Caulk

[Craig D. Thompson]

There are some places on my trailer that need to be sealed.

I am well aware of the need to not use silicone. My previous trailer had gobs of silicone slathered on by my father (previous owner) and those areas still leaked.

Butyl rubber seems to be the most recommended caulk for fiberglass trailers.
Years ago I was able to purchase tubes of butyl rubber caulk at the local hardware stores. But the last decade or so I cannot find it. I seem to recall that the sale of butyl rubber caulk was banned in PA?

If I cannot find butyl rubber caulk locally, what is the next best caulk? Around the house I have used several that seem to perform well: Lexel, Big Stretch. Quad and Sika have been recommended to me but I have not tried them.

So what do you folks suggest for caulk?

[Jon Vermilye]

I have used Geocel Pro flex caulk. It remains flexible, is paintable, and sticks to itself, unlike silicone. For sealing horizontal surfaces such as roof openings or other places where dripping isn't a problem, Dicor Self Leveling caulk works well.

I usually carry a tube of each, however I wish they made each product available in 2 - 4 oz squeeze tubes. I almost always need to replace a hardened half full caulking gun tube.

The only butyl caulk I've used is to seal windows & attachments such as fans, etc. It comes in rolls with paper tape between layers.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Craig D. Thompson

There are some places on my trailer that need to be sealed.

I am well aware of the need to not use silicone. My previous trailer had gobs of silicone slathered on by my father (previous owner) and those areas still leaked.

Butyl rubber seems to be the most recommended caulk for fiberglass trailers.
Years ago I was able to purchase tubes of butyl rubber caulk at the local hardware stores. But the last decade or so I cannot find it. I seem to recall that the sale of butyl rubber caulk was banned in PA?

If I cannot find butyl rubber caulk locally, what is the next best caulk? Around the house I have used several that seem to perform well: Lexel, Big Stretch. Quad and Sika have been recommended to me but I have not tried them.

So what do you folks suggest for caulk?

Pure Silicone (kitchen am bath) is excellent for this application.
It comes in black, white, and clear.
I have used it for decades on Teavel trailers with great success.

Of course it must be properly used (I have seen the "globs of which you write.) Slathering is also not good practice.

The same could be said of any sealant.


Silicone is used in the original construction and is fine.
Look at the belly band on a new Scamp.

I use black to reinstall windows.
Clear usually gets ugly with age

White "Kitchen and Bath" Has a mold inhibitor in it and stays pretty for a very long time.

Use a siliconized acrylic caulk in areas which will be painted
(often labeled "50 year painter's caulk")

[Donna D.]

Eveland's uses silicone because it's cheap, not because it's the best. Read and you'll find most leaks are because of silicone usage or bad maintenance. You won't find silicone used on an Escape nor an Oliver. For a reason.

A belly band doesn't even need to be sealed. That's done from the inside of the trailer. That is IF the manufacturer did a good job sealing the trailer properly. Then, any caulk used on the exterior of the belly band would be strictly for esthetics.


There are several different types of caulk and no one size fits all. For instance, you wouldn't want to use a self-leveling caulk like Dicor on the side of the trailer, but it's great for around roof vents.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Eveland's uses silicone because it's cheap, not because it's the best. Read and you'll find most leaks are because of silicone usage or bad maintenance. You won't find silicone used on an Escape nor an Oliver. For a reason.

A belly band doesn't even need to be sealed. That's done from the inside of the trailer. That is IF the manufacturer did a good job sealing the trailer properly. Then, any caulk used on the exterior of the belly band would be strictly for esthetics.


There are several different types of caulk and no one size fits all. For instance, you wouldn't want to use a self-leveling caulk like Dicor on the side of the trailer, but it's great for around roof vents.

I don't use Silicone because the manufacturers use it. I use it because it is effective when properly applied.
I'm sure that you didn't intend to disparage any particular brand (although that would be easy to infer)
You may think that Escape or Oliver are superior products, but every fiberglass trailer has features and/or materials which are not optimal for the application.
However this thread was not intended to start a brand war and a high price is not always an indicator of quality or longevity.
For example Land Rover has one of the worst reliability records in the auto industry.

I stand by my previous post and as usual, would not insist that anyone take my advice.

I disagree with your position that the proper application of silicone could actually cause a leak , but I do agree that poor maintenance or neglect certainly could.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by floyd

I'm sure that you didn't intend to disparage any particular brand (although that would be easy to infer)
You may think that Escape or Oliver are superior products, but every fiberglass trailer has features and/or materials which are not optimal for the application.

Of course I'm not interested in disparaging any brand. I own a Scamp AND an Escape. I'm fortunate enough that I can see the difference in quality between the two on a daily basis if I so choose. But it does come at a price. All the brands of all-molded trailers will last decades if maintained. I'm not interested in using a caulk that you an buy at the grocery store, I've even seen a tube of silicone caulk for sale at Dollar Tree. I prefer to use something that was created for use on RVs, not the shower pan in the bathroom in my sticks 'n bricks. YMMV

[kip22]

I use butyl tape between joints whenever possible. Seals well and comes apart easy. For tube sealant I use polyurethane. Stronger and better seal than silicone and you can paint it. I've dug lots of it out over the years to redo or repair stuff but I've never had a leak where it was applied properly.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Of course I'm not interested in disparaging any brand. I own a Scamp AND an Escape. I'm fortunate enough that I can see the difference in quality between the two on a daily basis if I so choose. But it does come at a price. All the brands of all-molded trailers will last decades if maintained. I'm not interested in using a caulk that you an buy at the grocery store, I've even seen a tube of silicone caulk for sale at Dollar Tree. I prefer to use something that was created for use on RVs, not the shower pan in the bathroom in my sticks 'n bricks. YMMV

Good point...I'm sure silicone caulk quality varies with brand....

There may well be some excellent alternatives, but personally, a product which lasts 20 years in the shower pan of my travel trailer and is readily available at a good price will suffice.


In the late 70's I made a bunch of warning signs which were painted on plexiglass then covered with another piece of plexiglass and sealed using ordinary silicone caulk. They hung on chain link fences in the refinery and were still in great shape in 2007 when I retired. (The fences rusted of course)