Hey it's raining outside! "Oh no! My RV roof has a leak!"

How many times do you think I heard that last month? How about a quick refresher course on roof leak repair and where to look for problems? If you own an older model camper with a metal roof you can use just about any of the numerous RV or mobile home roof sealers on the market.

At all cost, please stay away, far away, from any tar products. They do not work for any length of time and are impossible to remove. Remember, rubber roofed campers all require sealant formulated especially for rubber roofs. NO silicone, kool seal, polyseam seal, dyco. Nothing but approved rubber roof sealant should be used. These sealants are mostly self leveling caulking in nature and are only to be used on flat surfaces as they will run until fully cured.

Now, let's talk leak location. The front and rear seams on your roof cause the biggest problems and usually, we find the most problems at the extreme ends. If your roof has leaked for a while, the wood under the rubber might be weak and thus, unable to hold the joint molding securely to the roof. No amount of caulking will hold this molding down now, you must first remove the old caulking and replace the old screws with longer ones to try to find good wood.

This may also involve new screw locations between the existing screws. At the extreme ends within 2" of the outside wall there are two 2" X 2" boards stacked on top of each other. One is the top of the wall and one is the roof beam. At this location it is possible to use as much as a 3" screw to secure the molding. Apply caulking under the trim before securing and then coat the complete top. One seam caulked correctly will use approximately two tubes of caulking. You will need a caulking gun to apply this type of sealer, and rubber roof caulking can only be purchased at an RV dealer or parts supplier.

With so many of the newer campers having slide-out rooms, these movable rooms are notorious for leaks. Most of the leaks located in slide-out rooms happen in two locations. The first is at the outside corners of the leading edge where the rubber roof folds down over the side and up the front, which creates an opening right at the outside corner. You can't fold one piece down and the other up and be able the overlap the roof material. Look at this location first for all possible slide-out room leaks as water will travel and show up no where near the actual leak. The other popular location is at the lower outside corner closest to the camper. To access this location, look behind the rubber wiper seal. This location can, and should, be caulked with silicone.

Take your time looking for leak locations. The slightest crack will allow water to penetrate and, if the location has been repaired once before, remove old material before applying new. The RV industry has developed many ways to locate leaks if you are totally unsuccessful, so don't let that leak destroy you camper. Get it fixed at all cost.

When the rain finally stops, bolt outside and look inside your camper. And when the water finally recedes, what do you say we all go camping?

As always be safe and introduce someone new to the joys of camping.