Wrong roof caulk or just poor product?

I was up on my roof to do an end of season inspection and found this total caulk failure at gutter edge and end caps. My unit is a 2018 and never expected to see this kind of failure in a year.
 

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jayc

Legendary Member
Dave, caulking is a routine maintenance item and should be checked often. Check the build date of your trailer, you might be shocked.
 

rhodies1

Well-known member
I was up on my roof to do an end of season inspection and found this total caulk failure at gutter edge and end caps. My unit is a 2018 and never expected to see this kind of failure in a year.

Thats bad but as Heartland states. ,they expect you as an owner to inspect and fix caulking every 90 days...
Yours has totally failed. clean out as much as possible ,use alcohol to cleanup the area and re caulk,you won’t get any sympathy or support from Heartland.... your timeframe has elapsed.
 

esscobra

Well-known member
lots of 2017 and 18 units have this problem on front/rear and down sides - mine was like that within 3 moths- and driver was onsite to pickup as soon as it was released from final inspection - was able to 90% off using just thumb - then after removing , cleaned with alcohol and replaced with dicor and no problems since
 
When they do the CYA with the 90 day thing, I don't think anyone thinks that means the first 90 days. Even the amount of the time that I have had my trailer seems like BS. Too many people with 5 year old units have never had to replace their caulking yet. When I redo it and it lasts for years, my point will be made.
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
FWIW, the last time I was at my dealer (T&S Enterprises in Navasota, TX) for a slide problem, they routinely inspected the whole rig for other problems or potential problems, the repair techs all told me all the caulking was bad as they had used the wrong caulking on the roof. They recaulked the whole roof under warranty. They explained that they are different types of roof material and each used a different kind of caulking. My Landmark was about 14 months old from the manufacture date on the label at the time. I have a Dicor roof and now dicor caulking. I had my Big Horn four years with 44k miles and only had to do very light touch up caulking (mostly because it "looked bad") while I owned it.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
When they do the CYA with the 90 day thing, I don't think anyone thinks that means the first 90 days.

If you read the warranty statement in your trailer manual, you'll find that in the section describing what is not covered by the warranty, it says:

Routine maintenance including, without limitation: caulking; waxing of the body of the recreational vehicle; tighteningscrews; lubricants; minor adjustments to doors, drawers, slide outs, awnings, window treatments, latches, locks,
brakes beyond 90 days after retail sale; changing fuses, light bulbs; and, maintaining the air conditioning and
heating systems;

I read that as:

1) caulking is not warranted (or maybe not warranted after 90 days depending on how you apply the punctuation).

2) minor adjustments are covered at no charge by the dealer for only the first 90 days.

If you have a problem, say at 5 months, your dealer may take care of it at no charge to you; maybe. But if the dealer tries to submit a warranty claim for that caulking, it will be rejected by Heartland.

There might be a separate discussion where we all opine about what the warranty should say. But our opinions don't get a warranty claim processed.
 

Shortest Straw

Caught In A Mosh
I was up on my roof to do an end of season inspection and found this total caulk failure at gutter edge and end caps. My unit is a 2018 and never expected to see this kind of failure in a year.

I had to do our entire roof line after 6 months of ownership because of the same thing. The stuff they used made it seem to me that it wasn't very important.
 

porthole

Retired
I was up on my roof to do an end of season inspection and found this total caulk failure at gutter edge and end caps. My unit is a 2018 and never expected to see this kind of failure in a year.


That looks like someone used silicone sealer.

Personally? I'd clean it up and the self leveler across the roof line and cover it with Etrnabond tape.
 

mlpeloquin

Well-known member
That looks like someone used silicone sealer.

Personally? I'd clean it up and the self leveler across the roof line and cover it with Etrnabond tape.

Silicone sealer would release the bond without a primer. Looks like an acrylic latex that is not appropriate for this application. The Dicor self leveling lap sealant is. After a week to set up completely, a one inch wide Eternabond tape would give years of sealing protection. You would still have to inspect.

https://www.bestmaterials.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=1021
 
The dealer called today and wants $900 to fix it. I told the girl on the phone that it wouldn't be fair for me to yell at the messenger and that I'd be there in the morning to pick it up. After reading all afternoon, I am still a little uncertain about the best product to use but Sikaflex 715 seems to be what would be recommended for the roof edges at the gutter line. Any other suggestions?
 
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