Learned 3 valuable lessons today

[oldmannj]

Hi all !! Just wanted to pass this on.
1. sikaflex caulk is a wonderful product.
2. Using latex caulk on an rv is NOT a good thing.
3. DO NOT assume that butyl caulk will "set up" in a 2 week period!!!

The old caulk on my new to us Sundance is evidently latex and is being a bear to get off. Didn't really need to be removed but I wanted to clean up the lines. That stuff is sticky and VERY hard to get out of the seams. The sikaflex that I'm replacing the old stuff with goes on and smooths out like a dream. Finally the window we got at Urbanna during the rally went in easily enough, however I figured the butyl caulk would set up a bit and make it easier to trim up where it oozed out. NOT SO....it just seems as though it got tougher to trim up with time.

Are there any caulk gurus out there who can make my life easier with the recaulking job??? Got almost a 1/3 of it done today, about 5 1/2 hours gouging at old caulk and 15 minutes applying the Sikaflex Oh and by the way....Did you guys know there's a LOT of seams to do on a Sundance LOL!!!!

 

[JohnDar]

If the caulk was actually Dicor self-leveling (on the roof, right?), removing it is not recommended or necessary. To get "clean lines" you can lightly smooth fresh Dicor with a plastic paint spatula, which is what I did last summer.

 

[oldmannj]

If the caulk was actually Dicor self-leveling (on the roof, right?), removing it is not recommended or necessary. To get "clean lines" you can lightly smooth fresh Dicor with a plastic paint spatula, which is what I did last summer.

Actually the caulk I'm talking about was used to seal joints on the sidewalls. Haven't gotten to the roof yet to address it.

 

[JohnDar]

Ah so! But, I've also used the plastic putty knife to scrape the old caulk off the vertical trim, then rub with a microfiber cloth.

 

[oldmannj]

I shall give the microfiber cloth a try thank you sir.

 

[porthole]

Ed, the butyl tape on the stained glass windows doesn't "set up".

I did my final trim the day before we left for Urbanna. I put the window at the Goshen rally. 1 year!
I use a plastic scraper and a wooden popsicle stick. Goo Gone then cleans up any residual.

 

[JWalker]

Trimmed the excess around the stained glass window the next morning. Worked great. I just took the window back out and put the original back in. Trimmed a few hours later and the excess removed easily.

As as far as the caulk around the side trim. It's all a pain in the rear.

Have fun!!

 

[oldmannj]

Thanks for the Goo Gone tip Duane. I figured it would "set up" a bit but it didn't. The other caulk is a sticky mess too. The only thin I can think of is it must be fresh latex. Oh well many more hours and many more plastic putty knives in my future. TEEHEE. ED. :angel:

 

[Birchwood]

A bought a tube of Sikaflex but it solidified before I got the tube opened but its been 3 years.I bought it because it was hard to find and heard its the brand Heartland uses.Nice to know it applies well but wish you could buy a small tube .I believe most caulking purchased never gets used.

 

[donr827]

A bought a tube of Sikaflex but it solidified before I got the tube opened but its been 3 years.I bought it because it was hard to find and heard its the brand Heartland uses.Nice to know it applies well but wish you could buy a small tube .I believe most caulking purchased never gets used.

I do not know about other brands of caulk but when I purchased a tube of Silkafkex it had a expiration date on it. check the date before buying.......Don

 

[dalspot]

Heartland gave us a tube of the Sikaflex at the rally last year. By the time we wanted to use it, it was past it's expiration date by two months. Started searching around for it, found our local (sorta) Camping World had it in stock, so we drove the 42 miles to pick some up this spring. HA - all the tubes they had of it on the shelf were expired! When I asked if they had fresher, they said basically it's an ongoing thing - they order the caulk, by the time it gets to the store, it's outdated, they send it back, more is sent out.. same issue. I called the manufacturer and they said that past the expiration date it can set up in the tube. So just be careful where you buy it. We did use the tube we got at Camping World, as it was a month outdated, it worked fine, but was hard to get out of the tube and set up fairly quickly. But SO much easier to work with than the Dicor!!

The guys at the rally told us to use mineral spirits to clean the existing caulk with - it works well to do that, and also helps in removal of the old Sikaflex, as it seems to take a skim coat off the existing application. If you are removing the old Sikaflex, mineral spirits get that last bit of it off the RV. GREAT stuff!! Smooths easily with soapy water.