Caulking needs replaced

The calk along both sides of the roof is cracking and needs replaced.
This is the seam that runs the length of the RV on both sides where the roof wraps over the side .
I guess this could be a warantee item but I may just do it myself .
Should a guy use a silicone or dicor caulk
BT

Re: Calking needs replaced

I personally would not use silicone caulk on any exterior surface. JMHO.

Peace
Dave

Re: Calking needs replaced

Dicor (not the self-leveling), or Proflex would be my recommendation.

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Re: Calking needs replaced

bigdob24 said:

The calk along both sides of the roof is cracking and needs replaced.
This is the seam that runs the length of the RV on both sides where the roof wraps over the side .
I guess this could be a warantee item but I may just do it myself .
Should a guy use a silicone or dicor caulk
BT

Click to expand...

Bigdob24,
Silicone is not for the roof line.
My understanding is that the silicone will degrade the roof membrane. I would suggest that you use dicor non-sagging sealant.

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Re: Calking needs replaced

carl.swoyer said:

Bigdob24,
Silicone is not for the roof line.
My understanding is that the silicone will degrade the roof membrane. I would suggest that you use dicor non-sagging sealant.

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Click to expand...

Don’t mean to hijack the thread but mine needs replaced also...what’s the best way to remove the old caulk without harming the roof membrane? Jim

Re: Calking needs replaced

That’s kinda what I thought .
The guy at the RV dealership said just use silicone.
After looking it is clearly not a silicone type caulk
Will be getting some Dicor and just do it
Thanks for the commits
BT

- - - Updated - - -

Jim after looking at mine I beleive a putty knife or something like that will just pull the old caulk out without damaging the roof .
Of coarse I’ll be careful of the roof but looks easy to me .
BT

Ferherbowman said:

Don’t mean to hijack the thread but mine needs replaced also...what’s the best way to remove the old caulk without harming the roof membrane? Jim

Click to expand...

Re: Calking needs replaced

Ferherbowman said:

Don’t mean to hijack the thread but mine needs replaced also...what’s the best way to remove the old caulk without harming the roof membrane? Jim

Click to expand...

It's a thin layer of of non sagging sealant. I would suggest cleaning the old sealant with denatured alcohol and apply the new over the old. Very common to seal it this way.

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Re: Calking needs replaced

Removing mine was not difficult. I used a flat screwdriver to lift the caulk and it pulled out cleanly in long strips. Over the years I’ve tried the Dicor and the Proflex. Proflex is a bit harder to work with as it’s more sticky, but the Proflex lasted much longer than anything else I tried. I wore rubber gloves and had a cup of soapy water to wet my finger when needing to adjust the caulk. The water kept the caulk from sticking to my finger.

Re: Calking needs replaced

Eternabond tape comes in 2 inch wide 50 foot rolls. Do it once with this stuff and forget it.

https://www.amazon.com/EternaBond-RSW-2-50-RoofSeal-Sealant-White-x/dp/B005GOM2I8

Re: Calking needs replaced

wdk450 said:

Eternabond tape comes in 2 inch wide 50 foot rolls. Do it once with this stuff and forget it.

https://www.amazon.com/EternaBond-RSW-2-50-RoofSeal-Sealant-White-x/dp/B005GOM2I8

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That is good stuff. I did my front & rear endcap seams with the 4” wide Eternabond; but preferred to do the Proflex on the sides.

Re: Calking needs replaced

a lot of units are having this issue- most of mine would come off using fingers- get a plastic tool for removing trim and be careful- usually it will come right off- I was able to get 95% off just using rag and fingers - once I removed the bad stuff cleaned with alcohol and replaced with dicor - dicor has been on as long as it took for oem stuff to start falling off and showing no signs of issues

Re: Calking needs replaced

Ferherbowman said:

Don’t mean to hijack the thread but mine needs replaced also...what’s the best way to remove the old caulk without harming the roof membrane? Jim

Click to expand...

Mine too. Only 2 years old summeruse only. Covered all winter. It’s a shame they couldn’t use something better at the factory or is something I’ll need to do every other year ?

Caulking is an owner maintenance responsibility, you are supposed to check and replace any deteriorating caulk every 6 months. It's in the manual.


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TravelTiger said:

Caulking is an owner maintenance responsibility, you are supposed to check and replace any deteriorating caulk every 6 months. It's in the manual.


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well wouldn’t ya think they’d use some material that would last at least as long as the warranty, one year. The stuff that is up there certainly isn’t the quality of decor products. It’s crap.��

Hmmm, my rig is 10 years old and sits outside through Michigan winters and summers uncovered. The Dicor caulking has never failed, yet I did inspect and reapply every two years, regardless. Did not remove the old, just cleaned it and went over top of it, using a plastic trowel to smooth it out. Getting tired of doing that, I covered all roof seams with 4” Eternabond tape, over the still intact caulking.

