Joined the Eternabond club. Getting ready for summer 2017 roadtrip.

[ADOR]

We have our 2015 Class C Forest River Forester 2861DS for a little bit over a year now. Getting ready for our 3 week 2017 summer roadtrip. Original dicor roof sealants are still good. A bit dry and dirty. But overall condition is still good. Have some tiny crackings on some areas. No need to remove all sealants.

I ordered 2 rolls of 6"x50' Eternabond tape and Eternabond steel roller from Amazon. Purchased 2 tubes of Dicor self levelling sealant and 1 tube of the non-sag sealant. For prep, I first scrubbed the areas to be covered with plain water, just to remOve the dirt that have accumulated since we bought the RV. The water got a bit muddy from the dust/dirt. I then used Simple Green multi purpose cleaner, 1:5 ratio. This is good cleaner I must say. I wiped the cleaner off with a clean towel to remove the dirt from the roof. Lastly, I wiped the area with denatured alcohol. I let it dry for few minutes, then applied the tape.

Lesson learned from my first try. I tried to apply the tape on the left side first. I tried to apply from bottom going up. I tried to line up the tape over the top part of the gutter, then apply the tape going up to the top of the roof. After my first foot of application, I noticed a lot of crumpled area. Just impossible to make it smooth. I removed the first foot of the tape and tried again. That stuff was hard to remove once pressure is applied. Had to use hair dryer to heat it up and peel off. As I apply the new tape, I learned a better way how to apply the tape. I had some bubbles in some areas. It is not perfect. But I am satisfied and feel good the the RV will have some water barrier in case we encounter rain while we are on the road.


I am on my 3rd day of working on the RV. FRONT, REAR and both SIDES are done (only have to apply Dicor sealant to the REAR). Also finished around the refrigerator vent. I also applied self levelling Dicor over the edge of the tapes where the roof is at. Not on the other side. I stil have to do the perimeters of the roof vents and around the ladder. I dont think I will do the AC. I'm afraid I might mess up the integrity of the area around the AC. It gets above 100+ degrees here in Vegas around 9AM. Time to cool down for now.


After applying the Eternabond tape where I want to, next on the list is to re-seal around luggage compartment doors, water heater, etc.

Here are some pics.

[itat]

ADOR, you pics didn't upload. Can you try again.

[ADOR]

Pics are up now.

Originally Posted by itat

ADOR, you pics didn't upload. Can you try again.

[howie70]

Looks good.

[itat]

Nice clean job! I bought some 6" wide tape for the front and rear seams and some 4" wide tape for all the roof penetrations.I don't plan on adding any Dicor on the edges. I put Eternabond on our Roo and its stuck so well I don't think the extra self-leveling sealant is necessary.

[ADOR]

You know what? After I put the Dicor on the edge of the front and the sides, I was thinking about what someone had mentioned on this site about the Dicor sealant "might create" something that will hold the water (like a dam). I might not add Dicor on the rear anymore and flatten out the Front and Side Dicor with my roller. I will check them out tomorrow morning.

Originally Posted by itat

I don't plan on adding any Dicor on the edges. I put Eternabond on our Roo and its stuck so well I don't think the extra self-leveling sealant is necessary.

[KayleysMom]

We joined the Club also!

We put Eternabond on the roof of our 2017 2861DS Forester last weekend. I cleaned the areas with water and a bit of Dawn dish soap then went over the area with acetone. I then placed Eternabond on the front, rear and both side edges and around the roof vents, refrigerator vent, tv antenna and where the ladder is attached to the roof. Having had the same thought as ADOR, I also decided not to do anything with the air conditioner other than to make sure everything was securely tightened down. I did not do the Dicor.

Weird thing is that there was caulking in the 4 holes where the screws are that secure the refrigerator vent cover. The caulking was not down all of the way into the holes so I was able to clean it out and get to the screws to remove the vent cover to put the Eternabond tape on. We had to replace the refrigerator vent cover on our last motor home because it became brittle from sun exposure and I don't remember there being caulk in those holes. Maybe the factory guy who did the caulk on this unit got a little carried away with his caulking gun. In any event, I did not replace the caulk after we screwed the vent cover back on, I just placed a small 1 inch x 1 inch square of Eternabond tape over each screw hole. I figure I'll be able to remove that small of a piece if it becomes necessary to replace the vent in the future.

