Roof trim strip coming loose

[wingerbls]

I pulled out the cord to plug in my fiver and charge the batteries tonight and discovered, to my dismay, that the cord was wet. Long story short, the trim on the edge of the roof along the back of the coach is lifting in both corners, an eighth-inch or so. I can push it back in place by hand (it springs right back up...), telling me that the screws on the top are letting go for some reason. The sealant had pulled away a bit, which is where I assume the water to be entering, running down inside the wall, and into the cord stowage area under the floor. I put some Dicor sealant over the gaps to buy me a bit of time, but I'm curious.

Why is the trim lifting? To what do the screws screw into; wood or aluminum? Should I replace them with bigger/longer ones? Should I put more screws in? Anyone else have this happen?

 

[JohnDar]

This photo should give you some idea of how the rear wall is constructed (this was a Big Country). The aluminum framing is only in the side walls.

 

[cookie]

I don't know how diligent you have been in keeping an eye on the caulking but since you have a 2009 it probably should have been redone at least once by now.
I suspect that the caulking had reached the end of its expected life cycle and allowed water to get in.
Once the water got into the wood it probably rotted and allowed the screws to pull out.
You might try adding some more screws till you find a solid attachment point. Then do some serious caulking.

Peace
Dave

 

[wingerbls]

Thanks for the replies. I inspected and touched up the caulk last summer, but had not been up there yet this summer. I won't be making that mistake again.

Is there anything to be gained by taking the entire trim strip off across the top so I can do a better inspection/repair? Then, the panel inside is slightly warped from soaking up water as it ran down the wall, approximately a 2" strip running from floor to ceiling. It's not very noticeable, but I'd like to repair it if it doesn't entail large amounts of time and/or large sums of money.

 

[caissiel]

We also have s 2009 and its also rotting.
I had to do a complete repair of my rear wall. The trims have no putty tape under and moisture gets behind the screws. On mine calking was good but the screws rotted. I have plce putty tape on all screwed area.
I noticed screws rusting on the bottom trims to and replaced them with SS and caulk years ago. Will surely do a taping job next.
My unit was build to sell. It's been a job to keep it together, but its getting better then new by now.

 

[oscar]

I have found that many, MANY of the screws on my HL product are over torqued. I know it's delicate as much of the materials involved are paper maché or similar..... But either the tool doesn't (automatically) take care of it, or the *** worker operating the tool doesn't know or care......

The only advice I have, short of ripping it all out and starting over, is to go oversize, VERY gently with lots of goop...... Good news is that most of the unit is OK. It's these special spots where owner (or DEARLY paid dealer) needs to add some TLC. Bad news is, it only takes one or two of these spots to, if neglected, reduce the whole thing to fungus food over a relatively short period of time.

Me, I'm (I think) on top of it and staying ahead of Mother Nature, and thusly still enjoying my Cyclone very much.