Being proactive to prevent problems with your rig beats being reactive to them.


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Over the past year or two, I recall a handful of owners reporting severe deterioration of the caulking; primarily along the roof edges. This is atypical and suggests that there may have been some bad batches of caulk.

The maintenance schedule in the trailer manual appears to me to be intended to address relatively minor shrinkage issues or other issues where a small caulking problem can turn into a severe water intrusion problem.

I doubt Heartland intends for that maintenance schedule to make up for bad caulk affecting large areas of the trailer.

So, if you have one of the trailers with a large-scale caulking failure, I'd suggest you call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. Your discussion with Heartland should focus on early-life failure of large sections of caulking.

That all said, if the caulking is falling apart, it should be fairly easy to remove and to apply new caulk. If it were me, because my caulking skills are not very good, I'd ask for authorization to have a repair shop do the work.

CoveredWagon said:

well wouldn’t ya think they use some material that would last at least as long as the warranty, one year. The stuff that is up there certainly is of the quality of decor products. It’s crap.

Click to expand...

From experience I'd like to add the following,
My Landmark Rushmore was a December 2011 production. I took delivery 12/31/11. What I found was a lot of the dicor sealant was not cured. Being applied in the cold factory environment it never cured. It had a skin over it and you could stick your finger into it and find uncured sealant. Mine was replaced under warranty.

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I spoke with Heartland yesterday about the roof line caulking on my 2018 rig and the answer was flat out after 90 days it’s the owners responsiblility even though the dealer I bought it from failed to maintain it on there lot before sale.
Couldnt even get them to furnish the material.
Its kinda a crappy deal but fortunately it’s not a difficult or expensive fix.
Gota wonder what’s next
BD

danemayer said:

Over the past year or two, I recall a handful of owners reporting severe deterioration of the caulking; primarily along the roof edges. This is atypical and suggests that there may have been some bad batches of caulk.

The maintenance schedule in the trailer manual appears to me to be intended to address relatively minor shrinkage issues or other issues where a small caulking problem can turn into a severe water intrusion problem.

I doubt Heartland intends for that maintenance schedule to make up for bad caulk affecting large areas of the trailer.

So, if you have one of the trailers with a large-scale caulking failure, I'd suggest you call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. Your discussion with Heartland should focus on early-life failure of large sections of caulking.

That all said, if the caulking is falling apart, it should be fairly easy to remove and to apply new caulk. If it were me, because my caulking skills are not very good, I'd ask for authorization to have a repair shop do the work.

Click to expand...

danemayer said:

Over the past year or two, I recall a handful of owners reporting severe deterioration of the caulking; primarily along the roof edges. This is atypical and suggests that there may have been some bad batches of caulk.

The maintenance schedule in the trailer manual appears to me to be intended to address relatively minor shrinkage issues or other issues where a small caulking problem can turn into a severe water intrusion problem.

I doubt Heartland intends for that maintenance schedule to make up for bad caulk affecting large areas of the trailer.

So, if you have one of the trailers with a large-scale caulking failure, I'd suggest you call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. Your discussion with Heartland should focus on early-life failure of large sections of caulking.

That all said, if the caulking is falling apart, it should be fairly easy to remove and to apply new caulk. If it were me, because my caulking skills are not very good, I'd ask for authorization to have a repair shop do the work.

Click to expand...

Dan that’s what mine is, shot the full length both sides. I checked a few places and it’s easily removed. It’s covered for the winter so I’ll attend to it when we uncover. It won’t be a big jog to repair, just time consuming And a little disappointing.

I would suggest that if you have a large caulking job to invest in a power caulking applicators.


It makes the unpleasant job of applying caulk go much faster and with better smoother results. It does take a few minutes to get used to the process but it works so well. The cost is a but up there but consider the time savings and it is fast to setup and saves your hands.

The air powered caulking guns are pretty cheap, lack the fine speed controls of the battery powered ones and work well but also require having an air hose and air compressor.


The battery powered ones only require a battery and can dispense multiple tubes of caulk on one battery charge.
I upgraded to a battery powered one and it takes much longer and more work to remove the old caulk than it does to apply the new caulk.

The nice thing is that dispensing caulk is nearly effortless and is speedy. I had to apply about 3 tubes of dicor in chilly weather over 8 feet and it took much longer to clean the seam than it did to apply 3 tubes of caulk.


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...-and-Adhesive-Gun-Tool-Only-2641-20/203028010


Milwaukee also has a 12V version that is about half the cost.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...-and-Adhesive-Gun-Tool-Only-2441-20/203639359



Dewalt also has a battery powered caulking gun and there may be others.



Air caulking gun
https://www.homedepot.com/p/SPEEDWAY-Pro-Pneumatic-Caulk-Gun-53235/206762426