Need advice's on protecting roof / windows / doors from water leaks...

[Angel Taskovski]

Hello everyone, I am a new motorhome owner. So no experience or knowledge. I bought1997 Rimor on ford transit platform. I am trying to learn as much as i can and was doing a lot of research and reading. As I understood one of the biggest problem with motorhomes is when there is a leak after good rain, and apparently as motorhomes are moving there are cracks appearing every season, so people advise to protect motorhome every season for prevention.
Can anyone advise what type of sealant to use? Which products are good and tested and can be bought in European market? (found a lot of information for USA market but lot less for EU)
Should i remove old sealant first? (how to remove it safely?)
Should i clean the surface prior to applying sealant? (what to use to clean surface not to damage paint or aluminium or previous sealant?)
Apparently someone was already doing something (leak protection) with my motorhome as i can see some material that looks like liquid rubber pouring out under aluminium joints on the corners. This rubber/soft material seams to be collecting a lot of dirt and changing from white to black. Should i remove that material?
I attached photos of how this material is leaking from under the aluminium corner bar.
Also there is part of aluminium bar that is not covered at all and screws are open to rain and already very rusty. What should i use to cover that? (photos attached)
Also i noticed that around storage doors in the back there is no protection at all and i guess it should also be protected.
One side of motorhome has this soft white sealant that appears to leak under aluminium bar and on the other side there is dark black sealant very firm on touch. (it appears to be quite old) Should i remove that sealant or just add another on top of it? (sides are different because motorhome was repaired after crash so i guess that is when they applied this soft white sealant on one side)
Thank you all for understanding and I am grateful to be on this forum as i already found a lot of useful information on it.
I love nature and my job is not office dependent so i plan to spend most of my time living in this motorhome in different places in nature. I am from Bosnia so we have plenty of good places hot springs and mountains and even Adriatic sea is close. If anyone needs good travel tips for Balkans please feel free to contact me.

 

[mfw]

You are missing trim insert if you can see the screw heads on the roof ally securing bit - but you have a big job to repair/seal that lot and probably expose a lot more problems - good luck

 

[funflair]

The original sealant on your van is a non setting mastic, when it gets very hot excess can run out of the joint a little bit, if you can see the stuff at the edge of the joint there is a fair chance that it has not dried out inside and will be OK, Agree with the above post that says that the inserts are missing and around the locker door a screw is missing as well so this just lets moisture straight into the construction. The proper way to reseal this type of joint is to remove the screws and prise off the trim then clean up with white spirit before replacing with mastic sealing from a gun or on a tape.

There is one picture which I think is the lower edge of the overcab and it looks like there is some corrosion of the alloy so that needs looking at.

Martin

 

[The Wino]

I'm afraid it looks to me like you have bought a van needing quite extensive repairs and would proceed to do the worst bits first as detailed above. You want a non setting mastic NOT SILICONE maybe try a local caravan spares shop the best known is sikaflex

 

[Jim]

Sounds like a new exciting chapter in your life. . Essentially you will need to remove as much of the old stuff as possible, clean thoroughly and re-seal. Its messy and time consuming but its no big deal. My advice is to go to google and search "RV Caulking" You'll find a ton of how-to guides and videos about how to waterproof every kind of motorhome seal. best of luck

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Sundowners]

If you remove any trim/ fittings I suggest you use a non setting material like dicor it comes in a mastic type tube also like putty on a roll-------- the BIG advantage with this material is it works and is easier to remove later than stuff like sikaflex . it will also not form a skin while you are using it like sikaflex so give you longer to refit the trim and still seal--------- sikaflex ( and loads of similar pruducts) have their place and are supurb------ but IMHO and experience under trim is not their place!!-------- like Jim said, look at RV repair clips to see what I mean!.

 

[peterc10]

I am not sure who the people are that told you that you needed to reseal every year, but that should not be the case. If the job is done (or redone in your case) properly, as in the suggestions already given, it will last many years without any further work, other than regular cleaning.

 

[Figaro]

I think I've seen USA YouTube videos where they recommend reseal or at least check seals every year on RV's. I think it was when I was researching eternabond tape uses.
Maybe their climate is more severe and damaging to seals than in northern europe ?

 

[Sundowners]

If you remove any trim/ fittings I suggest you use a non setting material like dicor it comes in a mastic type tube also like putty on a roll-------- the BIG advantage with this material is it works and is easier to remove later than stuff like sikaflex . it will also not form a skin while you are using it like sikaflex so give you longer to refit the trim and still seal--------- sikaflex ( and loads of similar pruducts) have their place and are supurb------ but IMHO and experience under trim is not their place!!-------- like Jim said, look at RV repair clips to see what I mean!.

 

[Ivory55]

I am not sure who the people are that told you that you needed to reseal every year, but that should not be the case. If the job is done (or redone in your case) properly, as in the suggestions already given, it will last many years without any further work, other than regular cleaning.

Carlight caravan used to have the awning rail etc resealed as part of its service, not sure if it was annual or biannual.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[mfw]

Have a look at this thread give you an idea what you could be letting yourself in for (
My DIY damp repair project )

 

[peterc10]

Carlight caravan used to have the awning rail etc resealed as part of its service, not sure if it was annual or biannual.

How long ago was that???? Did they have to use tar and hemp ............................

 

[SuperMike]

That was Carlight for you, they were beautiful and cost loads of money and came with monogrammed crystal decanter and glasses. The last time I heard the chairman of the CMC still had one.

 

[Ivory55]

How long ago was that???? Did they have to use tar and hemp ............................

If the person telling them was of the older generation they might have ideas like that.

 

[funflair]

We had a Vanroyce caravan and had the awning rail removed to reseal at 12 years old, it didn't need doing actually so all cleaned up and but back on with slightly longer screws to get a good hold.

Martin

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}