Been messing around with a leaky roof since I got Nose. Have not been able to remove whatever the PO used to caulk and seal stuff, hard as rock. I have used Flexseal over it as a temporary fix.

There is a guy in town with one of those dustless blaster machines shown on the car shows on TV. Wonder if that would be ok to remove all the stuff on the roof. Probably will put kind of a tooth on the roof surface and I worry about pressure on the existing leak areas putting a lot of water in the coach.

Has anyone experience with this process, sure would like to know how it worked and if the resurface job after held up..

Blasting may work but is quite messy. Have you considered a good sharp air chisel to remove the caulk? With care, holding the blade at a low angle you might be able to shave the caulk away. Major work either way.

When I removed my shower skylight recently I found it had at least 4 different caulking materials used. I used a hammer, hand chisel and a sharp putty knife on that. Finished up with a wire brush.

Steve, never thought about the air chisel, I do have one, maybe I will sharpen one of the attachments this week and if it melts enough and Ole Nose can make it to the driveway, I will give that try. Hope I can be careful and not poke a hole or break off any of the rails, skylights, vents, posts or ladder!!!

You might try a heat gun to soften it a bit too.

I have tried the heat gun, helped a little bit, was thinking I might carefully try a torch!!!

Doubt if it will work but if it does it will save much work. Get a slab of dry ice lay it on the target area, cover with a blanket and wait 15 minutes or more, remove hit it a good smack and hope for shattered putty, bonds etc. to fly apart. If it does, rinse and repeat, then let us know.

Tim if I can find some dry ice I will give it a try...Can not insulate the inside very well though..

Looks like vendors are in the quad cities but they might have a back door seller in Clinton.

Bigger grocery store often carry dry ice. I know our local Fry's (Kroger) does.

Went up to Nose in winter storage and with minor shoveling was able to free it! Now sitting on my pavement driveway, the weather is probably going to go to hell this weekend but hope to get started on the roof anyway!!!

Get my first covid vaccination tomorrow!!

This is Tere:
When I was redoing roof on Old Blue I found what appeared to be the original seam sealer that was hard as a rock in some areas. After my attempts to remove, short of using a grinding wheel like one of our members did(can't remember who it was)my thinking was if it is still here after 25 to 35 years then I'm going to seal over it. Which I did & had no regrets.

The main thing is to make sure the new sealant will stick to the old. Some sealants won't seal to other sealants or over itself ie silicone I think. I experimented with several products on the old sealant by applying on old sealant, don't forget to label them, let them dry then try to remove.

There was a seam sealer winnebago used on our 1999 minnie that I tried to remove. It would not come off short of a razor blade. I stopped trying to remove & called it dirty.
I wanted it to look like Old Blue when I was finished. As Rusty used to say "If it ain't broke don't fix it until it is", which I have a tendency to push the envelope too far & break what I was working on trying to fix it.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
This is Tere:
When I was redoing roof on Old Blue I found what appeared to be the original seam sealer that was hard as a rock in some areas....
As Rusty used to say "If it ain't broke don't fix it until it is", which I have a tendency to push the envelope too far & break what I was working on trying to fix it.

Good advice! You know I still love you, Tere.

We had a 6 inch snow a week or so ago, when it melted there was a bad leak over the bath tub. Looked at the roof and found where the canopy was attached to the coach with two bolts ( looks like sheet metal or wood screw threads and they are badly rusted). There is also an aluminum rail running the length of the coach that the bolts go through, I had chalked the bolts on the outside of rail, however it looks like water got between the rail and the coach outer wall, due to freeze and thaw a gap was opened and water seeped in where the mounting bolts go through the wall. I assume into some reinforcement inside the coach.

Will have to take the rivets and canopy bolts out of the rail and replace the deteriorated gasket between the coach and rail, looks like a cruddy job.!!