Community Forums

Ctfortner · 05-11-2006, 09:58 AM

Hello everyone, I could use some expertise please.

I recently bought a 2002 Wildwood 19' TT and started having a leak. I have found the problem area, and went up on the roof and removed the
aluminum strip that screws down the aluminum and also covers the Rubber Roof.

This one corner is all I know of having the problem, and the wood is pretty wet and black. Not sure if it is rotted, but it may be, or may be close. I have been letting it air out for a couple of days and am going to leave it open until saturday.

I have bought some eternabond to use for sealing the roof. Does anyone have pics of how they installed this on the side seams, where the gutter rails/seam is? I am thinking I will cut the tape into 2" strips for this application, but i would love to see how someone else did it, just get an idea.

If you get a chance, take a look at the pics below, and let me know what you think. is it rotten? if you think it is, what will happen? If I let it dry out, will it be ok, or will it fall apart over time? I am very frustrated because we just bought this camper 2 months ago and it is our first one, and we were so proud of it. but now i know why they traded it in. It is obvios they knew about it, because they had used clear silicone all around the problem area, which didnt fix anything. We found that out the hard way.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ctfortner/album?.dir=/6d3...tok=phhAP2EBSCo1jViw

Thanks for any tips.

Todd

Ctfortner · 05-11-2006, 09:58 AM

Hello everyone, I could use some expertise please.

I recently bought a 2002 Wildwood 19' TT and started having a leak. I have found the problem area, and went up on the roof and removed the
aluminum strip that screws down the aluminum and also covers the Rubber Roof.

This one corner is all I know of having the problem, and the wood is pretty wet and black. Not sure if it is rotted, but it may be, or may be close. I have been letting it air out for a couple of days and am going to leave it open until saturday.

I have bought some eternabond to use for sealing the roof. Does anyone have pics of how they installed this on the side seams, where the gutter rails/seam is? I am thinking I will cut the tape into 2" strips for this application, but i would love to see how someone else did it, just get an idea.

If you get a chance, take a look at the pics below, and let me know what you think. is it rotten? if you think it is, what will happen? If I let it dry out, will it be ok, or will it fall apart over time? I am very frustrated because we just bought this camper 2 months ago and it is our first one, and we were so proud of it. but now i know why they traded it in. It is obvios they knew about it, because they had used clear silicone all around the problem area, which didnt fix anything. We found that out the hard way.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ctfortner/album?.dir=/6d3...tok=phhAP2EBSCo1jViw

Thanks for any tips.

Todd

troth · 05-11-2006, 10:44 AM

Todd, I definitely think it's salvageable looking at your pics. Surface prep is key; clean, no dust, no silicone caulk residue. See the details in this Eternabond thread:

Eternabond info

Good luck! Keep us posted on your results!

Ctfortner · 05-11-2006, 10:57 AM

thanks troth,

i will definitely keep this updated as I go. My eternabond is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and hopefully i will get it on this weekend. I will take some pics and everything.

Someone else had seen this pics and was saying the corner of the roof was rotten. I have seen better, but I dont think it is rotten, yet.

powerboatr · 05-11-2006, 11:11 AM

aslo
if the wood was wet and black
drop by home depot or lowes or a good paint store and get some wood preservative, (not water proofer or repellant like thompsons) get a good spar type preservative, its nasty and smells of good ol pteroleum distallates and probably as close to arsenic you can get now days, it will soak in and help drive out the water and prevent growth of bacteria if its not rotted.
its a greenish color, milk thickness product, use gloves...

Ctfortner · 05-11-2006, 11:26 AM

Sounds good, I will check into that. I am heading to home depot tomorrow. Will I have any worry of dangering the rubber roof with it?

also something i was thinking about. Should the roof be glued down to the wood? That one side is not and it may be because of the water, I can stick my hand in there a pretty good ways. Should I use something under there to try to bond it back to the wood? Not sure if it will since it is still damp.

woodburner · 05-11-2006, 12:55 PM

Before you close the whole thing up again; make sure you get that wood as dry as possible. Yes it should be glued down; might want to check with an r/v store for the proper product. As far as sealing/preserving it; make sure you DO NOT have any kind of contact with petroleum based products on the rubber while they're wet. It'll mess it up BIG TIME!

bsinmich · 05-11-2006, 03:49 PM

When I had a wooden boat I used "Git-Rot" to cure the rot in wood. It was epoxy resin that was spread liberally on the wood surface. I think I even drilled some small holes into the wood to allow it to soak in better. The effect is to make the part fiberglass coated because that won't rot. The Eternabond I used on my '96 Pace Arrow to prevent water leaks. I used the 4" around the sides and around all roof holes for vents, etc. There has not been any moisture that got in that one. Eternabond was developed to seal underwater cables while still underwater. Wherever you set it is the place it will stay so be careful. Good Luck

Ctfortner · 05-11-2006, 06:00 PM

thanks alot for all the replies. Does anyone by chance know what could be used to glue down the rubber roof to the plywood again?

Jeff_in_The_Dalles · 05-16-2006, 08:45 PM

I think I would go with the Dicor adhesive designed specifically for their EDPM rubber roof. If you go to Dicor.com there are links to products, and infomation on repair and installation of rubber roofs.

I believe Copper Naphthenate is the greenish wood preservitive Powerboater is talking about. It helps prevent dry rot, but will likely eat EDPM so be careful.

dmurdock · 05-17-2006, 02:07 AM

You might want to call DiCor if you can. What you are doing is a pretty common procedure and they may be able to recommend a wood treatment that will preserve the wood and not mess with their roof material.

diandtom · 05-20-2006, 02:20 PM

Todd,
I brushed against the brace of the shelter with the roof of our fiver just after we got it. I put a post on here and someone told me to get Eternabond to fix it. The RV dealer near me wanter to replace to roof as he said it would not stay on the edge of the roof. It is over two years later and everthing is fine with the repair. The stuff is just plain mean to work with as it will stick to everthing.
Tom

Ctfortner · 05-22-2006, 06:00 AM

Well, the job is done finally. It wasnt bad at all really. Took about 2 hours of prep time, cleaning and such. Then it took about 10 minutes to put the tape down. It went down really easy actually. I had my father come over and help me, but it could have been down alone. The only real problem I had at all was re-installing the aluminum strip back down, because you couldnt see the original holes anymore. So on a couple of the screws they didnt get a major part of the wood, and
therefore arent extrememly tight, so i went right beside if and drilled a tiny hole through the strip and into the wood and screwed it down
tight. Then just for double protection, I went ahead and used the Dicor over all the screw holes and around a few other areas. It looks
good though. From the ground, you cant tell anything was ever done, and it should definitley be sealed up now.

If if had it to do over again, i would just leave the aluminum strip off. All it really is, is a threshold for connecting the aluminum frame to the rubber roof, but the rubber is a little short is a couple of spots and they dont connect anyway. So it really doesnt serve any purpose that i see, and i really hated having to screw through the tape. I know they say it sill still be sealed up around the screw, but no screw holes to me is better.

The eternabond is some great stuff. Anyone thinking about it, dont hesitate. I found it to be very easy to work with, but dont stick it
until it is where you want it, does NOT come back up. i just peeled off about 6 inches of back at a time and laid it down. I also found it easy to cut with a good pair of scissors. It cut as easy as paper.

We have had a couple of small rains, but nothing major. So far so good, but I will have to wait on a real good rain to see how it does. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will be doing the rest of the seams soon, since I have about 40 foot of it left.

Todd