My wife and I recently purchased our first travel trailer, brand new from a dealer. We've owned a couple of pop-ups, but this is our first hard sided trailer. We picked it up on Friday and started making it our own over the weekend.I also found myself inspecting every inch of it and noticing a few things that I did not notice before we left the dealer. The first thing is that all of the windows and other things that penetrate or otherwise but up against the fiberglass/laminate have silicone or whatever sealant is used around the top of the window, but not the sides and the bottom? Is this normal? I understand that the top may need more protection from rain falling from the sky, but it seems that you would also want to keep out rain that you are hitting at 65MPH while driving through a storm. The other thing is that one of the windows also seems so be missing a few inches of whatever kind of sealant tape or whatever it is that they put between the window and the side of the trailer. My question is, are these things normal and things I don't need to worry myself about? Or are these things I should take to the dealer for warranty repair right away? or neither of these things ?

Look at your home. It is absolutely standard practice to leave the bottom unsealed this is to allow moisture a place to excape and not cause damage. Usually the top and sides will have the second layer.

It is extremely possible that the frames have some kind of foam seal on them and the silicone weatherstripping is to stop water and crude build up on the upper edge. Water turns to ice and can be very destructive on an RV. Ice on the upper lip could act as a wedge and unseal the window from the siding.I would silicone that section of missing seal.All that said, it appears the term Quality Control is either not in RV maker's lexicon or is poorly understood. You will find novelty in your RV's construction, both in good and bad examples. In my TT, I found a lot of cool ideas implemented, and also some shoddy workmanship on a few items. You have to either have some handyman skills or have one on speed dial to own an RV, IMHO.

Seems to be standard practice to just silicone the tops of stuff on the sides. There should be a sealant like butyl tape between the window flange and the side.When I have installed/replaced something on the exterior wall, I use butyl tape and finish with a bead of Lexel or Geocel all the way around. Sealed properly, there is no need to worry about moisture having a way out. There shouldn’t be any to begin with.Sorry, donn0128, have to disagree. Maybe that’s the way it’s done in the great North-wet, but I’ve never heard of leaving the bottom of a window unsealed. Here, that would be like hanging out a welcome sign for all manner of bugs, especially ants and termites.

You want to fix that missing butyl tape in the first pic. Either make the dealer do it under warranty, or if you're reasonably handy and the dealer is far away or wants to take a month to fix it, just pull the window yourself and do it. Butyl tape is cheap and every RV place has it, as does Amazon.As mentioned above, do not even think of using silicone sealant on your RV. It will not hold up, nothing else will stick to it, and it is very difficult to remove. Use Dicor self leveling lap sealant for horizontal surfaces, non-sag for vertical. Again, every RV place will have it.

Question about sealing Windows, and other items

drsteve
Explorer
Jan 23, 2019
sgfrye wrote:
coachsburke wrote:
Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty handy. I'll either get some butyl tape to fix the tape in the first pic, or take it to the dealer to have them fix it under warranty. And I'll get myself some Dicor self leveling lap sealant to have on hand.

also keep some dicor non self leveling on hand.

Yes. They call it "non-sag". The self leveling stuff is made for the roof. If you try to use it on a vertical surface it will run right down the side of the trailer.
sgfrye
Explorer
Jan 23, 2019
coachsburke wrote:
Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty handy. I'll either get some butyl tape to fix the tape in the first pic, or take it to the dealer to have them fix it under warranty. And I'll get myself some Dicor self leveling lap sealant to have on hand.

also keep some dicor non self leveling on hand.
mobeewan
Explorer
Jan 23, 2019
Use Proflex or you can use OSI Quad available at Lowe's or Home Depot.

OSI Quad comes in colors and is used on windows and doors of buildings and houses and I believe it is polyurethane. Worked fine when I replaced the weathered wooden brick moulding around the doors and windows with vinyl brick moldind and a friend with a portable cutting and bending machine did the aluminum flashing.
ken56
Explorer
Jan 23, 2019
Just because it is clear doesn't mean it's silicone. It is most likely ProFlex sealant.(made by Geocel) Do not use silicone anywhere on your RV.

If you do take it back to the dealer for warranty work it will be at least a 3 week process for apporval and parts and for the dealer to make the repairs. You have a new trailer you want to use, how patient are you willing to be? If you have a couple months before good camping weather get it back there asap and start the process now.
coachsburke
Explorer
Jan 23, 2019
Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty handy. I'll either get some butyl tape to fix the tape in the first pic, or take it to the dealer to have them fix it under warranty. And I'll get myself some Dicor self leveling lap sealant to have on hand.
coachsburke
Explorer
Jan 23, 2019
Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty handy. I'll either get some butyl tape to fix the tape in the first pic, or take it to the dealer to have them fix it under warranty. And I'll get myself some Dicor self leveling lap sealant to have on hand.
drsteve
Explorer
Jan 22, 2019
You want to fix that missing butyl tape in the first pic. Either make the dealer do it under warranty, or if you're reasonably handy and the dealer is far away or wants to take a month to fix it, just pull the window yourself and do it. Butyl tape is cheap and every RV place has it, as does Amazon.

As mentioned above, do not even think of using silicone sealant on your RV. It will not hold up, nothing else will stick to it, and it is very difficult to remove. Use Dicor self leveling lap sealant for horizontal surfaces, non-sag for vertical. Again, every RV place will have it.
GrandpaKip
Explorer II
Jan 22, 2019
Seems to be standard practice to just silicone the tops of stuff on the sides. There should be a sealant like butyl tape between the window flange and the side.
When I have installed/replaced something on the exterior wall, I use butyl tape and finish with a bead of Lexel or Geocel all the way around. Sealed properly, there is no need to worry about moisture having a way out. There shouldn’t be any to begin with.
Sorry, donn0128, have to disagree. Maybe that’s the way it’s done in the great North-wet, but I’ve never heard of leaving the bottom of a window unsealed. Here, that would be like hanging out a welcome sign for all manner of bugs, especially ants and termites.
Charlie_D_
Explorer
Jan 22, 2019
DO not use Silicone.
Boomerweps
Explorer
Jan 21, 2019
It is extremely possible that the frames have some kind of foam seal on them and the silicone weatherstripping is to stop water and crude build up on the upper edge. Water turns to ice and can be very destructive on an RV. Ice on the upper lip could act as a wedge and unseal the window from the siding.
I would silicone that section of missing seal.
All that said, it appears the term Quality Control is either not in RV maker's lexicon or is poorly understood. You will find novelty in your RV's construction, both in good and bad examples. In my TT, I found a lot of cool ideas implemented, and also some shoddy workmanship on a few items. You have to either have some handyman skills or have one on speed dial to own an RV, IMHO.