Top cap edging sealant and misc adventures...

[Zach]

I realized that what I thought was a small water leak is actually a bigger issue, it looks like the upper sleeping compartment on my class c took a bit of a bump at some point. There wasn't much damage at all from the evidence but just enough to allow water access to the wood underneath the siding. This RV is new to me and I have it indoors for the time being so I took the edging off to get to the affected area which I now have cleaned out and am letting dry...much of the wood was completely saturated, pulled that all out and am allowing the rest to dry. So here are my issues:
1. I will now have some voids in there where I pulled the rotted wood out. Fix--I am planning on affixing some new wood into the void with some insulation too.

2. The wood that I was unable to remove is not in good shape. Fix- Fill wood with an epoxy.

3. Once inside the siding is taken care of I will then reseal the top cap edge piece with exterior silicone, put in the screws, and good to go....in theory.

Wondering if this all sounds reasonable?
thanks,
Zach

 

[Jim Godward]

zach,

>>1. I will now have some voids in there where I pulled the rotted wood out. Fix--I am planning on affixing some new wood into the void with some insulation too.<<

Good on this one, try to replace so the structure is sound.  the more insulation the better!

>>2. The wood that I was unable to remove is not in good shape. Fix- Fill wood with an epoxy.<<

There is some stuff, not epoxy but still a resin, that you can use to strengthen rotted wood to a near new conditions .  It works well but is expensive.  Not sure if this is what you meant by epoxy??

>> Once inside the siding is taken care of I will then reseal the top cap edge piece with exterior silicone, put in the screws, and good to go....in theory.<<

There are several materials that work better than silicone, if the surface is flat, the self-leveling Dicor or other brands works well.  Also brands like SikaFlex with the ultra violet protection, it is a polyurethane type, work well for other joints.  Sikaflex is what Newmar and some other manufacturers use as well as the Dicor.

Good Luck,

 

[John From Detroit]

If you want a seal that will last and last, Silicon is the last thing you want.

As someone else said, Dicor works well (Dicor Lap Sealant)

I have used silicon in many applications,  With two exceptions it has not been that effective... Those are

1: I patched a hole in a screen, a thin layer of silicon sealant was very good, note that the patch was considerably larger than the hole and the silicon was applied to both sides and through the screen itself

2: Where  you can apply, compress lightly then let set then compress well (Tighten down)

But where you rely on it's adhesive properties..  Remember silicon is the stuff they put on paper so the peal and stick labels will peal off easily

DICOR..  Well... Let's just say it's harder to remove  (A whole lot harder)

 

[Zach]

Thank you for the input. The silicone would be going under the side edging which would then be screwed down...is this an okay application?
thanks,
Zach

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Here's an goodl article on Repairing rotted wood.

Git Rot is the product I have used to fill/harden rotted wood, but replacing it is still the best choice wherever possible.

 

[Ned]

I have used Git Rot to repair small areas of dry rot in boats, but I wouldn't use it for a large area of dry rot or anywhere there are structural load considerations.