Best way to seal this part??

Fromm looking at the information on line for Sika corporation, the boat people seem to like the Sika products. The Corporate web site says it is a moisture cured polyurethane sealant used for concrete. The moisture cure should be no problem here in the mid Florida area. The polyurethane base should present no problems with any thing sticking to it. Does it dry hard, or have some flex left to it after it has cured?

femailyetti wrote:
...Its some sort of sheet aluminum roof. I am not sure of the superstructor under the aluminum.

Well you're in luck then. I'm guessing when you pull down the ceiling you'll find 2 by ? cut with a radius with 1/4 plywood on top. Also guessing you might find some of those rotted where fasteners were used from the top into them that leaked.

You may have already done this, but I would push on the sides some to see if they flex. Mostly at the corners and below windows and vents (i.e. fridge.) If you do then you got some more work ahead of you.

Anything is fixable with enough time.

From the looks of your picture that is an older RV. I can pretty much go up on any RV of that age and find a rotted roof somewhere. Just a matter of how extensive.

Yes, its a 1986 holiday Ranbler, I guess that counts as old lol. Not sure how the underneath is going to look yet as i dont have it apart yet.


Rubber roofs only last about 20-25 years.

Its some sort of sheet aluminum roof. I am not sure of the superstructor under the aluminum.

Remove the mounting screws. Fill the hole(s) with DICOR self leveling, then coat the roof in that area with more DICOR. Get new stainless screws (either same size or one size larger (NOT longer). Then DICOR the whole thing.

IF the screw holes are the source of your leak...what I suggested will stop it.

If not....you know where the leak is NOT coming from. (Then DICOR ALL the seams on the roof...and do that every years)

g'luck !

femailyetti wrote:
We will soon see how bad the underneath is. I am going to fix it, and take off part of the inside to see what's next.

I know I'm going to take some heat for this, but I would just seal it up. From the looks of your picture that is an older RV. I can pretty much go up on any RV of that age and find a rotted roof somewhere. Just a matter of how extensive.

Again an RV shop would reseal it with Butyl tape, then use Dicor self leveling. They would then check all the other Dicor areas and either remove and redo if it lifted, or just top coat it to seal all the cracks.

Also it looks like they used tape. That tape looks like the edges are pulling, so they would Dicor that also.

Rubber roofs only last about 20-25 years. They do dry out and shrink pulling at the seams. That might explain the tape at the front seam. Once you start that job replacing wood on the roof you might end up at the front bumper. :(

We will soon see how bad the underneath is. I am going to fix it, and take off part of the inside to see what's next.

enblethen wrote:
Dicor self leveling
I am guessing we are looking at the roof.

Second on Dicor, HOWEVER not the Self Leveling but the other kind

John&Joey wrote:
From the looks of the Dicor in the lower right hand corner of the picture it looks like you need to redo the whole roof.

Now if you took this into a RV repair place (assuming that the plywood was still good) they would pull the part off the roof. Reset it using Butyl tape, then cover it all with Dicor.

Exactly. I bet the underlayment is rotted.

I would recommend Sikaflex over Dicor as well but you have issues under the membrane that sealing won't help at all because you ignored the seals in the first place.

From the looks of the Dicor in the lower right hand corner of the picture it looks like you need to redo the whole roof.

Now if you took this into a RV repair place (assuming that the plywood was still good) they would pull the part off the roof. Reset it using Butyl tape, then cover it all with Dicor.

If I were going to keep it, I would remove it and re-seal it with Eterna Bond Double Sided tape between the bracket and roof and then use either Eterna Bond tape or the Sikaflex product. As noted, with the Dicor products you have to constantly re-seal the roof and that is not in my definition of a proper repair. Look to the boating world for a lot better sealing products.