water proofing my Toyota rv

[ras]

Hi,

I've recently bought an '85 Toy Mirage(rv fabricator) We have discovered that the flooring rugs, up part way in the walls, in the closet, and wheel wells are drenching wet.

When it rains it drips near the windows of the over-cab but not from those forward windows. It could possibly come from the overhead fan and follow the overhead fabric forward to where it drips out near those windows. Also we suspect the side windows are leaking, but where we can't tell. If water is coming between the glass paines, how do you stop this leakage. We also discovered the huge hatch rear door to the rv, was a little loose at the top ,and we have siliconed this entire door.

Please give us tips on waterproofing this rv and also your best tips on keeping mice out of it through the winter.

[SanDiegoPaul]

I don't know how 'correct' it is, but I went to Home Depot and picked up a can of roof sealant. It's white, reflective coating says to reflect up to 90% of the sun's heat and it is painted on. In my case the roof needed quite a bit of repair, but this sealer is the top coat over all the other stuff I did. There was a lot of rotted paneling in the roof around the rear vent over the bathroom. It had broken long ago, and the previous owner didn't do anything about it so water rotted all thewood around it & I couldnt' just replace the vent.

I cut 3/8" plywood sheets to cover the roof in sections and screwed them in with 3" screws which thread into 1x2 ribs that are inside the ceiling of the motorhome. Between the plywood and the roof, on the outside, is a coating of this sealer. It dried overnight on the outside skin of the motorhome, before the plywood went on. Then after the plywood was cut and installed on top, another coating of this white sealer went over it all. It took 1 1/2 gallons to do the whole job.

Side bennie from the new plywood roof: The motorhome is MUCH more quiet when on the road. Feels like a much more rigid box now.

[turtle]

Please give us tips on waterproofing this rv and also your best tips on keeping mice out of it through the winter.

Remove the roof vent and windows, remove and replace the butyl caulk tape, then reinstall the vents and windows. Anything else is just temporary. This needs to be done every 5 or so years. Motor homes are just like boats and airplanes, they require a LOT of maintenance otherwise they fall apart.

[bajadulce]

There are a lot of threads here on this forum about leaky windows, roofs, etc; Some really good ideas/solutions/tips/advice. Type "window" in the search feature and some great reads come up.

Please give us tips on waterproofing this rv and also your best tips on keeping mice out of it through the winter.

Tarps are wonderful! And a cat door! "Mouse-proofing" is a tuff one, because they also can come through the firewall where all the "holes" for the cab's cables/pedals/electrical are. And those buggers can chew through things like glove boxes. Found that out the hard way when I thought a "Snickers" bar was safe in there!

[SanDiegoPaul]

Remove the roof vent and windows, remove and replace the butyl caulk tape, then reinstall the vents and windows. Anything else is just temporary. This needs to be done every 5 or so years. Motor homes are just like boats and airplanes, they require a LOT of maintenance otherwise they fall apart.

Snickers? oooo, even I would have broken in to steal & eat one of those!