Caulk Tape to the Rescue

[cudakidd53]

So, during a frog strangling rain the day I was leaving the Ozarks for home, I'm standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth and hear a constant drip in the shower area.  Now, nobody showered since the previous afternoon, so the shower is dry except for the splashes from the drips.  I'm looking all over with nothing but ceiling and skylight around the scene of the drip source.  I start touching screws of the skylight and here comes a steady stream upon touching the second one!  I push up evenly upon the rim of the skylight and it's like I suddenly have a rain head shower- leaking around the entire perimeter of the shower!  Now the rain was falling heavy enough for there to be a constant flow/build-up of 1/3" on the roof of the trailer, which luckily quit not long after.

I get home and the next day climb up on the roof to discover the sealant/caulk has separated at 2 of the 4 corners of the outside layer of the skylight- easy fix!  Break out the chisle sided putty knive and easily cut the old caulk away and replace it with some of that handy emergency caulk tape on 3 of the 4 corners, as a 3rd was looking iffy. I can see a total caulk removal/replacement and roof re-coat next summer!  Sure am glad I keep a roll of that stuff around in the RV toolbox!

[Wilbur]

What!? Ya didn't use duct tape? Come on man!  ;D

Good for being prepared. Leaks like that are not good for sure. Glad you caught it.....and could fix it right quick! 

[Bob Smith]

Sorry to hear of the leaking. I would get the RV home and remove the skylight so the area around it can dry out good before you have bigger problems. After you get all the caulk off the edges of the skylight look for cracks in the plastic. Lots of the roof vents have plastic mounting surfaces that tend to crack and leak. When I replace them I get the vents with metal mounting surfaces.

[cudakidd53]

Thanks Bob- it's a plastic dome skylight with two parts, outer bubble and inner bubble- not a vent.  Taking off the inner one tomorrow to double check the inside one.

[Nate]

mike, just remember what JR just went thru with his roof leak! 

[cudakidd53]

mike, just remember what JR just went thru with his roof leak!

Hear ya Nate- that's why I plan on leaving inner layer off to allow dry-out etc. with vents near by to allow moisture to evaporate.  Those vents have the rain proof covers too so it SHOULD be good, but then again- it's a trailer so all bets are off!

[rasimmo]

That inside trim ring just covers up the ugly and makes it look nice from the inside, as I am sure you already know. The one screwed down to the roof does all the sealing. Make sure it aint leaking any at all. A little bit of water does a lot of damage in a hurry on these things. I have hundreds of pictures of some nasty rot from just one little pin hole in a rubber roof. When you do reseal the roof check that skylight real good. They get brittle and crack in a short period of time. When applying the sealant, cover all the way up on it to where it starts rolling up. A lot of folks just cover the outside edge and the screws. That leaves a low spot around the skylights and vents that holds water and trash. Those metal framed vents will rust through because of it.

[cudakidd53]

Went to storage to check on repair and remove the inside skylight to make sure all was aired out.  Luckily, with solid styrofoam construction with outer plywood skin, I should be good to go!  Repair looks good and I made sure to mush the two surfaces of new and old caulk together given another sunny day softening them before the coming rain!

[rasimmo]

Those vacuum bonded roofs hold up a lot better. They are a lot harder to replace the decking on though if it does get messed up.