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Every year, like clockwork, I need to replace the caulk where my toy hauler's cargo door frame meets the fiberglass. The picture below is after I started to remove the old caulk, which was the Geocell Pro Flex RV. I'm not necessarily blaming the Geocell product. It held up better than any other caulk I've used so far. In some spots it's coming up far too easy and in other spots it's holding on incredibly well. Well enough that it's a lot of work to remove it. In places where the gap is large, foam backer rod was pushed into the gap. In this thread I detailed how I tightened up the cargo door frame against the rest of the trailer two years ago. I think that fix is still good and the door frame isn't moving (much).
I'm reluctant to put caulk down again. I'm thinking of using one-sided 1" wide Eternabond because Eternabond sticks like crazy and it has a good amount of stretch to it.
The 1" wide Eternabond is hard to come by. I've found only one website that carries it. Cutting a 2" wide strip of Eternabond down to 1" seems like it would be a lousy trim line. If I froze the Eternabond it might cut OK but I've never cut that much Eternabond lengthwise.
So what do you think? Try caulk one more year or go with Eternabond this time?
What about cutting the tape while it's still on the roll? Maybe some sort of a precision blade on a saw? I know in the past I have used a razor blade and a book to cut through things but a roll of Eternabond tape would be pretty thick...
Every year, like clockwork, I need to replace the caulk where my toy hauler's cargo door frame meets the fiberglass. The picture below is after I started to remove the old caulk, which was the Geocell Pro Flex RV. I'm not necessarily blaming the Geocell product. It held up better than any other caulk I've used so far. In some spots it's coming up far too easy and in other spots it's holding on incredibly well. Well enough that it's a lot of work to remove it. In places where the gap is large, foam backer rod was pushed into the gap. In this thread I detailed how I tightened up the cargo door frame against the rest of the trailer two years ago. I think that fix is still good and the door frame isn't moving (much).
I'm reluctant to put caulk down again. I'm thinking of using one-sided 1" wide Eternabond because Eternabond sticks like crazy and it has a good amount of stretch to it.
The 1" wide Eternabond is hard to come by. I've found only one website that carries it. Cutting a 2" wide strip of Eternabond down to 1" seems like it would be a lousy trim line. If I froze the Eternabond it might cut OK but I've never cut that much Eternabond lengthwise.
So what do you think? Try caulk one more year or go with Eternabond this time?
"Caulk-work like clockwork" - I see what you did there... :-)
I would go with the tape if you can find the 1" width. I also wonder if there's a way to measure the amount of movement on that joint (like a camera while you're driving or something)?
"Caulk-work like clockwork" - I see what you did there... :-)
I would go with the tape if you can find the 1" width. I also wonder if there's a way to measure the amount of movement on that joint (like a camera while you're driving or something)?
If I had a GoPro I could magnetically mount it to the cargo door frame. There was a "tell" on the inside of the trailer that indicated how much the frame was moving. That was before I fixed it. Since then, I'm not seeing any indication of movement. If it's moving, it's not enough to notice.
If an annual recaulk is necessary to any significant degree something is amiss and if caulk is holding well, it should not be necessary to remove it. What gives here?
I wish I knew what was going on. The top of the frame is where the caulk seems to be holding the best, but the caulk still cracked.. Lower down, it's not as good. It peeled off easily lower down. When I secured the frame I focused on the top, not the bottom. Now I'm wondering if I did only half the job. The bottom of the frame wasn't showing any movement back then.
Then again, maybe my caulking technique is just crap. I'll go over the seam very carefully this time, cleaning off any residue with a razor blade and following up with acetone or mineral spirits. I think that's what I did last time too, but I'll try to have more patience this time. While removing the current caulk, I came across a small amount of old silicone deep in the groove. I know that nothing is going to stick to that.
Maybe some white polyurethane caulk from a home store? I have used this caulk with great success. Clean your old joints with mineral spirits or denatured alcohol. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sikaflex...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
I ordered the 1" Eternabond. Shipping costs suck lately. For the cost of shipping I probably should have ordered two rolls.
Before long, my trailer is going to be held together with Eternabond.
FWIW, I think the fiberglass that butts up to the cargo door frame was relaminated some time ago, likely by the first owner. It's solid when I thump on it but I can tell that the surface height doesn't match the rest of the sidewall.
Sealants need a width to be able to take movement.
The best sealants there are take 100% movement.
So if you have a 1/16 inch sealant joint, the best sealant could move 1/16 of an inch, up to a joint width of 1/8 inch, maybe a more typical one could move 1/32.
If there is not enough room for a backer rod, those are the areas that will often fail first.
(An area with say a 1/4 inch backer rod will be able to take much more movement than an area with basically no gap)
If it is an annual issue, it could be temperature related (not sure if you are in a freezing climate) You can estimate movement from temperature if you know the length of the fiberglass panel, and the temperature range, and back out a required joint width.
The best sealant I have come across is THROUGH THE ROOF. But you still need some joint width for it to work. They advertise 600% joint movement, but I think that is pushing it (a 1/16 joint could go 6/16 or 3/8 inch, a little unrealistic but it is good stuff)
Flashing tapes (eternabond) need good bond at both sides of the joint.
Make sure you don't trap water behind your caulk or flashing, that causes alot of issues when the water gets in up high but can't get out down lower.
I worked on the joint today and found a good amount of old silicone caulk deep in the seam. I thought I had cleaned it out pretty good last time. There wasn't much residue of silicone outside the deep part of the seam. The joint is really clean now. The Eternabond is inbound and should arrive Friday.
I installed the Eternabond today. I cleaned all the residual caulk off, ran my finger across it to check for anything I couldn't see and then cleaned the joint twice with acetone. The second cleaning was with a clean rag that hadn't been used to clean anything else. The old Pro Flex RV took a lot of effort to remove. It was really stuck into the joint at the top.
The 1" Eternabond freaked me out when I first tried to apply it. I forgot that there was a backing strip on the sticky side and I couldn't figure out how the Eternabond wasn't sticking like it normally does. Putting down Eternabond is so much easier, cleaner and faster than caulk. I used a roller to thoroughly press the Eternabond to the surface.
I'll try to update this thread next year at this time.
The Eternabond is wearing well. No issues at all. At least none that are the fault of the product. I nicked the tape and put small hole in it that should be addressed eventuallt.
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