[VAL] Fw: Caulking

["Tom Patterson" <pattersontom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sue Murphy of Iowa Boys (who is a member of this list too) posted the
following message on the Vintage Trailers e-mail list, and I thought that her
comments might be of interest to those on this list too.  So, here it is, with
her permission.....

-Tom
_________________________________________________________

> Any ideas on what a guy should put on the roof of there trailer to
> prevent leakage other then having to re-sheet metal it? When i
> bought it gentelman said didnt leak but better to be safe then
> sorry!!!! Thanks

First let me say, DON'T USE SILICONE! We see so many trailers that the
owner has tried to solve a leak problem with silicone and it is just a
big mess. If you feel the need to use something like a caulking use an
acrylic caulk but don't use silicone.

We usually recommend that you seal only the seams and not the entire
roof. The reason for this is that when the coating gets old and starts
to crack and dry up (which they all do) and then a leak shows up it
can be very difficult to find where the water is getting under the
coating to get in. If you take your time and mask off about 2" on
either side of a seam then lay in a layer of coating, once you remove
the tape you have a clean edge and not something that looks sloppy. By
doing this if a leak shows up it is much easier to determine where it
is coming in, you use less coating and if you ever need to remove it
there is far less to deal with. If there is a gap of more than 1/4" it
is advised to use a mesh tape to lay in a base coat of the coating to
give it something to bridge the gap and then lay on another layer of
coating to seal it all up.

Coating is available in either white or silver, fibered or
non-fibered. We usually use the fibered. You need to make sure
whatever you use is for use on aluminum. Please don't ever use the
black stuff. Buy some cheap throw-away brushes and don't even try to
clean them when done.

For roof vents and plumbing vents the best thing is to remove and
thoroughly clean up the roof surface and the flange of the vent and
then reinstall with new putty tape as was done originally. In many
cases this will solve the leak and you will not need to apply the roof
coating there.

Along the meeting of the side walls to the roof and ends if you have a
leak there you will need to remove the edge molding, clean it all up
and then reinstall again with putty tape as was done originally. If
the leak there was bad you probably have some wood rot and that should
be repaired before you put it all back together.

If you have a leak around a window, remove the window, clean it all up
along with the edge of the opening and reinstall with putty tape.

Inspect your roof at least once a year and more frequently if you go
on a lot of rough roads that put more stress on the body of the
trailer. You want to make sure that the coating is not compromised by
the flex that can happen on a rough road.

Sue Murphy
Iowa Boys
North Hollywood, CA