Gutter sealant and ??? What should i do with this?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
M

mabgenre

Member
Joined
May 9, 2018
Posts
18
Location
Louisiana
This forum and y`all are awesome. Got a leak, trying to find cause, found out about sealing the gutter. I think I can do that!  When I  first got the rv I  covered the front and back roof joins with Eternabond.  In trying to identify leak location learned that some of the sealant used before my effort must have been silicon. I cut some of the Eternabond away and found this...see pic.
So I  now know I  must seal all of the gutter roof join but have no clue as to what to do to the gap between the side trim, the gutter and the roof. Just above the screw head on the vertical trim.All replies appreciated.
Okay, when I  figure out how to reduce the size of the photo I will post it.
 
Winnebago specifies the various sealants in the sealant call-out sheet. The roof to sidewall joint is critical, it needs to be inspected at least once a year. I believe the appropriate sealant is polyurethane based. You can find your sealant call-out sheets in the documentation for your model on-line at Winnebago. Look in the Winnebago Resources thread at the top of this section.

Also, we've had at least a dozen threads about sealants in this Winnebago board, search this Winnie board with sealant as a search term.
 
Thanks John.  Hopefully the pic will attach now. I will seal the gutter to the roof but I'm not sure what to do about the gap between the end of the gutter, the top of the vertical trim (above the screw head) and the end of the roof or front cap.  Is that caulking in there?  Should I try to dig out and replace? Just add caulking?  Do nothing? I plan to run a new piece of Eternabond over what I have cut away and over the top of the vertical trim piece after everything is corrected.  You can see where I had run the Eternabond over that but cut away because it seemed to be holding water (I think because of the silicone that hadn't been removed.)
 

Attachments

  • 0618180926a.jpg
    0618180926a.jpg
    153.1 KB · Views: 72
Wow, that is ugly looking!  :eek:

I would remove that vertical trim strip so you can inspect further down and repair. I've found the rear corners are under a bit of stress due to the motion of the house when driving - I have one small gap in the corner of my Horizon that I can never keep sealed for very long.

Since you have a gap that large, I would use fiberglass mat and epoxy resin (I like WEST System epoxy and fillers.) I believe Etrnabond tape is somewhat similar in concept but fiberglass mat and epoxy would be stronger and easier to apply to an odd-shaped area.

All of that area needs to be thoroughly cleaned no matter how you plan on repairing that. Silicon residue is really difficult to remove, you might need to attack the problem with a variety of methods and tools. Stainless steel brush, maybe a Scotchbrite pad, brush cleaner, MEK, acetone, sanding pad etc.  Use MEK as a final cleaning agent.
 
Thanks John. This is the front end of the coach behind the passenger seat. When the vertical strip is removed what would I  "like"  to see. We're in the midst of rainy weather down here but should be able to begin the cleaning during breaks in the weather.  Believe it or not, I  had cleaned that very well before with eternabond cleaner. Even removed that screw and cleaned out gunk behind it. Some ov that gray is etrnabond residue but your right, very ugly! Uglier than I  realized.



 
The corners, front and rear, are going to be under stress with road motion. When you remove fasteners, always replace with stainless steel versions. You can find them on-line, Amazon of course and marine retailers.
 
John Canfield said:
The corners, front and rear, are going to be under stress with road motion. When you remove fasteners, always replace with stainless steel versions. You can find them on-line, Amazon of course and marine retailers.
Click to expand...

Home depot and Lowe's also has SS screws.
 
Thanks gentlemen. I cleaned the old caulk from one side today. What a mess. I'm  sure it is silicone since a 3" piece stretches to about a foot.  I haven't removed the side trim yet. There is definitely a leak somewhere that has water entering just behind the passenger seat. I think it is either entering where the fiberglass roofing meets the front cap or behind the vertical side trim. Too hot and humid to accomplish anything more today.
 
Rene T said:
Home depot and Lowe's also has SS screws.
Click to expand...

and Ace Hardware. They also carry them in larger quantities such as 100/box. They are somewhat expensive when bought in packages of 10 or so...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,327 (members: 25, guests: 1,302)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,968
Posts
1,388,412
Members
137,721
Latest member
Dmac3003
Back
Top Bottom