What's your opinion of Eternabond?

[Larry-NC]

1) The manufacturer does say "guaranteed for 10 years." FR has used it on the metal seams of the slideouts on our 2007 Cherokee 38P. The seams are connected by the ubiquitous #6 Round Head Robertson screws they use on everything. The Eternabond was applied right down the seam, over each of the screw heads. After 11 years, the white vinyl part of the tape is beginning to split at each of the screw heads. When it gets warmer, I will clean the tape and put another layer over it.

2) The instructions recommend placing a thin bead of conventional caulk (e.g., Dicor Lap Sealant) around the edges of the tape if it is in a conspicuous place. The reason is that the adhesive seeps out a little bit and catches any dust or dirt that's flying around. (Same as any place they've used butyl tape, e.g., marker lights or furnace vent.) Not necessary on the roof unless your neighbors are inspecting it.

Just my experiences.

Larry

[JD2509S]

Eternabond does the job. You will not be sorry. I applied to all roof seams two years ago and still looks like I applied yesterday.

[NoviBill]

I used it on my 1999 camper and it was still good after 10 years. On my "new to me" Lexington I am slowly replacing all the caulk on the roof with Eternabond allowing anual check vs annual maintenance. Ditto on caulking the sides, dead stuck insects look bad.

[Jeffjeeptj]

I have a Sears Cargo box for the roof of the SUV. I had it laying against the side of my house 3 years ago when a storm came through and blew the box around the yard and ended with a 0’-8” long crack near a rear top corner.
Drilled a small hole at the ends of the crack. Used Eterna bond prep and tape on both sides of the crack, been fine since, including driving 60 MPH into a 30 MPH headwind.
The metal roller really helped press the tape. Black tape on top of a black box = hard to see. No leaks.

I keep,a roll in my on the road tool bag, right next to the duct tape.

[MikeRP]

Ok I’m thinking of putting this on all roof seems on my new Cedar Creek fifth wheel. Is there a width you’d recommend? Also let’s say you are doing the side seams. How many feet do you cover at once?

[doc73]

Originally Posted by MikeRP

Ok I’m thinking of putting this on all roof seems on my new Cedar Creek fifth wheel. Is there a width you’d recommend? Also let’s say you are doing the side seams. How many feet do you cover at once?

I used the 4". I did it in one continuous line, just did it a few feet at a time

[rsdata]

How many feet do you cover at once?

First, it is hard for me to say what the correct width would be, but I used 2 inch and 3 inch wide Eternabond for my entire roof, 3 inch on the front and back seams, and 2 inch on both sides. This allowed me to put about 1/2 inch in the side rain gutter while allowing the rest to stick to the roof. The front and back seams, I wanted 1 1/2 inches on each side of the roof seam.

As far as the correct amount of feet, well you will get better at it as you go, but consider that you may want to start with about 3 feet at one time, which is what I did on the side seams. Across the front and back seams, which I did last I did it in two halves.

You do have to peel off the bottom layer of backing plastic to expose the sticky stuff on the bottom of the tape... then IF it touches ANY surface, it WILL stick, and be almost impossible to pull up. This makes it so that you can only pull back the backing plastic about 3 inches at a time. Stick the 3 inches down, then pull more backing off, and continue. Doing the side roof seams on a ladder that I had to move every few feet, well, you can see that 3 feet at a time was necessary. While kneeling on the roof for the front and back seams, it was easier to do longer lengths.

After about 15 minutes working with the tape you will figure out what you are capable of doing. I inspected my roof this June, and found that the Eternabond install still looked good, although the edges, where the adhesive is slightly exposed will start getting dark from dirt sticking to it, giving the white tape dark edges... ONLY if looking at the roof from a ladder, so NO BIG DEAL.

I did post the steps I used on my roof here...

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...nce-90060.html

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by MikeRP

Ok I’m thinking of putting this on all roof seems on my new Cedar Creek fifth wheel. Is there a width you’d recommend? Also let’s say you are doing the side seams. How many feet do you cover at once?

