Exterior Caulking maintenance

[Adam1219]

I recently was told that the exterior of my coach needed a little TLC when it comes to caulking. Looking around I could only find a couple of small places where I thought this person was talking about.

On my Thor Hurricane 34F can you give me some ideas of where to look and/or is there a list or chart of what to check? Do you caulk or remove the old and re-caulk? I bought the right exterior caulk but after looking around I just cant remember some of the things I was told a few months ago in reference to the exterior caulking.

[JeffAZ]

Over the last few months I have replaced about 90% of the original caulking on the vertical surfaces of my coach. I used a lot of the techniques from this video, especially using the tape.

[JeffAZ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbOJ_D3TrvE

Here is that link, for some reason my previous post is defective.

[grindstone01]

I have been replacing the exterior caulk on my camper over the last 2 days. I use a razor blade to slide under the old caulk and then along the top edge. The old caulk will pull off in one strip. Then clean the area with "Acetone" and tape off both sides. After applying the caulk and making a couple of wet finger passes, remove the tape and let it dry.
I have tried different caulks and find that the cheap exterior silicone caulk that the factory uses works best.
PS - If you are careful removing the tape, you can reuse it one more time on the opposite unused tape edge. They also sell a caulking tool to smooth out the wet caulk if you don't like using your finger.

[JeffAZ]

Good stuff, Grindstone. I use my finger to smooth it out, have better control that way. But I have my finger in a rubber glove that I dip in soapy water.

I also like to use a plastic razor blade to help remove old caulk. Much easier on the rig's finish