Some follow-up:
The areas I pointed out are areas we had leaks. You need to keep after every joint on the RV, once you start it feels like there are more joints than in a 750 piece puzzle…
I don’t think any of the sealant is silicon. I say this because every joint I addressed had body paint on it, I don’t think the paint would have adhered to silicone. Some of it appears to be like lap seal, maybe the non-sag type, and some (the white blob) is a hard rubberized type sealant. Either way, they were both painted.
I did not remove the factory sealant where it had body paint on it. I just cleaned it very good, and using masking tape applied new sealant over it. It almost looks better than factory. Our rig is grey so I used black everywhere. They also make a clear sealant which would work good on other colors, and maybe that is what I should have used??
As you get closer to the roof area I think it is all lap seal. I removed the old sealant there, simply using a screwdriver and then cleaned residue with mineral spirits then alcohol.
Our flooring is no longer manufactured, the factory warned they may not have enough to repair (but I think I found some old stock on eBay). They also said they don’t do laminate anymore, wonder why…. Now they use a marine vinyl. The problem is, the floor is the first thing they install, everything else is built on the floor. So to replace, they have to cut it out, install new, and I guess hide cuts using trim. Not really what I want to look at. I think this decision will be made by the availability and the insurance company, I’m torn either way.
At first I tried to pressurize using the dash HVAC, that did not work. I tried briefly to reverse the Fantastic Vent fans but they don’t simply reverse due to the 3-speed switch and frankly I didn’t have the patience to start another project to figure it out. Since we already had the wall panels removed, we used a leaf blower to test the areas we know leaked. This worked good but would not work on areas you don’t have access to (behind walls). So how do you test on a rig that is not disassembled? Not sure, maybe the vent fans will work, or maybe need a high volume fan that can create enough pressure to make bubbles with some kind of door replacement panel? Let me know if you figure it out…..
The real problem is that virtually none of these areas that leaked could be identified without soapy water. And I know that I am not recaulking every one of these joints every year. So what’s wrong with the Coach House?
The issue is there is not really a better choice on the market, believe me, I looked. I still can’t believe this is what the industry has to offer and people don’t stop buying them even though they are all a total POS.
Still not a happy camper.
