I'd like to solicit the opinions of some seasoned Barth owners. We're considering buying a Barth which we saw advertised on the forum, and in discussion with the current owner, he disclosed that the roof had leaked when he had the motorhome covered during a rainstorm. Specifically, he said the top is covered in "diamond plate", that the water had been wicked into the roof and onto the driver's seat, but that no substantial damage had been done. He states the seam has been re-caulked by him, and there have been no leaks since. We're considering a Barth because of the airplane aluminum construction. How could this happen on a Barth?...unless the boatbuilder who originally owned the coach did something very unusual. Any insights y'all can offer would be much appreciated.

I had two serious leak problems. The first had water coming in somewhere through the roof & dripping between the driver & passenger seat. Careful inspection on top disclosed no visible problem so I went up with a tube of flowable sealant (I want to say Dicor, but I'm not sure) and put a dab on everything that penetrated the roof - rivets, screws holding the running lights, antenna hold-down bolts, the vents & a/c base, some suspicious looking seams in the roofing, etc. Never found where the water was coming in, but the shotgun approach stopped it.

The second leak occurred when I was parked at a slight angle, & all the rain water flowed off the front, left corner of the roof. The flow was so heavy that water came in over the top of the driver's sliding window. I pop-riveted on some drip rails above the front side windows on both sides after that, & never had the problem again.

That aluminum roof is indeed solid, but it's full of rivet & screw holes, & big holes for vents, etc. Every penetration is a possible leak source, & even where sheets of roofing are riveted together, there's a possibility of leakage. The newest of these coaches is more than ten years old, & caulking dries out over time.

A major advantage of the Barth is the only thing up there to rot is the plywood backing of the ceiling panels, & it takes a lot of soaking for that to go.

Hit the "search" button, type in "roof coatings", & you'll find more info. than you can use.

Thanks for directing me to the "roof coatings" search. I shall read and "absorb" this info.

Hi - My coach also has diamond plate on the roof and I regularly check the seams. When I had a small leak around the satellite crank I applied Dicor sealant around the edges of the antenna mount bu that did not cure the problem. I removed the mount and found that it had been screwed into the plate and the aluminum roofing with steel sheet metal screws that had rusted. I removed the old screws, and then bedded the mount in a pool of Dicor and reattached it with aluminum sheet metal screws and sealant. That fixed it completely. If you carefully examine each of the mounted accessories on the roof and remove the screws you will find lots of steel screws holding vents, skylights, furnace hoods and railings. Take the time to scrape off all the years of sealant and remove the screws, re-drill one sixelarger, if necessary, and reattach with aluminum sheet metal screws and then put a small puddle of Dicor over each one and around each edge and I think your problems will be fixed and future ones avoided. I just experience Hurricane IKE and had not a single weep or drop over a three day storm.