Lap sealant Puncture holes or air bubbles?

[Jsfrock]

Do these look like puncture holes from branches (we are under trees on permanent spot)? Or are the air bubbles in the lap sealant?
We have interior water damage so we are trying to figure out our problem, and quickly.

[NavyLCDR]

Considering that the edges of the holes appear to be pointing inward, I would say puncture holes. If it were air bubbles bursting, I would think the edges of the holes would be more in the outward direction.

[Jsfrock]

Thank you. That’s what we thought also.

[babock]

I get these all the time in the original sealant. As far as I can tell they are just bubbles that occur when the original sealant is put down. I either remove it and apply new or just apply sealant over these. Not a big deal.

I go up on my roof every 6 months or so, especially before rainy season and touch up anything I find like this.

[Scrapper]

I agree with babock, those are not punctures from objects, they are from the off gassing of the sealant. Clean up the sealant and surrounding roof material with mineral spirits on a rag, wipe down with denatured alcohol, and cover with 6 inch wide roll of Eternabond tape. You will never have to worry about it for 10 years if the Eternabond is properly applied. Buy enough Eternabond tape to cover all the sealant. Many members on the forum do their rv's as soon as possible after purchase as preventive maintenance. I did mine 6 years ago and have had no problems.

EternaBond


Warning : DO NOT use Flex Seal. Every Flex Seal product states "For Temporary Repairs" in the fine print on their website.

[007matman]

Originally Posted by babock

I get these all the time in the original sealant. As far as I can tell they are just bubbles that occur when the original sealant is put down. I either remove it and apply new or just apply sealant over these. Not a big deal.

I go up on my roof every 6 months or so, especially before rainy season and touch up anything I find like this.

^^ what they said ^^

[Thurman]

Your third picture looks like the sealant around my vents at one time. I found that each one of the holes were directly over the head of a screw. It seems that any air trapped in the screw hole may cause a bubble over the screw head and then the bubble bursts leaving a small hole. As others have indicated, clean the area well, apply either Eternabond tape or new sealant.

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by babock

I get these all the time in the original sealant. As far as I can tell they are just bubbles that occur when the original sealant is put down. I either remove it and apply new or just apply sealant over these. Not a big deal.

I go up on my roof every 6 months or so, especially before rainy season and touch up anything I find like this.

X2

[Jsfrock]

Thank you

[Jsfrock]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

I agree with babock, those are not punctures from objects, they are from the off gassing of the sealant. Clean up the sealant and surrounding roof material with mineral spirits on a rag, wipe down with denatured alcohol, and cover with 6 inch wide roll of Eternabond tape. You will never have to worry about it for 10 years if the Eternabond is properly applied. Buy enough Eternabond tape to cover all the sealant. Many members on the forum do their rv's as soon as possible after purchase as preventive maintenance. I did mine 6 years ago and have had no problems.

EternaBond


Warning : DO NOT use Flex Seal. Every Flex Seal product states "For Temporary Repairs" in the fine print on their website.

Scrapper- can you use Eternabond tape to tape around the edge of a window skylight in the top of a slide out? We have one leaking also. We sealed it last year and it’s leaking again.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by Jsfrock

Scrapper- can you use Eternabond tape to tape around the edge of a window skylight in the top of a slide out? We have one leaking also. We sealed it last year and it’s leaking again.

I don't see why not. My camper came from FR with Eternabond on all 3 slides where the outside flange is fastened to the roof. The seals hasn't seem to bother the Eternabond from running them in/out after 7 yrs.

[NavyLCDR]

Thank you all for correcting my post made in error. Always glad to learn something new!

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

I don't see why not. My camper came from FR with Eternabond on all 3 slides where the outside flange is fastened to the roof. The seals hasn't seem to bother the Eternabond from running them in/out after 7 yrs.

I just did some work on the roof of my TT, removing some of the factory installed sealer and replacing with Eternabond.

To level out the lumpy sealer bead I put a sharp scraper blade on my oscillating multi-tool (Mine is a Rigid but Fein, Dremel, and others are the same) and used it to plane down the huge sealant ridge. The oscillating blade allows one to shave down the sealer a small layer at a time and when applying the Eternabond the finished "seal" is much flatter" Around a skylight/dome there's no ridge left to collect a big puddle of water and the dirt that's left behind when the water evaporates.

