I went into the camper on Christmas Eve to get the Christmas presents (thats where Santa keeps them.) and noticed that the camper is leaking on the front left side of the mastersuite. Its not a bad leak however its enough to cause damage down the road! I looked on top of the roof and found no visible tears or damage. Has anyone had any experience with making a claim with their insurance over a leaking roof?

 

What year is your camper?If it has not been leaking a long time,I would get up on the roof and recaulk in the vicinity of the leak,especially the corners where a lot of flex occurs.If it a rubber roof make sure you use lap sealant.Although insurance is an alternative,I would only use them as a last resort if you had major damage.Claims will stay with your record and at a minimum they will raise your rates or drop you if you have another claim.

 

The camper is a 2001 Gulfstream 32ft. I can't seem to find any damage or tears in the rubber roof

 

My two year old camper leaked around a skylight. In looking at the roof it was not apparent there was anything wrong. I scraped the old sealant and reapplied new and no more leaks.

To reiterate Snowdog, if you have a rubber roof make sure you get the right sealant; silicone sealants won't stick to rubber. Two cartridges at an RV dealer cost about $14.

 

I used Plasticote to s eal my aluminum roof on my LQ trailer. I know they make versions for rubber roof, etc.. Has worked awesome and very easy to apply, etc...

 

my cousin was having problems with his older camper roof leaking and after he saw my line-x bed liner he had them spry the roof of his camper and the thing hasn't leaked since and that was almost 2 years ago.

 

There's two types of campers:
The ones that leak - and the ones that are gonna leak.
I think everyone probably shares this same problem at some point. I had a small leak at a skylight once, but I was lucky that it dripped right into my shower pan. I am on my roof several times a year inspecting every square inch of it for anything suspicious and sealing it, even if it is only questionable.
All you can do is try to prevent it from happening, and periodically inspecting it.

 

You have to get up close and personal with the seams and joints!Look for areas where the old caulk might have lifted a little and allowed water in.It does'nt take much for water to get in.The opening might not be over where the leak is showing inside,water can run from where it comes in down a framing member to another point and then come inside.A 2001 is overdue for some checking and resealing.

 

I'd say from the description the most likely place is the seam at the front of the roof and the cap.

Assuming it is an EDPM rubber roof, I'd recommend Dicor EDMP roof lap sealant. Anything with petrolium can attack the membrane.

If there's a screwed down strip along the front, make sure the screw heads are also sealed. Remove all the old caulking before resealing. Under "Installation Information" Dicor says on its webpage that mineral spirits (dampened on a cloth) can be used to remove stains. I also like to use it to clean the area before applying caulking, as it seems to stick better. It says specifically not to use acetone.

Anyway, if you think the structure really got wet in there, you might be better off covering it until spring, then peeling roofing back and removing the substrate so you can replace any rotting wood or mouldy insulation or whatever...

 

As was said, use Dicor sealant if it is a rubber roof. Use some lacquer thinner and wipe over the existing sealnt and you will be amazed at the cracks that can develop. I check all sealant twice a year, in the Spring when getting the fiver ready for the season, and in hte Fall before winterizing. I usually have to reseal some both times.

 

Re-caulk then re-seal it, its common. Thats why I bet someplace in the papers you got when you bought it says to do it or have it inspected once a year.

 

Forget caulk. It will last 5 years if you apply it right and spend a bunch of time getting the old stuff out. Go with Eternabond tape at all caulked places and then cover the whole roof, Eternabond and all, with Liquid Roof. LR is a 2 part EPDM that will give you a seamless rubber roof. You're looking at dropping $500 and a couple days of your time but you'll never need to do it again until you back into a low hanging branch.

 

I second the part of Eternabond for the seams and joints. I haven't looked at the idea of Liquid Roof.

Here is the best place I found for Eternabond and possibly other roofing items http://www.bestmaterials.com/Eternabond.aspx

 

Good advice here. Inspecting and resealing the roof is definitely annual maintenance. You were lucky that it leaked right into the interior so you could see it. The majority of leaks are invisible- the water leaks into the roof structure and down into the walls, and you don't find out about it until one day you step inside and fall through the rotted floor.

I don't believe that having a rubber roof is a huge advantage. They are still caulked around all the vents, edges, etc. and those are the problem areas on any RV. I have done some research on Eternabond. It looks like a good product, and I tried it on my own trailer a year ago. Good so far, and we'll see how it looks in the spring. I haven't heard of any problems with it.

 

EternaBond is a good product, but expensive and much harder to use than Dicor. I can seal all my joints on the roof with less than one tube of Dicor at what, $7 or so. I always check the roof twice a year and reseal once a year anyway regardless of what I use, even when I used Eternabond. I know the Dicor lit says use mineral spirits to clean, but that is a petroleum product - - if you have rubber EPDM I would not use any petroleum product on it.

It does not matter whether you can see a problem on the roof or not, RESEAL IT. LOL Dig the old out with a dull putty knife and lay a nice bead back in and let it settle out.

Bob