cap trim piece

[phoneguy]

I have a 2005 cruiser and have a small leak coming in the trim piece on the roof where the rubber roof meets the front cap. The trim piece is screwed on and siliconed like crazy. We bought a 10' piece of eternabond and we are going to fix the leak for good. My question is: can we remove the trim piece or should i put the tape over it? It would be nice and smooth if i could remove the trim piece. Thanks, Jeff

[Lloyd]

When I done mine, I went right over everything. Placing half on the cap, and half on the roof membrane.
You have to clean it good before applying the tape. I washed/scrubbed the area and let it dry. Then scrubbed it down with rubbing alcohol.

Don't let the tape get away from you during the install. It will be a mess if that happens.

They say to roll it down real good when you do it.

[phoneguy]

Thanks. How did you deal with the screws? It looks like they could back out and go through the tape. I'm going out to buy a roller to press it down. I hear great reviews of eternabond. I might do around the vents and back trim piece as well

[Russb]

Originally Posted by phoneguy

Thanks. How did you deal with the screws? It looks like they could back out and go through the tape. I'm going out to buy a roller to press it down. I hear great reviews of eternabond. I might do around the vents and back trim piece as well

I found the best price for the steel rollers on Amazon.

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by phoneguy

Thanks. How did you deal with the screws? It looks like they could back out and go through the tape.

Where the screws hold the cap down on mine, they had a big wad of clear silicone over them. All I did was trim the silicone down a little so it was sticking up so high and went right over everything. That was quite a few years ago, and everything seems to be holding just fine.

[phoneguy]

Follow up question. My wife and son spent all afternoon on the roof trying to remove the old caulk and silicone. They got it all off the trim piece and the cap but there is about a 1 to 2 inch spread of old caulk that extends on the rubber roof. How can we remove it without damaging the rubber roof. we have denatured alcohol and acetone. the 4 inch wide tape won't cover it unless we can remove at least half of the stuff on the rubber roof. Thanks so much. Now i know why they charge so much to recaulk the roofs

[DavisK]

I did exactly the same thing that Lloyd did on mine. I trimmed the silicone and covered the seam with a strip of 4" tan Eternabond. Then I rolled it with a hard rubber print roller. I did it as a preventative measure and not a repair.

[Lloyd]

I don't understand why the 4 in. tape won't cover it. (A picture would help)

All I did was center the tape over where the cap met the rubber roof. It lapped over 2 in. onto each.

You don't have to take all the old caulk off. All that is necessary, is the area you are going to apply it on be clean so it can stick good.

Don't use acetone. You could do damage to the rubber.

[phoneguy]

Well, i called Eternabond and they said acetone is great. Just put it on a rag and don't pour it on. We used a little bit of it and used rubber roof cleaner and denatured alcohol to clean up the rubber roof side. Then I went to General RV and bought a 10 ft roll of 6 inch wide Eternabond. This should solve any problems of going over old caulk. Thanks everyone for the help. This is a great forum! Will let you know how it goes

[mark5w]

The Eternabond cleaner:

Cleaning Recommendations

• For EPDM and metal clean with a "hot" (fast evaporating) solvent like - lacquer thinner, acetone, automotive brake parts cleaner, or a commercial EPDM cleaner, or a good, non-residue leaving cleaner.
• For thermoplastic roofs like PVC, TPO, Hypalon, score the surface of with a Scotch-brite like pad (or equal), sand cloth a sanding sponge, etc. Wipe off dust.
• For rusty metal modified / granulated roofs, stucco, concrete, wood or other porous surfaces - blow or brush off loose or heavy dust / dirt. Coat surface with a light coat of EternaPrimeŽ.

[phoneguy]

Well, my wife and I just put it on. 6" x 10'. The flat part on the roof went well but the edges where it goes down didn't go so well. We did the best we could but there are some pretty good creases in it. The edges are smooth though. Thanks for all the suggestions, we really appreciated it.