Leaking caravan roof

Drew
I had been attacking a leak at 4 points where the A/C mounts were fixed on each side of the roof, first I used many products over 2 years, each time it would leak so rip the crap off and try another, people said Oh use Sikaflex , it'll fix the problem.... still bloody leaked, then I thought of the shed Dad built in 1961 using 2nd hand roofing with nail holes in it, he used a product called Hydraseal, no water leaked in the nail holes for the 8 years we were there,so off I go to Innisfail to the hardware store , they had a product called Duraseal, basicly the same , different name, so I plastered that in,over,and around the problem area, NO MORE LEAKS,
Don't get the brushable one, get the very thick one , I used an old kitchen knife to apply it, it's very tacky,
Brand name is ORMONOID/DURASEAL - Bitumen Based Waterproofing Putty , in a 1kg yellow can with black text.

These leaks are a real pain and sometimes they are actually coming from somewhere eniirely different to where it appears.

The best way ro fix the leak would be to remove the vent and completely redo it.

Using sealants as you suggest may fix it but I've found that the only way to do a permanent job is to redo the whole thing.

We had a mother in law living at brothers house in a relocatable granny flat, same type of construction as a caravan.
The roof leaked around the air con vent, and we tried to seal the area a few times with all types of proprietory sealants, with no luck.
After pulling the ceiling lining off, we found the leak was in the roof/wall edge about one and a half metres away from the vent, and the water was running along a roof framing metal channel to the air con ceiling vent.
We could have put tonnes of sealant around the vent and never fixed it.
If yours still leaks after trying the sealants others have named, it could be worth looking further away from the vent.
Cheers

Drew

I agree with those who have said you have to find out exactly where the leak is before you do anything. I dismantled a 16 foot Viscount recently for scrap aluminium and you could clearly see from the design of it that the manufacturer needed a bare minimum of sealant to finish the job.

The only way to do it properly is to locate the leak, remove whatever is necessary and replace it using the same amount, type and quantity of sealant that the manufacturer used.

Check with any caravan dealer who carries out repairs for the type of sealant they use.

Brian

Drew T

I resealed my 25year old Evernew on site van two years ago. Removed the old silicone, resiliconed it then sealed with Liquid Flash (from Bunnings) and painted it with Solver Duraguard Gloos white.

No leaks at all since then.

Couple of others have done the same thing as well and all have had no leaks.

Cheers

Colin

i'll say duraseal for sure done an 18ft bonwood 10 years ago set up as spare room now and still the roof is okay .

first i painted the roof with duraseal stuck a cheap canvas to that while it was wet, then 2 coats of the thick, 2nd coat is silver