roof to side repair/seal...with PHOTOS

[rastaman]

I am making great progress on my "rebuild' project. however I keep going back and forth on how to proceed with the sealing of my roof edge where it meets the side.<br>This edge is not a smooth intact overlap, there are some areas where the roof metal is not laying totally flat against the side and has some tears.&nbsp; <br><br>My initial thought was to use 4" eternabond tape along this edge. however after using it on the back vertical edge it seems to stick just fine however where ever there is any opening and nothing to stick to it just leaves a wrinkle and air pocket. It does not give any structural strength or form.<br><br>Now I am thinking of using the Kool Seal cement with the blue membrane reinforcement. This is what the PO used before and although looking very messy it seemed to adhere very well in most of the areas. Some areas just peeled off ( I am guess incorrect prepping before application). Using this product it would seem that I could 'form' an edge that would be fairly firmed.<br><br>any suggestions are welcomed<br><br>

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Pictures?

 

[rastaman]

No pics yet...to try and describe it better......where the roof metal overlaps the side by about 1" that over lap is not intact. it is lifting off at an angle in some areas and is generally deformed for most of the length. I have tried forming it back in but as one area is taped in the other area pops out I have screwed it and stapled...its not that bad its just with the eternabond tape it only sticks to whats there and I am thinking I will have air pockets under the tape in the lifted areas. The tape is wide enough where it will have a good seal against the side metal below the roof edge

 

[highdesertranger]

wasn't there trim over the edge where the roof meets the side?&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;You can go to an RV supply place and buy the trim to cover the edge or, barring that, use thin angle aluminum from a builder's supply. ..Willy.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

my suggestionwould be,&nbsp;find someone with an alluminim break, a window installer or roofer&nbsp;perhaps and&nbsp;have&nbsp;them make you up a small&nbsp;:L shape flashing maybe 2 inch by 2inch or less, enough to cover the old screws and roughness,&nbsp;turned&nbsp;back on edges, so you dont cut yourself,&nbsp;out&nbsp;of thin guage alli, &nbsp;in whatever colour&nbsp;matches, &nbsp;cut&nbsp;the side leg at the corner and bend it&nbsp;down and under the top, side. I would&nbsp;lay a heavy bead of sicaflex or equivalent sealant along thr outer edge of top and side&nbsp;and set the flashing into it, for ease of clean up I would first set the angle down mark it, tape where it ends put&nbsp;sealant down, push flasing into it, pop rivet or screw it down,&nbsp;remove tape and excess sealant&nbsp;should all come off with tape. job done.

 

[rastaman]

These are some interesting ideas, I may be over thinking this , but the problem I am seeing with using some kind of L shaped flashing or angle is that it too has to be fastened&nbsp; to some thing, the roof metal is very VERY thin and on the top I would have to screw it within an inch of the edge to hit the framing. Now i will have several holes on top of the roof which will have to be sealed and maintained. Unless the idea is to use eternabond tape over the flashing. That may work till I get to the front area that starts to curve down over the overhang...then what? . The L flashing will have to be cut on the sides to form the 'bend' and I will be back to square one ..several uneven areas.<br><br>There may have been a molding strip on the side at one point, not sure as there was only Kool Seal with webbing up there. I am tempted to go back to the Kool Seal route as getting it off in some areas was a pain, and it did seem to have good adhesion. however the down side is&nbsp; how it will look at the sides, as I cant think how I would have uniformed application.&nbsp; Unless...once again if I cover over with Eternabond tape....overkill but????<br><br>my other thought is to use two 'runs' of eternabond tape ( over lapping about 1" )...to allow for a wider coverage therefore having more of the tape sticking to smooth surface. I know i will still have 'air pockets' under the tape in some areas and i am not sure if that would be a problem.<br><br>forgive m e&nbsp; for my ignorance and I appreciate the ideas and suggestions....<br><br>

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;If you buy the stuff from an RV supply you'll be able to bend it around curves, since it's rather malleable. regardless, just squirt in a couple of lines of paintable butyl and screw it down into the framing. Use long screws if necessary. ..Willy.

 

[rastaman]

Willy... are you referring to the J type molding? <br>and are you also saying that the butyl would be enough to seal it...nothing over that???<br>thanks

 

[Willy]

Yup.. though there's other types you can put on. Don't have to get fancy and try not to 'overthink' stuff. The paintable butyl will seal stuff up, while remaining flexible, then can be painted over with the elastomeric roof coating. ..Willy.

 

[rastaman]

Willy...printable butyl...is that the roll of tape stuff???

 

[flying kurbmaster]

