Continuation of roof repair

I had posted about our endeavor to do a temporary repair on the RV roof to stop the leaks (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2025/09/its-always-something.html). We had initially thought that we would only put the tape on, and not worry about sealing around it, but after we got down from the roof and rested a little, we realized that we really ought to put some sealant around the newly applied tape. In addition, we noticed another spot of tape at the rear cap that needed attention.

So, on Tuesday morning, we went back up on the roof to try to finish the work...

Before we went up on the roof, Carl tried using the Dicor in the caulk gun that we had left over from a previous project. We always save the leftover caulk (sealing up the end with plastic), but we have found that it needs to be used pretty soon, and it is often hardened before we are able to use it. This was the case with this tube (it was hardened), so we threw it away before we went to the roof, and got a new tube (which we also had with us) opened and ready to use.

A view of the tape on the right side of the coach (the "after" picture from our work on Friday)

Carl putting the self-leveling Dicor (caulk, sealant) on the middle piece of tape

After picture with the caulk applied to the tape just right of the left horn and between the right horn and the edge of the roof

We had noticed this area of the back cap tape had gotten pretty torn up when our shoes rubbed it coming up and down on the ladder. 

So, we did just a quick repair by doing a very small amount of cleaning, applying the tape, doing a quick application of Dicor, and we called it "done".

While up on the roof, we had also looked at the slide topper over the slide on the driver's side -- we had suspected something was going wrong up there because we were getting water on top of the slide and then inside the rig -- the slide topper should prevent that. We had a greater clue when there was a breezy day, and we saw the slide topper billowing up in the middle past the top of the roof of the rig...

Sure enough, the edge of the slide topper has come detached from the side of the motorhome. The water still pools there, but... it created a somewhat worse issue than just letting water be on the top of the slide. When we bring the slide in, as the roller rolls the slide topper onto the outside roll, it pushes the pooled water onto the top of the slide, which then, as the slide continues inside the rig, dumps the water like a waterfall over the driver's seat.

I'm typing this a few days later than the task that I'm reporting on -- we have left the campground. I considered what I could do to prevent the waterfall, and decided to go up on the roof right before we left and try to sling the water off the slide topper. That worked pretty successfully, so we didn't get the waterfall inside the rig this time. 

 

We have an appointment for a few rig repairs in Tucson when we get through there in October, but for now I know that, if it rains while we're stopped, I should go up on the roof and try to get the water off the topper before bringing in the slide. Now we just need to remember whether it has rained while we're stopped or not!