Sealing caravan roof

Purplelou
Purplelou Forum Participant Posts: 10
edited April 2019 in Caravans #1

I have a 1997 ABI Dalesman whose roof is in two parts with a raised seal in the middle going the length of the caravan. Over the years sealants have been used by previous owners but this is now cracking. Has anyone have any experience of roof sealants? We are not sure if it would be best to remove the old stuff and reapply or just seal the cracks? Please see attached picture. Any advice appreciated. Thank you. 

Comments

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
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    edited April 2019 #2

    where's the picture P.  could you not seal again with silicone and then a wide strip of fibreglass over the top and paint.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,146 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #3

    You know posting pics can be a nightmare, LL.

     

    Purplelou, I’ll happily attempt to post it for you if you’re having problems - it probably needs resizing. There’s an email address in my profile if you wish to send the pic for me to try. 

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,146 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #4

    This is Purplelou's pic.

  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,060 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #5

    When we renovated a 1984 caravan, one of the sides had damp due to old sealant. We had the time and patience to strip it back, including removing awning rails, clean it up as best we could, then reseal it with new. Ours was easier as it was on side panel, but I think we would be tempted to do same on yours, even though it’s awkward to reach. It did the trick on our very old van, we kept it and used it a furtherseven or so years, and then sold it on. It remained damp free once we had sorted it. Not expensive, just laborious and time consuming. Good luck, older vans can be well worth doing up if done properly.

  • PeteCI
    PeteCI Forum Participant Posts: 66
    edited April 2019 #6

    If the caravan is sound and you want to keep it you will be well rewarded by removing the whole trim and re-sealing. As takethedog suggests it's a time consuming and laborious job particularly removing all traces of old sealant ftom the roof and the trim. It's likely that the screws will be rusted and you may need to use pliers to extract them. When refitting, use stainless steel screws and Sikaflex sealant. I have often found that the screw holes in the trim have just been made with a punch or a self tapping screw which has distorted the trim and prevented it from lying close to the roof panel. Flatten it out around the holes and drill them out to just clear the screw shank and add a blob of Sikaflex to each screw as they're fitted.

    The joints between the roof and the sides will probably need the same treatment. Your caravan will last for many more years if you do it well.

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited April 2019 #7

    I would definitely recommend Sikaflex sealant when resealing . 

  • Purplelou
    Purplelou Forum Participant Posts: 10
    edited April 2019 #8

    Thanks for the advice. Apologies with regards to the picture, I thought it had attached. Luckily Tinwheeler came to my rescue. Do you have any advice on how to safely do work on the roof? Thanks again.

  • Purplelou
    Purplelou Forum Participant Posts: 10
    edited April 2019 #9

    Thank you for the advice. We have done a lot of work on the caravan, after finding damp. We have had the windows and awning rails off and resealed. Any experience of working safely on a caravan roof? Thanks again.

  • Purplelou
    Purplelou Forum Participant Posts: 10
    edited April 2019 #10

    Thank you for the advice. We have already removed and resealed the awning rails so have a bit of experience in the scraping and cleaning of sealant - yes it is time consuming frown. However as you said it is worthwhile doing. Do you have any advice for working safely on a caravan roof? Thanks again.

  • Merve
    Merve Forum Participant Posts: 2,333
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    edited April 2019 #11

    This is something I have thought about quite a lot as I have an obsession about keeping the caravan roof clean and the solar panel. It’s  not totally satisfactory to me to work from the sides of the caravan particularly if you need to work in the middle of the roof.  Yes, you can pop up through the Helios but even that is restrictive.  A solid drive to stand the caravan on and a wheeled push along platform which is just above the caravan roof and can be adjusted to obtain the prefect work height  seems to be the answer but who makes one? Any ideas anyone?  

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #12

    There is only one safe way to repair it properly, and that would be your local/friendly scaffolding person. 

    A quickly erected scaffold framework with moveable/slide along platform, of course not going to come cheap but would save from possible injury.

    In the past I have spread the weight of myself by lying on the roof whilst sealing the centre, probably unwise for me now. 

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