Seeking advice on repair of sidewall to roof seams – Caulk or Eternabond

[LK23]

I have a Horizon 40AD with full body paint. I need to have the sidewall to roof seams sealed. My coach is three years old and has small cracks in many areas of the original caulking. I have taken my coach to two Winnebago dealers asking that they repair the caulking. Both dealers botched the job. I am now resolved to perform the repair myself. I have two options:

1) Remove the old caulking and replace with the Winnebago approved sealant, or
2) Apply paintable Eternabond tape over the existing caulking and paint the tape.

I am seeking advice from those of you who have performed this repair.

A) Which repair is more labor intensive?
B) Which repair if more long-lasting?

If the answer is Eternabond, I have these questions:

A) What prep is required before applying Eternabond?
B) Will the Eternabond shrink or come loose over time?
C) How well does paintable Eternabond accept paint?

Thanks for the feedback

[LK23]

I have a Horizon 40AD with full body paint. I need to have the sidewall to roof seams sealed. My coach is three years old and has small cracks in many areas of the original caulking. I have taken my coach to two Winnebago dealers asking that they repair the caulking. Both dealers botched the job. I am now resolved to perform the repair myself. I have two options:

1) Remove the old caulking and replace with the Winnebago approved sealant, or
2) Apply paintable Eternabond tape over the existing caulking and paint the tape.

I am seeking advice from those of you who have performed this repair.

A) Which repair is more labor intensive?
B) Which repair if more long-lasting?

If the answer is Eternabond, I have these questions:

A) What prep is required before applying Eternabond?
B) Will the Eternabond shrink or come loose over time?
C) How well does paintable Eternabond accept paint?

Thanks for the feedback

[Petro]

LK23;
I can only answer some of your questions. First of all Eternabond does not adhere to silicone. I had the same problem as you have. I removed all the existing caulking and replaced it with DAP Dynaflex 230 and let it cure for a couple of days. Eternabond adheres to Dynaflex well. I used the white Eternabond 4" and cut it in 1/2 giving me 2" wide strips. I only worked with pieces 4' long because you have to apply it correctly the first time. If you misplace a piece it is ruined when you remove it. MY roof is white fiberglass so the Eternabond matched the roof and did not require painting so I did not use the paintable kind. It has been on for 2 years and I find no signs of deterioration. I believe it will outlast me and the coach. Caulking will require maintenance forever IMHO.

Don

[smlranger]

I also did the ebond but, like Petro, I have white roof and upper sidewalls so the white Ebond looks fine. Once I prepped the areas and developed a plan, it was not bad. I was able to use one continuous piece of the tape on each side.

I have heard of folks using a paintable Ebond...not sure how well it looks after painting or how well it holds paint. Hopefully, someone who has will respond.

[JC2]

Like others have stated, having to periodically check the caulking for integrity is fustrating and unneccessarily time consuming. We have in the past replaced our caulking with Eternabond and never looked back. A good source of further info would be the Eternabond website.
http://www.eternabond.com/
I've found the best pricing to be at this website;http://www.rvupgradestore.com/index....S&Category=225 Type in Eternabond under search and it will list all the available sizes/colors. Another site for purchasing is http://bestmaterials.com/roof_repair.aspx
Last but not least is a link on how to remove Eternabond if need be.
http://www.eternabond.com/bulletin/e...ond_remove.htm

[LK23]

Petro indicated that Eternabond will not stick to silicone. It is my understanding that the original caulking is not silicone but polyurethane caulking. That said, can Eternabond be applied directly over the factory applied caulking?

[David K]

I have put on the Eternabond on my MH. I first cleaned the surface very well and then used one continuous strip from the front to the back. I pulled off about 3" of the backing at a time and applied. Like others, my roof and sides are white so it is really barely visible from the ground. Should you get any bubbles when applying, do as I did -- I have a large syringe and needle that I inserted and withdrew the air -- the adhesive closes the hole and the tape lays flat after this procedure. I had no problems with it sticking to the original caulking -- just make sure to get it clean. I used the 4" tape -- did not cut it in half.

[Tenn.Vol.]

I use the Dupont (I think or 3M) 5200, wish I had use the 4200 on a white roof, very
labor intensive, removing and cleaning the old caulk.
I only seen the eternabond on ONE white roof, and it was not a pretty picture.
Now I dont know if if it was the INSTALLER or just the nature of the eternabond!
I dont have a good answer for you, just depends on what kind of a neat freak
you are..