In my opinion you don't have to find the frame, if you pop rivet it into that thin alluminium it will hold. you can have the flashing&nbsp;bent at&nbsp;2 inches inches in, if you were&nbsp;worried about&nbsp;being close to the&nbsp;edge but I don' think&nbsp;you have to worry about that.&nbsp;All you are doing is holding a&nbsp;thin, light&nbsp;piece of alluminium that is glued on as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If you&nbsp;put a dab of sealant in the pop rivet hole before inserting, you can trust it will not leak.&nbsp;you are right you will have to make a cut up the side of the flashing maybe more then one&nbsp;if the bend is sharp,&nbsp;then bend it under&nbsp;each upper&nbsp;part at the bend, where it will work like a shingle.This can be done cleanly, your top will still be one piece and with the underside of the&nbsp;flashing caked in silcaflex it&nbsp;should not leak. you might want to put a pop rivet at the overlap on the side&nbsp;to join the pieces.&nbsp;&nbsp;I&nbsp;may be wrong but what I understand as&nbsp;butyl usually&nbsp;doesn't harden, so it will always seep&nbsp;black stuff. It is ideal for sealing rubber around windshields or vapor barrier in houses&nbsp;is another application for butyl but it stays sticky&nbsp;for many years. Silcaflex is used on boats it has&nbsp;flex. There is also the dymonic\ dymeric range ??,&nbsp; polymer sealants I think they call them, used in construction &nbsp;&nbsp;The problem&nbsp;with some of the hard sealants that I have seen used&nbsp;on some travel trailers, although they have good adhesion they don;t bend,&nbsp;therefore when the shell&nbsp;flexes when you start driving down the road they tend to crack. There is another sealant that I like using but I can't for the love of me remember it;s name, window installers use it. What is nice about it is that you can lay a bead and let it dry, it has good adhesion I think a 25 year warranty but it can be pealed off clean, so if it starts getting ratty or you mess up you can let it dry and with a little practice peal it off in one piece but holds and seals if left alone. If you click on my user name, then my album have a look at my kurbmaster exterior at the back of the van you will see some alluminium wing like things, the sides are held on by three pop rivets on a bracket behing the sprung V with a bead of caulking down each side. The top part is held on by about six pop rivets. it is not going anywhere....&nbsp;

 

[rastaman]

flying kurbmaster...I googled the silcaflex...never heard of it for RV uses....how would it compare to double sided eternabond?? which is what everyone seems to highly recomend.

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;DAP makes a paintable butyl sealant that comes in a tube that you then apply with a caulking gun. Takes about a week to fully cure, and then can be painted over. It comes in white (which I'm using) and, probably, other colours. It doesn't 'seep', like flying curbmaster mentioned. 'Course, Black Knight makes this really skookum clear sealant (which I've also used), but I don't know if it's paintable. ..Willy.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I don';t know what double sided eternabond is.&nbsp;I assume&nbsp;it is a tape, wich may work in your situation if it was thick enough and soft enough, but looking at what you got, rough and uneven surfaces,&nbsp;I think you are better off with a caulking, &nbsp;if, &nbsp;you are intending to use a mldg or flashing.&nbsp; If someone manufactures a tape that can sit over that joint, flexes,&nbsp;&nbsp;adheres to, seals&nbsp;it, will last and you don't mind the look by all means, that&nbsp;sounds like &nbsp;the easiest solution. I mentioned Silcaflex as I used it with success, in harsh conditions, under salt water.&nbsp;I mentioned my experience with butyl there may be different forms, I&nbsp;remember a Tremco&nbsp;tape, that we called butyl tape, it would seep&nbsp;and a caulking tube for vapour bariers, and a sealant for windsheilds we called butyl,&nbsp;these would&nbsp;never harden. Obviously Willy has a butyl that would work, I&nbsp;beleive him,&nbsp;I&nbsp;have also used polymers and silicones with great success&nbsp;on campers, vans,&nbsp;boats and in the construction trades.&nbsp;It is pointless&nbsp;to debate caulkings,&nbsp;as there are a million different manufactures that make a million different kinds of caulkings, with a million different claims to fame,&nbsp;&nbsp;for a million different applications,&nbsp;depending on where you are in the world,&nbsp;how much you want to spend and who your are buying from, all you have to do is go into a hardware store to see this,&nbsp;a lot of them would work,&nbsp;&nbsp;read the label, &nbsp;make sure your surfaces are dry and clean. good luck show us a picture when you are done and report on your success, so we can all be enlightened. maybe a piece of vynil extrusion would bend around that corner without needing to be cut just heated up to take the bend finishing it off nicely. just to complicate it a little more.<img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif">

 

[highdesertranger]

you could use 3m vhb tape to hold any trim piece down and you won't need to screw it down.&nbsp; I would seal the 2 parts first (roof,side) then trim&nbsp;and the tape.&nbsp; so there would be no screws exposed.&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[rastaman]

Oh boy the plot thickens <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">...highdesertstanger how would you suggest sealing...as that is my major concern at this point.<br>I have an awning molding strip that was mounted a little lower down the side. I am thinking i can move it up to the edge and use it to help secure what ever I use to seal the edging. On the top I will be using that liquid rubber roof coating so I will use it to over lap what ever is used on the edge.<br><br>So what if I laid down a good run of 4" eternabond along the top over laping about 1" of a previously applied run of caulking . Then screw the awning molding, sandwiching the eternabond and caulk?........OH then I still have the front curved section to deal with....<br><br>now&nbsp; I am really perplexed...to caulk to tape or to flashing.. <br><br>I really appreciate all the ideas and the input that i am getting from you guys, and I am sorry if i seem some what boneheaded...&nbsp; but once over this hump I will be seeing light at the end of the tunnel.<br>thanks

 

[Lostinspace]

Why not just hit an auto parts store and pick up a packet of fibreglass, resin and hardener.&nbsp; Run the wetted fiberglass down the length of the joint, let dry and recoat.&nbsp; That should be good enough.&nbsp; Then when you run the liquid rubber roof coating it will be sealed, won't flex and will look pretty decent.&nbsp; Plus the joint will be stronger.&nbsp; I love fibreglass.

 

[rastaman]

Wade...that was my first plan however if I remember correctly I was discouraged by some postings I read somewhere, the thought was that fiberglass woouldnt flex or adhere reliably. I think that is what I understood.<br>I might even of posted that plan here sometime back...I love fiberglass and i have worked with it before.<br><br>have you any experience with it on rv's

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;I prefer using the caulking that comes out of a tube because, being near liquid, it flows into imperfections and seals. Tape has a harder time doing so. I lay down a bead that's fat enough so, when I tighten down the trim, some oozes out. I then run my finger along it to make an even better seal. ..Willy.