92DakotaHD wrote:
Kind of hard to describe but around the top edge of the camper's walls there are a strip of screws normally covered by what I would call a bubble strip. It sits in a channel held by its own arched shape. I noticed some water in my RV over the weekend and got up on the roof to see where it could be coming from. The trim strip was loose/open for about 10-12' over the awning and was taking the gutter's job. This has happened a few times before. This time I put some sealant, just a dab every few feet. Anyone else have this problem? Hoping this was the issue, no visible issues noted around the TV and radio antenna which are the only things above the area where the moisture was found.
As mentioned that vinyl strip over time shrinks and it's best to replace it every few years. It's not expensive and readily available. Even more important is to do something with all the screws on the exterior of your RV since over the long haul those are guaranteed IMO to eventually start wicking and cause unseen water damage to the point that when discovered you have serious damage. The problem is moisture starts around the head of the screw and slowly works it's way to the screw/wood interface and with that being somewhat porous the screw starts rusting and as it deteriorates starts wicking serious moisture into the wood. I have IMO done about the best one can do to solve this issue with 99% of the screws on my trailer and have used several different methods as I went thru the process. Some folks just recommend removing the screw, filling the hole with caulk and then reinserting the screw along with using SS screws as an alternative. I don't like that approach since I don't believe you will ever get a good 100% moisture resistent seal between the screw threads and the wood. I think using Eternabond is a better alternative and I started out making small patches of the roof seal and "punching" out a hole in the rectangle slightly smaller than the head of the screw and then putting that patch over the screw head. Below is a pic of this method on a couple of areas that are covered up with the normal vinyl insert molding or with the slide topper can't be seen because of farings installed over the flanges.
metal insert molding covered with the vinyl insert strip:
Bracket for my slide out awning:
end of slide out side:
For screws that can't be seen the following is what I consider the best and you use the double sided Eternabond tap for this.
remove the screw and put a small piece over the screw hole and then wrap some around the screw and screw in the screw:
Next take another small piece of the double sided Eternabond and only remove one side of the lining and press it over the screw head and seal everything up leaving the outer liner (the clear plastic in the pic) on the Eternabond so things like the vinyl molding won't get stuck to the Eternabond when you re insert it into the channel:
Now some screws are not covered by something and are exposed like those around doors, stove vent covers, and even wheel farings so what I did was made some vinyl caps from some vinyl board with a file and a dremel tool and then filled that cap with some of the double sided Eternabond and pressed it over the screw head.
Vinyl cap:
Caps installed on three areas of my trailer:
I even resealed all the lights on my trailer using the double sided Eternabond to not only seal the screws, but also the hole for the wire penetration :
Here is a clearance light with it removed from the trailer. I put a small piece of the double sided Eternabond over each screw hole leaving on the out side liner so the fixture wouldn't adhear to it since it is only to seal the screw threads into the wood. I also put a "FLAP" over the hole for the wires leaving the liner on the outside and putting a section of the saved liner over the hole opening so the wires wouldn't get stuck to the Eternabond. You can see the clear liner that looks like wax paper.
I then installed the light fixture and sealed the screw heads under the lens with another small piece of the double sided Eternabond again leaving the outside liner on so things wouldn't get stuck to it.
For more Eternabond pics and more importantly read the captions to each picture check out the link in my signature.
Larry