Just sharing.

[rsdata]

I just did some work on the roof of my TT, removing some of the factory installed sealer and replacing with Eternabond.

You can trim down ridges of sealant with a sharp razor blade also... before laying on the eternabond tape...

clean the area well as prep work is important when applying the eternabond... give it a good place to seal against

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I just did some work on the roof of my TT, removing some of the factory installed sealer and replacing with Eternabond.

To level out the lumpy sealer bead I put a sharp scraper blade on my oscillating multi-tool (Mine is a Rigid but Fein, Dremel, and others are the same) and used it to plane down the huge sealant ridge. The oscillating blade allows one to shave down the sealer a small layer at a time and when applying the Eternabond the finished "seal" is much flatter" Around a skylight/dome there's no ridge left to collect a big puddle of water and the dirt that's left behind when the water evaporates.

Just sharing.

I did the same thing 6 yrs ago, only I just used a utility knife blade to knock down the ugliest of the globs. I bought a 50 ft roll of 6 inch and ran a 6 x 8 foot piece across the front and rear seams. I then split the rest down the middle for 2x 3 inch pieces and ran them down the sides over the edge to the gutters. Be sure you roll the Eternabond down with a roller for best adhesion. 4yo pics attached (I know the roof needs cleaning).

[DouglasReid]

When we purchased our current 5er about 5 years ago I covered all the seams and roof penetrations with this product. It has eliminated any problems whatsoever and is easier to apply than Eternabond tape.

https://gaco.com/product-details/gac...2000-seamseal/

[kittlecat]

I just replaced all the factory caulk on the roof openings on my TT with Eternabond this week. I did it alone so it took me 7-8 hours but I'm very pleased with the outcome and glad I shouldn't have to worry about water intrusion from caulk that fails anymore. There were several small areas where a tiny amount of water was under the caulk but no intrusion into the camper. Fixed it!

I scraped off all factory caulk using a plastic putty knife after letting the roof of the TT be in the sun for several hours. The vast majority of the old caulk came up pretty easily. Some of the caulk was very dried out despite my maintaining it twice yearly. The Eternabond was easy to put down although very sticky! I prepped the areas well before putting down the Eternabond.

We are going to tackle my friend's 5th wheel next and replace factory caulk with Eternabond. I'm glad it is done and hope to not have to worry about the roof quite so much now as far as caulk failing.

[Jsfrock]

Thank you

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by kittlecat

I just replaced all the factory caulk on the roof openings on my TT with Eternabond this week. I did it alone so it took me 7-8 hours but I'm very pleased with the outcome and glad I shouldn't have to worry about water intrusion from caulk that fails anymore. There were several small areas where a tiny amount of water was under the caulk but no intrusion into the camper. Fixed it!

I scraped off all factory caulk using a plastic putty knife after letting the roof of the TT be in the sun for several hours. The vast majority of the old caulk came up pretty easily. Some of the caulk was very dried out despite my maintaining it twice yearly. The Eternabond was easy to put down although very sticky! I prepped the areas well before putting down the Eternabond.

We are going to tackle my friend's 5th wheel next and replace factory caulk with Eternabond. I'm glad it is done and hope to not have to worry about the roof quite so much now as far as caulk failing.

To save some time you don't need to remove the caulk. Clean the caulk and adjoining surface with mineral spirits followed by denatured or isopropyl alcohol on a rag. As said before, the alcohol will remove the mineral spirit residue and any remaining moisture. Work in about 4 foot strips. Knock down the larger lumps of caulking with a razor or utility knife blade. Once the areas you want to cover is cleaned start laying down the Eternabond. The Eternabond will adhere to the remaining caulking without problems.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Jsfrock

Scrapper- can you use Eternabond tape to tape around the edge of a window skylight in the top of a slide out? We have one leaking also. We sealed it last year and it’s leaking again.

This is an interesting statement.

I have never seen a factory installed skylight in the top of a slide out?

How could that work?