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Caulk the top of roof gutter band?

October 11, 2016, 11:09:15 pm

I have a question about caulking Foretravels.

I noticed that the roof band which forms the roof gutter on the driver and passenger sides of the coach, the part just below the fiberglass roof curve, is not caulked on the top.  I've seen photos of other Foretravels that also have no caulking on top of this band.

Is there a reason for not caulking these long seams?  I would think caulking this area would be an important part of keeping the coach weather tight.

Thanks,
Chris

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Re: Caulk the top of roof gutter band?

Reply #1 – October 11, 2016, 11:21:14 pm

There will (should) be some caulking UNDER that strip. If that is done correctly then you do not need any on top of that strip. It usually is the fact it is leaking that people pour on more on this outside top to try and stop any leak. This is the exact opposite of what should be done.
Remove the trim and do it under, that way the compressing of the trim does the protection.
JohnH

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Re: Caulk the top of roof gutter band?

Reply #2 – October 12, 2016, 12:06:18 am

My experience thus far indicates that Foretravel most often used butyl tape for roof fixtures on our 99' U270. There are a few places where I have found caulking as well, but I believe that it is likely added later. For instance, the fridge vent had only butyl tape under the flange when I removed it, with no evidence of ever having leaked. Same with the skylight, fantastic fan, and Kool-O-Matic fan... so it must be pretty effective. Be that as it may, I will often use both caulking around the edges and butyl tape under the flange. However, I found that the butyl tape will tend to keep squeezing out for a while and can displace adding caulking. I haven't messed with the endcap trim or body trim yet, but there was/is old caulking along the edges of the endcap trim.
Don

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Re: Caulk the top of roof gutter band?

Reply #3 – October 12, 2016, 12:36:29 am

Thank you both for your replies.

We do have the original OEM caulk/sealant underneath all the roof bands.  I figured there had to be a reason I hadn't seen caulked seams on these vehicles.

Butyl tape is great stuff.  I am less fond of butyl caulk.  I had to wrestle with the caulk when redoing the fridge baffling and venting on a previous coach.  The factory buried screw heads underneath beads of butyl caulk  You spend forever trying to pick the stuff out of the screw heads so the screw driver can grip the screw.

Chris

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