Winnebagos with fiberglass roofs have been known to have had the roof ripped off in high winds. What happens is the caulking along the roof edge gives out after a few years, this leaves a gap between the roof edge and the side wall. Strong wind can lift it up, and since the fiberglass is so thin, it can rip it off in long strips. Often the driver isn't aware it's happening. One clue that it might be time to replace the caulking is strips of the stuff hanging off the side of the RV.
And that's what I had happen to mine while down in Mexico. A 2 foot long strip of caulking was drapped off the side of the RV near the door. Hard to miss. Got to looking, and found several places around the RV where that was happening. So it was time to remove and replace the caulk. Or come up with a different solution.
I wanted to avoid the work involved with re-caulking, mainly because these days I get dizzy up on the roof, and I'm not a very good caulker anyway. My caulking work generally ends up looking like an amateur did it. So instead, I used Eternabond Roof Seal to seal the roof edges. Two rolls of 2" X 50' for under $80 available from Amazon.
The sealant on my '02 Journey hadn't been redone by the PO in the 14 years they owned it likely because the kept it covered and from the ground it appeared to be in such good shape, so I didn't have much cleanup to do there other than some minor scraping, and here and there just pulling on what was left of the factory installed caulking. It came off in long strips without much effort.
Had the roof cleaned and waxed just before installing the tape, and during the job brushed the channel clean, then used a clean cloth to wipe. (I hired a couple guys to do the work).
And here's how it looked after the tape was installed:
If you're not familiar with Eternabond, it's a roof sealing tape often used by RV'ers. Once the tape is down, it's staying down, providing a waterproof seal. Amazon carries it in rolls, in several widths. It's also available in different colors. White and black are the most readily available. I don't think the tape can be painted so it probably wouldn't look good on a full body paint job...unless it's the same color. For those of us with white roofs, it looks very good and I know of at least one owner with a black roof who thinks it looks fine on their roof.
Here's a drawing of the roof profile:
You can see that the roof edge is captured by the extruded aluminum roof edging, and then gets a caulking bead along the entire length of the aluminum. This kind of construction allows the roof to expand and contract. There's no screws used to hold the roof in place because that would cause cracks and splits in the fiberglass, so it's just caulking.
That movement also eventually splits the caulking away from the roof or aluminum channel, which is why Winnebago recommends it be checked twice per year or something. I didn't want to have to do that, and I definitely didn't want to have to do roof caulking too often.
Running Eternabond tape run along the roof and into the bottom of the aluminum channel will allow expansion and contraction of the fiberglass roof while holding it securely, but without having to bother with caulking. And it'll likely last for years without maintenance.
Last I heard, Winnebago is still using the caulking method of holding the roof on. You should check the caulking regularly. And if you just bought, wouldn't hurt to check the factory work as they've been known to leave gaps in the caulking.
Anyway, if your fiberglass roof edge caulking is looking a little worn, might be a good time to do maintenance before the rains this fall.
Here's my blog posting of the job: Sealing the roof edge...
And that's what I had happen to mine while down in Mexico. A 2 foot long strip of caulking was drapped off the side of the RV near the door. Hard to miss. Got to looking, and found several places around the RV where that was happening. So it was time to remove and replace the caulk. Or come up with a different solution.
I wanted to avoid the work involved with re-caulking, mainly because these days I get dizzy up on the roof, and I'm not a very good caulker anyway. My caulking work generally ends up looking like an amateur did it. So instead, I used Eternabond Roof Seal to seal the roof edges. Two rolls of 2" X 50' for under $80 available from Amazon.
The sealant on my '02 Journey hadn't been redone by the PO in the 14 years they owned it likely because the kept it covered and from the ground it appeared to be in such good shape, so I didn't have much cleanup to do there other than some minor scraping, and here and there just pulling on what was left of the factory installed caulking. It came off in long strips without much effort.
Had the roof cleaned and waxed just before installing the tape, and during the job brushed the channel clean, then used a clean cloth to wipe. (I hired a couple guys to do the work).
And here's how it looked after the tape was installed:
If you're not familiar with Eternabond, it's a roof sealing tape often used by RV'ers. Once the tape is down, it's staying down, providing a waterproof seal. Amazon carries it in rolls, in several widths. It's also available in different colors. White and black are the most readily available. I don't think the tape can be painted so it probably wouldn't look good on a full body paint job...unless it's the same color. For those of us with white roofs, it looks very good and I know of at least one owner with a black roof who thinks it looks fine on their roof.
Here's a drawing of the roof profile:
You can see that the roof edge is captured by the extruded aluminum roof edging, and then gets a caulking bead along the entire length of the aluminum. This kind of construction allows the roof to expand and contract. There's no screws used to hold the roof in place because that would cause cracks and splits in the fiberglass, so it's just caulking.
That movement also eventually splits the caulking away from the roof or aluminum channel, which is why Winnebago recommends it be checked twice per year or something. I didn't want to have to do that, and I definitely didn't want to have to do roof caulking too often.
Running Eternabond tape run along the roof and into the bottom of the aluminum channel will allow expansion and contraction of the fiberglass roof while holding it securely, but without having to bother with caulking. And it'll likely last for years without maintenance.
Last I heard, Winnebago is still using the caulking method of holding the roof on. You should check the caulking regularly. And if you just bought, wouldn't hurt to check the factory work as they've been known to leave gaps in the caulking.
Anyway, if your fiberglass roof edge caulking is looking a little worn, might be a good time to do maintenance before the rains this fall.
Here's my blog posting of the job: Sealing the roof edge...
