (Like a new tube) Those dates are there to remove liability from the manufacturer so that ruined tubes can't be returned. Saves them a lot of money.


As far as Northwood quality, they most likely have written quality standards to produce the best product the company can. Some individuals cut corners because they could care less others are very quality minded. If they get caught it gets corrected.

The company may want to know what you found. They most likely won't be able to tell who performed the process. But, if it is a recurring issue they will probably implement something to correct it. Add a new inspection step. If they don't know about it they can't correct the process. Stirring the pot on here won't fix it.

For your piece of mind, I'd give them a call. I'd also send that Precision cut picture to Northwood. It's really unbelievable what these manufacturers call "Quality " work. A seeing eye dog could do a better job. And we keep buying "em". Sad