I'd use the narrow widths (e.g., 2") if the roof pieces are solidly attached to one another.

On a trailer where (for example) the front/back metal piece bends over and laps the EPDM roof membrane, covered by a metal molding, I'd use wide (6") Eternabond, since these spots are known to shift and leak.

Larry

[cdinatl]

The stuff works and almost impossible to remove. Don’t ask me how I know.

[mikehagl]

With such fulsome praise, it makes me wonder what else we could do with Eternabond and proper cleaning prep? Could we get a 5er made of 100% Eternabond, and avoid the products of slap-dash constructors. Oh well, that is probably just a dream. Looks like the only thing we need to be concerned about is doing it right the first time (aka DIRFT).

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by cdinatl

The stuff works and almost impossible to remove. Don’t ask me how I know.

I don't have to ask; I have my own experience.

RSdata suggested removing old Eternabond with mineral spirits, then washing with isopropyl alcohol. I was dubious but that sequence actually worked quite well.

Larry

[jenandrand]

Will using Eternabond void your roof warranty or cause a mfg to fight you on your warranty?

[rsdata]

Will using Eternabond void your roof warranty or cause a mfg to fight you on your warranty?

I believe there is only the one year warranty offered by Forest River on a roof installed by them.

The only thing that typically fails on a roof is nothing except where a leak occurs where the roof folds into a molding or is pierced like where a vent fan is installed. What usually fails after 2-4 years is the Dicor self-leveling sealant added by the factory to seal those areas. Failure of that sealant is on you per the warning to check your roof every 3 months to look for those types of failures before they become a problem leaking rain water into the interior.

Using Eternabond typically seals those areas nearly permanently... well at least for the ten year warranty period of the Eternabond, provided it is installed correctly.

Some roofs materials I have seen on here do come loose from the under-laying roof material and billow in the wind usually on hot days on the freeway. That is a separate problem, because the Eternabond holds so well, it would probably be nearly impossible to separate the roof membrane from the Eternabond tape. At the very least it would take some amount of elbow grease to do that in order to lay down another membrane on the roof.

Will that make the roof membrane void? Well I don't think after a year it would make much difference because I don't believe there is a separate roof warranty... although I may be mistaken.

MY 2 cents only...

[Mountndream]

Originally Posted by jenandrand

Will using Eternabond void your roof warranty or cause a mfg to fight you on your warranty?

No

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by jenandrand

Will using Eternabond void your roof warranty or cause a mfg to fight you on your warranty?

No, in fact Flagstaff used 3" wide strip of eternabond on the trim screws on top of my slideouts.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

No, in fact Flagstaff used 3" wide strip of eternabond on the trim screws on top of my slideouts.

Our 2007 Cherokee 38P came with 3" Eternabond around the skylights in the slideouts, and also around the slideout seams.

As noted previously, you are not likely to need Eternabond until after the warranty has expired.

Larry

[AbdRahim]

I used it to repair the gutter on the house that I hit with the trailer. Four years now and not leaking.

[wanderer26]

Forest river has a 12 year warranty on their roofs

[rsdata]

wanderer26

Forest river has a 12 year warranty on their roofs

Can you cite a web page or something to prove this?

Bikendan from the site team posted this about 18 months ago... and he is pretty knowledgeable...

The 10 roof warranty is from the roof material manufacturer, not from FR. And it's only on the material, not labor.

FR would have only covered it for the first year, after that the manufacturer's warranty kicks in..

What I get from this is IF the roof material fails, they will replace the roof material... any other damage due to a leaking roof AND applicable labor is on the owner.

[wanderer26]

I have owned 3 forest river rv’s. Two TT’s and a fiver. They all came with 12 year warranty. I had to have the roof completly replaced on one of my travel trailers. I had a 30’ rip in the roof. When it was replaced by insurance it also came with a 12 year warranty.this is what i based my original statement on.