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PIGRIG · 08-19-2018, 08:18 PM

Previous owner used Eternabond Rubber Seal tape on the seams and lap sealant in the corners and around vents.. I want to reseal the roof, especially since the lap sealant in the back left corner leaked today!

My question is - should I remove the old 4 inch tape first, the lay down new 4 inch tape, or leave it there and apply 6 inch tape over it?

Any other tips appreciated.

Spk64 · 08-19-2018, 08:23 PM

I would remove and properly prepare the surface for new tape. This includes making sure the caulk seam underneath is intact. Would recommend using Eternabond cleaner and primer.

PIGRIG · 08-19-2018, 08:38 PM

Thanks! I just wondered whether it was necessary to remove the old tape. I’ve never worked with it, so I don’t know what to expect as far as how hard it is to remove. Would I need a heat gun?

Spk64 · 08-19-2018, 08:51 PM

Heat gun may help. You may find that it comes right off if proper preparation was not done when installed. I had sections fail where a PO installed without preparing and it came off pretty easy without heat and had large sections where water had gotten under tape. In these cases I removed the tape cleaned and caulked the seams then installed the new tape after cleaning and priming.

steve11669 · 08-19-2018, 09:23 PM

Do you have an idea how many years has the tape been in use? What does the failure look like? I am curious how it failed.

PIGRIG · 08-20-2018, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve11669

Do you have an idea how many years has the tape been in use? What does the failure look like? I am curious how it failed.

The place where it failed is not necessarily due to the tape. It is where a pool of the lap sealant located on the back left corner seam dried and started to peel up just a tiny bit.

I do not know the age of the tape that is there. I believe the fact it is parked on a slight incline caused the water to pool at the rear and sit right on that seam.

The question I have now is - assuming I remove the old tape, what is used for caulking the seams? Non-leveling Dicor?

Spk64 · 08-20-2018, 07:10 AM

I use Dicor on all the roof joints. If it is flat then self-leveling, horizontal then non-leveling.

steve11669 · 08-20-2018, 11:34 AM

I used laquer thinner, knife blades and scrapers to clean the old sealant off my slide tops. It helps break down adheisive and other dirt and oils. I used it during the scraping phase as well as the final cleaning. Removing my original sealant went easy. I dont know what they used on the slide roof lap joints on a Country Coach in 2004.

PIGRIG · 08-22-2018, 09:28 PM

The tape that is there is black on the bottom, then has a foil layer, then a white top layer that is crumbly. I am assuming that means the tape is old. The rig is a 2003 model. I found one of the owners who had it the longest and he didn’t use any tape, so I’m guessing it to be 7-8 years old.

So I don’t know if it’s Eternabond or some off brand. Question is, couldn’t I just clean it up real good and apply a wider Eternabond tape right on top of the old tape?

Either way, I already resealed the 4 corners with lap sealant, right on top of the old tape. could I just lay the new tape right up to the edge of those pools of sealant, then add a new layer of sealant to join the two? Or do I have to now remove the sealant I just put down so that I can remove the old tape under it?

Hope I’m making sense. I wanted to do the whole roof at once but to remedy a leak, I resealed the 4 corners ahead of removing old tape or just putting new tape over old.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve11669

Do you have an idea how many years has the tape been in use? What does the failure look like? I am curious how it failed.

Ray,IN · 08-22-2018, 10:05 PM

As previously replied, remove old tape first. The Eternabond video library will be helpful. Most of the time, complaints about Eterabond problems can be traced back to not following instructions exactly.

FatChance · 08-23-2018, 09:22 AM

+1 Remove the old tape and any caulk under it first. Do it right once.

KSagal · 08-23-2018, 09:41 AM

The quality and longevity of your repair will depend on the preparation and quality of what you stick the tape to.

If the current tape was there during a leak, and you tape over it, it is a patch, not a repair.

If the current tape was there during a leak, and you caulked over it, how do you know how much of that old 4 inch tape is still bonded? Perhaps water got under a portion of the 4 inch tape, and you will be patching a 6 inch tape over a potentially lifted 4 inch void...

I agree with others who have said that the better repair would be to remove the old tape, and do it correctly, and bond the entire 6 inches to a prepared surface.