Roof leaking plus slide seals

[Swannee]

How often do you re-caulk your fiber-glass roof joints and penetrations?
I've been checking mine enery quater but checking must not be enough.
Week of rain I had a musty smell, thought slide seals were leaking BUT all carpets were dry. Moisture meter indicated wet ceilings can't see any water due to the vynal ceiling cover.SO
What do you caulk with and how long does it last?
Has any one had any experience with drying of the partical board under vynal ceiling cover?
any in put would help

thanks
Mike

[Jackm]

The trick to drying out interior components is to stop the leak as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you could be in for an expensive and messy ordeal.

Re-caulking the usual suspects (i.e. vents, antennas, etc.) is typically done every few years unless an actual leak is found.

As for the slide, you need to get your motorhome into a reputable dealer that has the ability to diagnose your problem. I don't know what kind of rig you have but in 2006, Winnebago changed the design of its slide seal system. We had ours (2004 Brave) upgraded last year after detecting a major leak that soaked the carpet behind the driver's seat. No problem since. My guess is that you could take your RV to a Winnebago dealer and get the same upgrade if that's the problem. By the way, it wasn't cheap.

In any case, keep your slide-out in when it rains until you get the leak fixed. That way, your roofing materials can dry out. Best of luck and let us know how things work out.

Jack

[billyb]

i don't recaulk anymore. i put eternabond tape on everyplace on the roof that was caulked. i did this as soon as i got the unit. caulk just doesn't hold up long and you just can't tell where the leak is coming from. i will be putting it over the top of my windows also as the caulk there looks great, but why wait for it to develop a pinhole. after ny previous mh had a leak at the skylight, i put the tape everywhere on that roof and didn't have anymore problems. trhe stuff is good.

[RV Wizard]

Mike, be sure to check the air conditioner seals as this may be the point of water intrusion. You can drop the ceiling assmy; unless you have a Newmar that does not completely penetrate the roof and ceiling. Have someone run water around the units while you inspect from inside. A simple tightening may or may not resolve the problem. If not the unit will have to be pulled off and a new seal installed. When tightening down the unit you only want to compress the sell about 1/2 its thickness or about 65 inch lbs of torque. Water intrusion is not a clear cut, easy to find thing. If you continue to have an issue, a good repair center with a Sealtech that can pressurize the inside of the coach and water can be run over the outside. Any leak will cause bubbles to emit at point of leaking. Let us know what you find.