Resealing Seams on 2003 Lance

greg,
You'll have to search in the archives as the best and most complete TC re-caulking report was about 3 years ago. I cannot recall the author. It was so good i copied it down and used it as a guide when I did a major re-caulk at that time. There was what to do and use, and what not to do and use: like silicone caulking: run away. Who knew? Once you use it nothing will stick to it and it's hard to remove. Not a good position to be in. I assembled the materials and methodically cleaned up the old beads and puddles, some were removed if damaged and some trimmed and caulked over using the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it.' maxim. I've done a couple slightly less comprehensive caulkings each of the last years and so far, no leaks. As the author above has noted, caulking with a caulking gun is an art form gained by experience. I did smooth over a couple boo-boos by dipping my finger in lacquer thinner.
regards, as always, jefe

Thank you very much, and I will do a search on caulking in the Camper section.

Greg

gregdennis53 wrote:
Greetings

I recently had my 2003 aluminum sided Lance into the shop for replacement of the dump valves. When I picked it up, the repair folks said that my camper is in great shape with no sign of any water intrusion or damage, but that it needs to be re-caulked or re-sealed soon. I can do this myself or I can hire the kid that takes care of my boat to do the work, but I am wondering if there are detailed instructions somewhere about how to do this? The RV place charges a flat labor rate of $80 or $90 an hour, so I think it would be pretty expensive to hire them to do the work, but before I try this on my own I need to understand how to do it.

Can you either tell me what to do or direct me to a web site or other place to find out?

Thanks, and happy camping.

Hi,
I don't think there is enough space on this post to tell you how to reseal your camper however I will give you some advice, based on my experience.

First off, there are large amounts of posts on re-caulking your camper just in the truck camper forum, so some keyword searching and you will be surprised.

Here is what I can tell you based on years of experience. I have caulked for a living before, I once contracted a job to install and caulk 1500 windows for the US Government on Treasure Island, NY. It is a skill acquired to make the bead look good.

• Use the correct caulking, there are multiple types of caulk for different purposes, make sure you search and find out what you need to use, not all caulks are created equal
• Some types of caulks are easier to work with than others, it's the nature of the type of caulk, some flow easier than others, some flow harder, and require more patience
• Patience and prep is the key for a good looking re-caulk job. Prep/Prep/Prep and then check your Prep again
• Make sure everything is clean, before you cut the first tube of caulking open, make sure that every portion of where you are going to caulk is clean and free of oils, dirt and or silicone
• Did is mention that SILICONE is a NO NO, do not use silicone on a camper. This is not and will not be the only time you re-caulk your camper and once silicone is applied, virtually nothing will adhere to it. Don't be even the little bit tempted to use silicon.
• Use a sharp razor knife, straight razor blades, as 5 part painters tool, and a heat gun, and go to Harbor Freight and get the Yellow Door Panel Tool Remover Set, there are various shapes to help remove the old caulking. The key is to get the old surface as clean and remove as much of the old caulking as possible, and use Acetone to prep the surface that you are caulking, if your using it on a Aluminum camper, be very careful it will remove the paint from the camper skin, I’m sure you can use something other than Acetone, however that’s what I used.
• Once you ready to caulk and you have decided on what type of caulking to use, set it out in the sun for a couple of hours help is soften up some, applying caulking in the cold weather with cold tubes of caulk is a recipe of a bad looking caulking job and a very frustrating project
• Plan on more than 2 days to do this if you want to do it right, I'm on my 4th day and just finishing up, and that does not include the roof portion of my Lance
• Attack one portion side of the camper at a time, remove, prep and then caulk. Then move to another side of the camper.
• The type of caulking gun and the cut of the tip of the tube of caulking is what makes everything look good and go smooth, too big of a cut and your globing it on, too small of a cut and your fighting the constant small tip and not enough caulk being applied, don't get the cheap ratcheting 5.00 caulking guns at HD or Lowes, you will want to commit suicide when your 1/2 a tube into the job. LOL
• The angle of the tip of the tube of caulk vs. the angle of how you hold the caulking gun, vs. the camper is the key, find the sweet spot, the caulking should flow smooth as glass and provide a clean bead when applied, easier said than done...:Here is a tip, just before you remove the caulking gun from the surface you are caulking, push the button on the back of the caulking gun to remove pressure against the plunger, this will keep caulking from spewing everywhere.
• Try your best not to have to use your fingers to smooth the caulking out, that's where the control of the gun vs. the speed of pumping the handle come in
• If you have to use your fingers or a tool, use soapy water or spit on your finger and be gentle when you are tooling the caulking...
• Don’t forget to strip and re-caulk all of the running light on the camper.

There are some very good resources on the site about re-caulking a camper, do some studying up before you jump into it. It’s not a day job that’s for sure, as long as you want it to look good.
Put it this way, if I was to charge someone to re-caulk a camper the same size as my Lance 1121 I would not hesitate to charge minimum of $2,500.00 and that would for a Filon sided camper, not an Aluminum sided camper, the Aluminum sided camper are more work to get everything to look good, and that’s not even counting the roof, I would charge an additional $500.00 just for the roof, if I was removing old and replacing.

Overall, it’s not hard, as long as you have some patience and some common sense, it take time, lot’s of time to make the end result look good, if your handy and have the time, it can be done. One of the things to consider is the weather where you live, if you can guarantee that it’s going to rain during this project, and then find someplace to do it out of the weather.

Good luck and I know it’s a lot to sink in, but when you’re done, it will look awesome!

Rob