Roof leak

[Chukar Hunter]

Hi all
I'm looking for help on finding the source of a leak at the front left corner of my 2007 Hawk. I replaced and sealed the screws and sealed the edge trim but still have some water getting in and it is just sitting in my driveway not going down the road.
Any ideas on where else to look?

 

[longhorn1]

Do you have a roof rack or solar? Is the front of the camper pointing down slope or upslope? If you have either they maybe leaking into the aluminum roof frame, and then running to the front. Is the top up where you can see the drip?

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[Chukar Hunter]

Nothing mounted on top but maybe I better check out more screws further back. I would say it is sitting pretty level and maybe a little high in the front

 

[Chukar Hunter]

Just put a level on it and it is slightly nose down so going to change out all screws today

 

[PokyBro]

Chukar Hunter, I'll add a couple thoughts along with longhorn.

Sometimes in a house roof, a leak might occur at, say, a roof vent, but might travel some distance on a rafter to find the lowest point to drip from. The aluminum runners in the FWC roof, are slightly arched, front to back, so if you have a leak at a screw hole, or a vent, it might just travel to some other point some distance away, and not necessarily drip straight down.

When I was stripping my roof and prepping it to paint, I removed all the screws. I noticed that most of the screws had been covered with a glob of silicone, but some of the globs were not completely bonded all around the screw. Certainly with time any sealant might loose its grip, and allow water through.

I personally would avoid using any old silicone from the hardware store to reseal screws and trim, and would rather get some of the camper specific products from an rv store, as they remain flexible in all weather conditions, and are often designed to stick in less than ideal conditions.

Close inspection around any vents for sealant cracks, or screws not completely covered with sealant might also be prudent.

Lastly, if your screws don't have neoprene bonded washers on them, you might consider that as well for one more possible way to get a tight seal on the fasteners, along with sealant on top of the screws and washers. You can get these at places like Lowes, HD, or Ace Hardware.



Good luck, it certainly can be frustrating!


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[longhorn1]

Most silicone sealants shouldn't be used on the camper. If there are places where silicone was used you will need to thoroughly clean the surface, remove all silicone, and wipe the surface with alcohol. New sealant won't adhere to a surface contaminated by silicone. Even if you have removed all the old sealant there is still a contaminate and the alcohol should remove that. PokyBro has the right idea with the screw, neoprene washer, and then the sealant. jd

 

[Chukar Hunter]

Thanks All for the input.
Yesterday I replaced all the screws with a larger #10 as most of them were stripped out and new rubber bonded washers and put a dab of Dicor RV sealant under each and over the top. Non of the factory washers had sealant under it or around the screw head so hopefully this will be a little added protection. This may be a problem if I have to replace screws again but maybe that wont be necessary in my lifetime.
Quite a few of the old screws showed signs of water entry possibility so hopefully this problem has been solved. I will find out soon as we are getting a little rain today.

 

[longhorn1]

Thanks All for the input.
Yesterday I replaced all the screws with a larger #10 as most of them were stripped out and new rubber bonded washers and put a dab of Dicor RV sealant under each and over the top. Non of the factory washers had sealant under it or around the screw head so hopefully this will be a little added protection. This may be a problem if I have to replace screws again but maybe that wont be necessary in my lifetime.
Quite a few of the old screws showed signs of water entry possibility so hopefully this problem has been solved. I will find out soon as we are getting a little rain today.

If you are storing your camping outside, you should consider covering it for extended periods of time. The tarp will help prevent leaks and protect the sealant and other components from UV damage. jd

 

[nmhurley]

I am also getting some water damage in the front left corner that I just noticed. I have a 2001 Hawk so the front supports are the old wood style and the plywood is starting to warp, which is a big concern. I plan to replace screws and re-seal as soon as possible. What has been people success doing this?

Also any suggestions on how to mitigate the damage on the front plywood raisers? A full replacement looks like to much work for right now. Just looking to put a band aid on it for awhile.

 

[WAhawk]

Nmhurley: We successfully stopped our 2010 Hawk’s roof leak by resealing the screws on the rooftop. We haven’t had any leaking since doing that about a year ago. I would suggest you get the camper super dry before resealing the screws so you don’t trap water inside the roof.

