Campervan Roof leaking - need help!

Steroo

HI All,
My mother has saved her backside off for a camper, she is not wealthy so she bought an '85 Fiat in need of some repair. She has wanted a camper for a long time & now she can start to enjoy the camper life.

We refurbished the interior to a lovely comfortable finish.
We got it serviced & all that. finally passed the DOE & got insured.
Painted the outside so it looks great.

BUT - there are a few placed it is leaking on the roof.
We got up & re-siliconed all the windows. We sprayed the roof with TAR spray (5 coats) and added more silicone!

But we are still leaking. She is talking about maybe getting heavy adhesive tape & sticking on this heavy ground sheet. but it's not a great solution.

has anyone had this issue & any suggestions that might help her get on the road without worrying about leaks! One is right over the bed ;-(

All help much appreciated.

Thanks

moodrater

StephenRooney wrote: »

HI All,
My mother has saved her backside off for a camper, she is not wealthy so she bought an '85 Fiat in need of some repair. She has wanted a camper for a long time & now she can start to enjoy the camper life.

We refurbished the interior to a lovely comfortable finish.
We got it serviced & all that. finally passed the DOE & got insured.
Painted the outside so it looks great.

BUT - there are a few placed it is leaking on the roof.
We got up & re-siliconed all the windows. We sprayed the roof with TAR spray (5 coats) and added more silicone!

But we are still leaking. She is talking about maybe getting heavy adhesive tape & sticking on this heavy ground sheet. but it's not a great solution.

has anyone had this issue & any suggestions that might help her get on the road without worrying about leaks! One is right over the bed ;-(

All help much appreciated.

Thanks

First of all are you sure its a leak and not condensation i.e. is it only there when it rains or when the van is occupied. Condensation will often gather and drip seeming like a leak. The best way to find a leak is to have one person inside and another directing the hose until you find the leak.

If its a fibreglass roof the sealant often hides rust and perforation underneath.

Steroo

Thanks Moodrater,
Defo not condensation. When it rains heavy it comes in fairly heavy. enough to fill a small pot. it's close to the windows.

Is there anything I can get to seal the roof better?
I'd be willing to lose the windows, is there anyone can put a new roof on for us or something?

cormie

Try this: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055917629

Little bit of a different situation, but worked for me in the end (I never updated the thread ).

Steroo

Hey Cormie, Thanks a lot, soom good suggestions there. The patch sounds good. did yours work out well?

cormie

Well it definitely stopped the leaking where the roof was torn, but I'm not sure how it would work on little patches?

Aidan_M_M

first off , what are you using? Silicone sealer isn't good enough , we use Wurth sealer . any pictures of the window areas?

Steroo

Hi Aidan,
Yea was a Silicone Sealer.
I'll get up on roof & take a pic.
Hard to know where the leaks are from top.
Thanks

Aidan_M_M

ordinary silicone is no good , you need proper sealer like the Wurth stuff we use . And the surfaces need to be clean , dry , and "keyed".

demoreino

Aiden ,
What do you use to "clean " the surfaces before reapplying the wurth sealer ?
its easy enough to clean the surface of the vehicle but the grooves on the vents or bases of the windows wont clean as easy . Do you use any chemicals or just scrape the old sealer off ?

Aidan_M_M

Depending on the surfaces and glue previously used , Petrol , acetone , brushes I've shaped , chisels I've tweaked , and blades! And buckets and buckets of elbow grease...

Steroo

Hi All,
We still have this problem.
The camper has been lying up all Winter. It has been covered.
In relation to this (you need proper sealer like the Wurth stuff we use . And the surfaces need to be clean , dry , and "keyed"), Do I get this Wurth stuff in the DIY shop? and what is 'Keyed'?
Someone she spoke to suggested painting the interior & exterior with Bitumen? Is this similar to the Wurth Stuff and surely the Interior would be a bad idea due to fumes etc? But it seems it's used widely for metal protection.
If I can get some advice on preparting the roof that woudl be great... do we use sand paper? or a special buffer?
Thanks a lot

spaceHopper

Keyed means lightly sanded to roughen up both surfaces so the sealer has something to stick to.
If you go to charls camping or search for their online store you can get the sealer. Or any good boating shop like viking marine in Bullock harbour Dalkey.

Aidan_M_M

You can buy the Wurth sealer direct from their retail store(s). to do it properly it's a window out job , not just a case of pasting it around the edges.

paddyp

Donagheys have the wurth stuff for delivery on their site too:
http://www.partsformotorhomes.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=12954&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1

You're going to need a dry day and proper preparation to make a good job of it unless you have a garage.

Old style acid curing silicone is useless stuff and releases acid and causes corrosion for years.

Another one to consider is rito(bostik) all weather sealant it sticks to oily and sopping wet surfaces and you can put it on in the rain, just sealed up a few tek screws in my shed roof with it today.
http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/0027/0900766b80027b76.pdf

bluethunder

StephenRooney wrote: »

Hi All,
We still have this problem.
The camper has been lying up all Winter. It has been covered.
In relation to this (you need proper sealer like the Wurth stuff we use . And the surfaces need to be clean , dry , and "keyed"), Do I get this Wurth stuff in the DIY shop? and what is 'Keyed'?
Someone she spoke to suggested painting the interior & exterior with Bitumen? Is this similar to the Wurth Stuff and surely the Interior would be a bad idea due to fumes etc? But it seems it's used widely for metal protection.
If I can get some advice on preparting the roof that woudl be great... do we use sand paper? or a special buffer?
Thanks a lot

I had a similar problem with a couple of windows and two skylights. Thanks to advice on here I managed to resolve it. You really need to take the windows/skylighs out, clean properly then reset with good wurth or sikaflex bonding stuff.

You say you still have the problem but the van was covered? How can that be? To be honest, if I was you and the van was this old i'd be taking it to a repair shop and having a full habitation check done. There's nothing worse then waking in the middle of the night to a drip on your head while on holliers!

karmaan

Wurth have a shop in sandyford ind estate near airtricity, and ballymount near tv3

Steroo

Thanks all - we will be heading down to the Wurth Shop very soon to get the right stuff... and we will orgainse a barn to dry the roof out & get the job done nice & dry. Will update once done in few weeks hopefully. Windows will be out for sure.

And it wasn't leaking while the cover was on.
I took this to a festival last year and I knwo what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night with a sore head and a soaked mattress... not good.

Steroo

Called Wurth and they said they had nothing to seal the roof!

karmaan

THEY DO AFAIK ITS CALLED BOND AND SEAL , ITS IN A MASTIC TUBE BOUT 7 OR 8 QUID

paddyp

Yep bond + seal as I linked to earlier, maybe it wasn't in stock or you got the weekend student shift :-p
http://www.sealantsuk.com/image/data/Bond%20and%20Seal.pdf