Roof Radius Resealing

[Rick 99037]

In reading past communications on this topic, I just want to point out that they do recommend a clear sealer on painted models, which yours must be, but for other readers of this blog that may have a non-painted unit, they recommend a different product on the white motorhomes for a sealer.

[NeilV]

Originally Posted by creativepart

Those of us with full body paint that creates a painted roof radius are not really candidates for putting a strip of eternabond tape across the drip edge and roof. Perhaps if your roof radius is white it doesn't look out of place.

Winnebago certainly knows about all these issues and designed the roof this way long ago. Not sure why they stick with it though. It would be nice to know the answer to this design choice.

By the way, eternabond tape is not eternal. It will fail and clean up will actually be twice as difficult. The only good thing is it will take a number of years before it fails.

Indeed its not eternal even on flat roofs and I've had the mylar membrane fail and turn to dust in less than ten years here in the Florida Sun and then the adhesive layer starts to get sunburned and crack. The first time it failed I was wondering what all these thin brittle white strips of plastic tape all in shreds in the bushes and lawn were about until I saw some dangling off the roof. Yes it took hours to remove enough of it to get it smooth enough to reseal.

[NeilV]

Originally Posted by bbrowncods

On a 2018 Vista LX 35F the Sealant Callout Sheet says the sealer for the roof radius is Winnebago part number 94401-04-000.

So I did some research and could never come up with a clear silicone sealer that I knew was what the Winnebago part number called for. So I just decided to order 4 tubes from an online Winnebago Dealer that is only "1 mile from the factory" for $19.05 each. That way I knew it was the right stuff.
What I received was "Stone Mason - Gutter and Siding Sealant". I could not find a source in the US, but Canadian Home Depot has it for $9.44 a tube.
As a cross reference it looks like NuFlex 640 is an alternate.

That's because those sealants are either urethane or thermoplastic adhesives with mineral spirits in them and not a silicone product.

Most will have a 9 to 12 month shelf life from date of manufacture so be cautious about buying them on-line since there is a high chance that you may end up with adhesive sealant that near to or even past its useful life which results in a less strong adhesion when applied.

[Phil-T]

Here's my question - Why has WBGO not made any changes in the design or the maintenace recommendations in all these years. I like the idea of something permanent but not thrilled with idea of having to remove that tape if/when it fails or ages out. I'm sticking with the sealant/adhesive process till this tape process proves out for some years.
Given the right tools, the resealing process is not that big a deal. Reallt hoping this works out for those that are doing it.

[unclescratch]

Can't Thank You folks enough for highlighting this roof issue. Inspected mine to find the filon edge completely 'out' of the track for about 2-feet above the side entrance door (racking during travel?). On that same side the original caulk looked to be in really good condition over the bedroom slide, but the remainder of that side needed replaced. Check this out: it appeared that when the coach was built they may have caulked that side first and run out of caulk just after beginning the rear of the opposite side. Then they 'never returned to finish'! I found just a few inches of caulk on the driver's side and what appeared to be 'no more at all' on that side! I tried to purchase the Mason AM15 (?) from Fastenal who had the best price but found it about impossible to buy from these folks myself being just a homeowner. Others had it but @$12.00/tube. I purchased Loctite's 'All Purpose Polyseamseal' from my local Tru Value hardware and used just under two tubes to recaulk the seam. I found some medium steel wool a really good item to clean the filon before mineral spirits and then re-caulking. Also used air compressor to blow out the track. I hope I wiped/dried the mineral spirits well enough before I filled the track just over the top of it and the job looks very good. The caulk shows smoothing it (with your finger?) after application, but I just left the caulk as it flowed from the tube. Again, looks very good. Now we will give it the test of time, remember to inspect it periodically, and pray we are 'good to go' !!

[Jim_HiTek]

@Unclescratch: Interesting. Not surprised the factory forgot to finish the project. Seems like they always forget something when building one of these rigs.

Please come back and let us know how things are progressing in 6 months or a year.

It has now been 6 years since I installed the Eternabond tape up on the roof seam in order to avoid having to inspect/repair the caulking every 6 months as recommended by Winnie. So far, the Ebond is holding well. Still looks great, and even though there were times over the last 6 years of full timing that by necessity the RV was racked, it's still holding fast. Probably has to do with surface prep that I did back in 2017, shown here at my ad free blog article.

[Maddmike]

Interested in the Eternabond tape solution. Are you using the 2" or 3" version?

[Jim_HiTek]

Originally Posted by Maddmike

Interested in the Eternabond tape solution. Are you using the 2" or 3" version?

I'm using 2" N-S along the roof edges and 4" W-E on the end caps. Then I use either 4" or 2" on the devices on the roof. Winnie did such a good job with the self-leveling caulking on my roof originally, there are places where I've not added anything yet. I have a basement AC so no AC units on the roof.

I did need to add outdoor Silicone above the front running lights as that was a path for water to enter over the dash and eventually drip onto it. I did a 3/4 surround of the running lights leaving the bottoms open for draining. I've been in some pretty terrific rain storms since and no leaks onto the dash.

Then I've added stick on rubber gutters over most of the windows to further shed water...as preventative maintenance.

[wyocamper]

I used 2" tan Eternabond on mine, and a 2" nylon seam roller to roll it out. I went under the channel and up over it, a couple days of sunshine smoothed out most of the imperfections in my application.

[Maddmike]

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

I'm using 2" N-S along the roof edges and 4" W-E on the end caps. Then I use either 4" or 2" on the devices on the roof. Winnie did such a good job with the self-leveling caulking on my roof originally, there are places where I've not added anything yet. I have a basement AC so no AC units on the roof.

I did need to add outdoor Silicone above the front running lights as that was a path for water to enter over the dash and eventually drip onto it. I did a 3/4 surround of the running lights leaving the bottoms open for draining. I've been in some pretty terrific rain storms since and no leaks onto the dash.

Then I've added stick on rubber gutters over most of the windows to further shed water...as preventative maintenance.

Originally Posted by wyocamper

I used 2" tan Eternabond on mine, and a 2" nylon seam roller to roll it out. I went under the channel and up over it, a couple days of sunshine smoothed out most of the imperfections in my application.

Excellent, thanks!


Does anyone have any videos on prep and application? Any particular cleaning products? Do you totally (as best as possible) remove all the old sealant?