[ADOR]

Hi KayleysMom. I had the same caulking covering the 4 holes on the plastic roof refrigerator cover. I had to pry them off using a small screw driver. I am thinking of doing what you did, 1x1 inch eternabond tape to cover the holes, just in case I have to remove the cover again in the future. For my bathroom skylyte cover, it is brownish in color now (faded). No cracks or anything. I will not even touch the cover now. I will just apply the eternabond tape around the cover perimeter.

[KayleysMom]

Originally Posted by ADOR

Hi KayleysMom. I had the same caulking covering the 4 holes on the plastic roof refrigerator cover. I had to pry them off using a small screw driver. I am thinking of doing what you did, 1x1 inch eternabond tape to cover the holes, just in case I have to remove the cover again in the future. For my bathroom skylyte cover, it is brownish in color now (faded). No cracks or anything. I will not even touch the cover now. I will just apply the eternabond tape around the cover perimeter.

Thanks for the reply ADOR. I did the same as you for the shower skylight, just put the tape around the perimeter.

Our Forester has the slide out covers on the 2 slide outs. Looking under the covers at the slide out roof, there are bolts there that run across the roof of the slide out that have no Dicor on them. My next Eternabond adventure will be to figure out how to get under those slide out covers to reach the bolts and cover them with Dicor and then run a strip of Eternabond across them also.

[cardwellmarty]

ADOR nice looking job, I am doing Eternabond this week and hope mine turns out that well.

[ADOR]

Thanks. What I learned from my first try was do it SLOW. Take your time to avoid bubbles and tiny folds (as much as you can). Pull out about 3-4 inches initially and let the protective cover fold/slide underneath the rest of the tape. I am right handed, so I pulled the protective cover from underneath with my right hand. Place the initial 3-4 inches where you want to start (I started from left side, going to my right). After you lay down the initial 3-4 inches, try to smooth them out as much as you can. Now, unroll the tape about an arm length to your right and position (flatten the STILL covered part of the tape). Once it is in position, lightly position your left hand over the NEXT 4-5 inches (beginning with the leftmost INCH). For the area with the 1inch raised pillar, I placed my INDEX finger and THUMB on each side of the pillar. I then pulled out about 2-3 inches at a time, SLOWLY rubbing the sides of the PILLAR with my Index Finger and Thumb to smoothen the area that is on the SIDES of the pillar. I then used the steel roller and clean clothe to smoothen out the rest of the tape. Just be patient. You will see what I am talking about. And If some areas do get some air bubbles and imperfection, so be it.

Good luck with your project. It is very rewarding once it is done. That added protection will save our RV from water damage (at least the ones we covered).

Originally Posted by cardwellmarty

ADOR nice looking job, I am doing Eternabond this week and hope mine turns out that well.

[ADOR]

Finished the antenna this morning.

[ebcobra93]

Great job, looks good!

Couple of questions...

Did you use the Eternabond as just a preventative or were you having an issue with leaks? Also, is there a need to remove the old dicor before putting down the tape or only if it's damaged in some way?

[kamper00]

Impressive job!

This is the way units should leave the factory!

[ADOR]

ebcobra93, I currently do not have any leaks from the roof. I do however, have leaks on 3 of my windows (That's another story. Camping World was pain in the a** and only fixed 1 out of the 3 leaking windows).


I did the eternabond tape as a preventive measure. My Class C is over a year old now. The original dicor is still in good shape. Removing it is a personal choice, I think, based on the condition of the dicor. When I inspected mine, I would say 95% is still intact. Just dirty. I did find an area (about 4-5 inches long), where the dicor came off. I re-applied dicor and let it dry. I then covered it with eternabond. Few areas did show some tiny cracks. I didn't think there is a need to remove the original dicor and create a bigger open/exposed space/

[Scrapper]

There is no need to remove the Dicor or add Dicor to any peeling spots. Many who have used Eternabond on their roofs just use a utility knife blade or razor blade to level off crappy uneven globs of Dicor.
There are plenty of threads about using Eternabond on various types of roofs in these forums. Some go into great detail on how they prepped the seams.

[Mets7890]

ADOR,

looks good, i have sealed the front cap to the roof, and the antenna, hopefully will do the sides next week. How are you going to seal the storage compartments with Eternabond?

Thanks

[ADOR]

Mets7890, I have posted a different post about what sealant to use for the compartment doors, around exterior light and water heater exhaust. Someone suggested ProFlex (clear). I already used that to fix my leaking windows. Good stuff, but hard to smoothen out the finish. I will try and use that.

[Butch & Lena]

Ador, what way did you learn was the best way to lay the eternabod tape?

[Butch & Lena]

ADOR, what method did you end up using to apply the eternabond tape. great job!!!