I purchased the 2in. tape from BESTMATERALS.com and used it on the shower sky
lite, and try as I may it was not a pretty picture...But you have to get a ladder
to see it..........TENN

[FrontRangeRVer]

My local dealer says that units with eternabond on them are hard to re-sell. I've seen some units with eternabond on them (from the ground) and it's not a pretty sight.

I'm a believer that you should do it right the first time...use approved caulk.

[Tom N]

I would never use EB on my motorhome or buy one that had EB.

IMHO, if Winnebago wanted the sidewalls to be permanently bonded to the roof they would be built that way.

My previous coach was a 1994 Vectra with 84,000 miles and the wall to roof area was never a problem.

My current motorhome wall to roof caulking is fine. It is easy to inspect because this area is painted dark gray. If I ever see a separation I'll re-caulk with the recommend sealant.

-Tom

[Florida Guy]

I resealed our roof seam over a year ago. Ordered the sealant from Winnebago, part #094401-04-000. This is what Winnebago recommended for the full body paint. The tube of chalking is 'Stone Mason gutter and siding sealant, clear'. I believe its a dfferent part number for non-painted (white) coaches. Didn't want to go the Eternabond route on our painted coach. The reseal job was fairly easy. Used a plastic putty kife to gouge out the bad areas which was about 40% of the seam area. Cleaned area with mineral spirits and put down new chalking. Inspection last month, still looks like new.

[Duner]

Check out this discussion earlier this year.
Link
One of our members, Cliff Zimmerman, spent a whole lot of time and money to use "paintable" Eternabond and was very disapointed.

I have had great results using OSI QUAD Sealant sold at Home Depot. Here's link to the OSI Tech Data Sheet . Since it cures clear and smooth, it looks very good on coaches with full body paint. Although it is paintable, I did not paint over it and it looks factory new. The key to sucess is to have a clean surface after you scrape out the old sealer. This is very time consuming but this stuff seems to last. I've had it on for 2.5 years & it's holding up very well.

OSI Product Description "Pro-Series® QUAD® Advanced Formula Sealant is composed of elastomeric
polymers and high quality synthetic resins. This product offers the superior
adhesion characteristics and unmatched elasticity found in high
performance sealants. It yields a tough, rubbery seal which resists
outdoor weather-related elements like water, oxygen, ozone, heat, and UV
light. The formula skins over in a short time to resist dirt and dust pickup. It
goes on smoothly and has easy cut-off without stringing. When cured, the
surface displays a slight sheen similar to some silicone sealants. QUAD is
paintable with either latex or oil base paints."

Good Luck,
Bill

[Gary CA]

Does anyone know of an industrial quality transparent tape that has UV protection and would seal this roof/gutter seam?

3M sells a transparent duct tape at Home Depot. I should buy a roll and do a test strip on plastic exposed to the weather and see if it dries out like the grey tape does.

[Harry B]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have a Horizon 40AD with full body paint. I need to have the sidewall to roof seams sealed. My coach is three years old and has small cracks in many areas of the original caulking. I have taken my coach to two Winnebago dealers asking that they repair the caulking. Both dealers botched the job. I am now resolved to perform the repair myself. I have two options:

1) Remove the old caulking and replace with the Winnebago approved sealant, or
2) Apply paintable Eternabond tape over the existing caulking and paint the tape. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have the same coach as you do and have the seams coming lose as well. The factory re-caulked the seams in July 2006 so the problem is on going. From my boating days experience, 3M 5200 is the best there is in terms of caulking.

As such, I am going to tackle the problem myself by removing the old caulking and replacing it with 3M 5200 polyurethane caulking. It comes in three colors (white, tan and mahogany and is paintable) and has a tensile strength rating of 700 psi and will elongate 1350% before breaking. Compare that to silicone which is what the factory sealant is, that has a tensile strength rating of 220 PSI and 350% elongation and you can see that 3M's 5200 should be a much better solution.

The only caulking that comes in a clear solution is Silicone, which is the reason they use it on the full body painted coaches and where caulking is very visible (windows and lower seams). It is not used because it has the best adhesion, but it seals and matches any color paint but does not last very long before requiring re-caulking.

My coach colors should match the tan color well, so it seems to me that from an am esthetic standpoint and maximum adhesion this is the way to go.

Here is the link to the 3M 5200 caulking specifications if you want additional info.
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?66666UuZjcF...cuZgVs6EVs6E666666--