I can’t help with the plywood riser problem – we had 4WC (Woodland) replace ours early on in our leaking saga because they were moldy.

Sadly, it took us a year to figure out the source of our leak but I won’t waste your time with what didn’t work. The old/original sealant covering our rooftop screws had dried up and pulled away from the rooftop enough to allow water in. The resealing was done by a 4WC dealer in the Seattle area. (We also had the seam around the side of the pop-top section sealed on the advice of that dealer but the roof-top screws were definitely the source of our leak).

You may not need the following in Bend but we live in western Washington and didn’t want to give mold/mildew a chance to grow inside the roof so before resealing those screws we sanitized and dried our camper. I washed down the interior and exterior with a dilute bleach solution to kill the mold we did have, let that dry and then wiped the entire interior with a borax-water solution that is supposed to inhibit the growth of mildew and let that dry in place. Then we left the camper – with the top up - in the sun for a few weeks during a rain-free period in the early fall and used the heater to thoroughly dry out the interior. After it was super dry we moved the camper to covered storage for the winter, put 5 desiccant tubs (Dri-Z-Air) inside the camper and dumped them at least monthly. Then we had the roof-top screws resealed. It’s been stored outside for the last year and there are no leaks. There is no visible mildew and no musty/moldy smell in the camper, so I think the bleach and borax bathes worked, too.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I am also getting some water damage in the front left corner that I just noticed. I have a 2001 Hawk so the front supports are the old wood style and the plywood is starting to warp, which is a big concern. I plan to replace screws and re-seal as soon as possible. What has been people success doing this?

Also any suggestions on how to mitigate the damage on the front plywood raisers? A full replacement looks like to much work for right now. Just looking to put a band aid on it for awhile.

water damage2.jpg

If you’re going to replace your lift panels, consider a trip to Sacramento and having it done by ATC. They do great work at a very reasonable price. You might also consider them for the leak repair. They’re on the north side of town and pretty easy to get to.

 

[nmhurley]

Nmhurley: We successfully stopped our 2010 Hawk’s roof leak by resealing the screws on the rooftop. We haven’t had any leaking since doing that about a year ago. I would suggest you get the camper super dry before resealing the screws so you don’t trap water inside the roof.

I can’t help with the plywood riser problem – we had 4WC (Woodland) replace ours early on in our leaking saga because they were moldy.

Sadly, it took us a year to figure out the source of our leak but I won’t waste your time with what didn’t work. The old/original sealant covering our rooftop screws had dried up and pulled away from the rooftop enough to allow water in. The resealing was done by a 4WC dealer in the Seattle area. (We also had the seam around the side of the pop-top section sealed on the advice of that dealer but the roof-top screws were definitely the source of our leak).

You may not need the following in Bend but we live in western Washington and didn’t want to give mold/mildew a chance to grow inside the roof so before resealing those screws we sanitized and dried our camper. I washed down the interior and exterior with a dilute bleach solution to kill the mold we did have, let that dry and then wiped the entire interior with a borax-water solution that is supposed to inhibit the growth of mildew and let that dry in place. Then we left the camper – with the top up - in the sun for a few weeks during a rain-free period in the early fall and used the heater to thoroughly dry out the interior. After it was super dry we moved the camper to covered storage for the winter, put 5 desiccant tubs (Dri-Z-Air) inside the camper and dumped them at least monthly. Then we had the roof-top screws resealed. It’s been stored outside for the last year and there are no leaks. There is no visible mildew and no musty/moldy smell in the camper, so I think the bleach and borax bathes worked, too.

Thanks for the info WAhawk. As you mentioned, and luckily, the moisture in Bend is not a problem. It has just been a snowy and raining Spring and that has caused the issue. Normally it's not something that concerns me. Everything is already bone dry. I am planning to do a full re-seal of the roof and most likely that will solve my problems (at least I hope!).

If you’re going to replace your lift panels, consider a trip to Sacramento and having it done by ATC. They do great work at a very reasonable price. You might also consider them for the leak repair. They’re on the north side of town and pretty easy to get to.

Thanks for the suggestion Wandering Sagebrush. I contacted ATC to get an idea of cost and it's $445 with installation. It's good to know if it gets worse and I decide that they need to get replaced.