Keeping the water out.

[oscar]

I’m walking a fine line here.


I want to share what I’ve learned and save many of you from heartache and MAJOR financial loss. What I don’t want is to be perceived as a Heartland basher and get my posterior removed from this forum. Let’s just say that HL and I have a major difference of opinion about what are acceptable practices and what “built to last" means. I will here agree to disagree, again, in the interest of sharing important information which I think would benefit ALL owners.


The following is all fact, and not opinion.


In the past, as in for the last many decades, windows, storage access doors and sundry other penetrations of the wall had a fat layer of butyl tape, or some form of bedding compound between the flange and the skin of the camper.


This is no longer the case. Windows on our units have a 1/2” wide and about 1/16” thick foam strip which is adhesive on one side to adhere it to the window flange. If it is even slightly out of whack it will not keep water out. The trim between the side wall and the skirting has nothing. The Facias around the slides have some bedding deep down, but if water gets behind the facia at the top it has nowhere to go and will cause damage, quickly. Storage door flanges, as far as I can tell have nothing. The same goes for fridge vents and whatever other wall penetrations there are. Not sure about doors, haven't taken one out, yet.


The black, thin, silicone bead at the top of doors, windows, hatches, trim, facias….. wherever, is the primary and ONLY defense against water penetration. It is is CRUCIAL to keeping the water out. If compromised the water WILL get in and WILL cause serious damage, quickly, as in weeks quickly. Because this bead of caulk is very small and only on the surface there may be imperfections or voids not visible to the naked eye……


I was informed, at the factory, that these caulking beads, all of them, the whole unit, need to be inspected every 90 days.


I cannot over-emphasize the importance of checking EVERY little bit of these caulk beads on a regular basis, because they are your ONLY line of defense against water intrusion. The damage that can occur if neglected is impressive in scope and speed.


That is all.

 

[danemayer]

Inspecting sealant and caulk every 90 days is also included in the maintenance schedule in the trailer manual, along with a lot of other maintenance items that are easy to overlook.

 

[Securityman]

Thanks Oscar for the heads up on this , I try to look mine over as much as possible . After it rains I open all the slides and look around the camper for any thing leaking . I keep mine at the house so it's nice to be able to keep an eye on it . I am sure no one goes threw looking at everything every 90 days for sure !! Lol. This being my second camper , I do think they are a lot of work , just like a second home !! It's pretty cool they got some nice rv spots there at the factory . Glad they fixed some of your problems , but sounds like not all of them .

 

[mlpeloquin]

I live in Northern California Bay Area. I inspect in October prior to the rain, December just to make sure it is still ok, and June after the rainy season. If I lived elsewhere, I would look at it every two months. Very small areas one or two places a year. Need to use a pick to gently run over the pointing to see through the chalky surface and press with your hands to make sure the adhesion of the caulking/pointing is good. Without doing so, it may look good but....

 

[oscar]

So what you're looking for is something like in the pictures attached. This would be a recipe for disaster. It's the bottom facia on the bedroom slide. Water WILL get in here and WILL cause serious damage as there is nothing else to stop it. Ironically, this was done at the factory, less than a week ago.

 

[TxCowboy]

Oscar, thanks for posting those pictures. If others could post their pics of where their caulking failed and/or is failing, particularly on the roof areas, that would help many of us.

Thanks again.

 

[mlpeloquin]

The ones you posted are easy to spot and need fixing. The ones you also need to look harder for are thin debonding lines. Much harder to spot, but will let water in as well. Just finished going over mine and touched up twelve spots. Some less than a half inch and some eight inches long. All were thin debonding lines. Pointing was debonded against the fiberglass or the door frame etc.. I wish I read this first so I could have posted a picture on what to look for. The debonding can be hidden by chalky pointing. That is why I use a very light touch with a pick to loosen and then brush off the chalky layer to see under neath.

 

[oscar]

Was all over the roof today, and fortunately, a river of Dicor is well, a river of Dicor. At least no bean counter has found a "better" way to do that. So, the roof appears healthy. The trim that screws the membrane to the side wall is also reasonably caulked. So cautiously optimistic there.

Redid the bedroom slide lower facia that the factory boogered up (again). Hope it holds.

I still feel that waking up every night at 3 am wondering where the water is getting into your 80K investment should not be.

The engineers should give it their ALL, and some $$ too to keep the water out.

Shame.