# Which roof sealant



## 101825

While I am at home slaving away Claire is at a convention in our newly aquired 2nd hand Euramobil.

It's pouring, both outside and inside. Claire says there are three leaks. Two most likely at vents and one where the treadplate (checked plate) is.

Questions:
1. Which is the best sealant to use?
2. Would I use the same stuff for sealing the roof vents and the treadplate edges?

I have searched the forum and seen mention of "Sikaflex 221/152/215/291", "Carafax IDL 99" and "Dow Corning 796". Maybe they all do the job just as well, but any advice/experience would be appreciated.

I am confident that the vents will be sorted easily, the leak "under" the treadplate has me very nervous. Logic tells me that the plate will expand/contract much faster than the rest of the roof.

TIA
Roger


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## Melly

I have done my own conversion and used Sikaflex 512 for all waterproof seals on 2 mini heki's on the roof ,fridge vents and gas locker to make it air tight and also in the toilet area and I have no leaks at all.
You must make sure that the area you are sealing is totally dry or else it will not adhere properly and still leak.


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## Snelly

Silkaflex!

That plates making me nervous too... is it covering something?? Take it off and see. If its damp underneath, it needs to dry out before you reseal.


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## 101825

Shane, FYI here is a photo of the roof:










The two vents are not visible.


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## Snelly

Wow... chequer plate city!! I see they have used a small square of chequer plate to cover something up. Looks like a mounting plate next to it for an old sat system??? I can talk from experience, that your most likely cause of leak is from that blanking plate and the small bit of chequer. The big bits will be just laid on the roof for walking on.

Dissapointed to see no underwear on your line... :lol: oh and get that garage roof fixed!

Do you use your sat dish?


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## Waleem

Plus it depends which bit of checker plate-if its the bit at the back, and the other vents are leaking, I would say that the vent in the checker is probably also leaking and maybe tracking from there. Worth resealing that one too whilst you are at it. I have always used Sikaflex-either 221 or 512 and have resealed extensively, including fitting Mini Heki rooflights.


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## UncleNorm

Morning Ivys and All!

Just a word of caution, if I may. Do NOT for one minute think that the place of the drip is necessarily anywhere near the actual leak!

It has been known, indeed it is very common, for water to penetrate in one place and drip out metres away, if at all, having had a very slow, meandering journey between roof beams, insulation, cables etc... Goodness knows what damage is being create during its passage.

This situation highlights why I am loth to attach anything to the M/Home roof and walls, if it involves penetration of the skin.

I would feel inclined to research each addition on your roof, by removal, looking for water marks, grime trails, moisture... Then I would clean-up, dry-up and use the sealants advised on this site to reseal everything in 'belt n braces' style. 

Auntie Sandra and I have only had one roof leak which showed itself very easily when she went to open a rooflight and was deluged by the water that had collected on the black-out screen after heavy overnight rain! She was still in her pyjamas too! :lol: My over-zealous cleaning of the roof had washed away the silicon :roll: sealant from around the rooflight. I resealed using some tape sealant from my emergency repair kit.  

Good luck with finding a solution.

Best wishes from UncleNorm.


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## Snelly

I agree UncleNorm. Artona has a eurmobil and that seemed to leak from everywhere.... turned out to be the old satellite dish on the roof, letting in water and it travelling in the roof space. Thats why I mentioned the blanking plate.


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## 101825

Snelly said:


> Dissapointed to see no underwear on your line... :lol: oh and get that garage roof fixed!
> Do you use your sat dish?


Steady now Shane :lol:

My brother took that pic of the roof when it was still at the sellers house. You are, however, correct about the lack of underwear - conspicuous by it's absence.

The original sat system would have been one of these (according to the manuals I got with the vehicle):

















My bother had one knocking about which he gave me. At this stage I don't know which will work better, a dish or one of those flat/square kathrein Mobisat thingies. One thing is for certain - that dish will need to be replaced one way or another. My bother described it politely as "makeshift" with barbed wire, and he's not normally that polite :lol:

Shane, Waleem and UncleNorm I would agree with you. I suspect I need to do some serious cleaning and resealing over the whole roof! 

Roger


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## brimo

What colour is Sikaflex 512. We once put ordinary clear silicone sealer ona van and it turned dirty grey ina matter of months making it very visible.


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## 101825

So back to my original question:

Which sealant and do I use the same for everything on the roof?

Roger


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## Waleem

Sikaflex is generally available in White and black, sometimes grey too. It is bought most cheaply on eBay-at least thats where I got my last lot-two tubes for the price of one.
One point- do NOT use silicone sealer for resealing seams or rooflights-it is not intended for this job and will not last. When we bought our van, the Heki 2 had been fitted with silicone and was leaking like a seive!


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## johng1974

seeing that dish, on the roof, has got me wondering how hard it would be to make a motorised standalone system that could then be attached to the roof.. controlled from a joystic in the van...

2 stepper motors and some ingenuity with the dish holding frame.. and maybe a satellite tracker that can be 'seen' from inside the van...

anyone ever tried?

just being a cheap skate  


will get coat as its a bit wet


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## drcotts

sikaflex every time
Its white in a black mastic tube.

Trouble is once youve opened the tube you got a week to use is otherwise i goes hard. You can seal the nozzle off if you llike but it doesnt stop it going off
So have a sikaflex day and do all the sealing at once.


ps that LNB sticking up is looking for a nice fat branch

Phill


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## drcotts

sikaflex every time
Its white in a black mastic tube.

Trouble is once youve opened the tube you got a week to use is otherwise i goes hard. You can seal the nozzle off if you llike but it doesnt stop it going off
So have a sikaflex day and do all the sealing at once.


ps that LNB sticking up is looking for a nice fat branch

Phill


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## bognormike

just a reminder from something else I saw, Sikaflex isn't a fixative, just a sealant; if anything has to be fixed down, use separate fixings (screws / brackets / etc, and seal up all exposed areas (in and out) with the sikaflex.
If you can do a build-up of the sealant to create a dome over the exposed joins it will help.


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## Scotjimland

Sorry, but I have to disagree about using Silkaflex for sealing roof lights, joints, vents etc.,

Carafax IDL 99 is the correct product, it is non setting and remains flexible. 
This is important as different materials expand and contract differently leading to cracks then leaks if a setting mastic is used.

An interesting article about dealing with damp.. 
http://www.swift-owners-club.co.uk/soc1/tips/dealing_with_damp.html


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