Do you think your AC is the cause for your roof leaking? Or do you just have water dripping from the AC?
I did too!
As a disclaimer, I am no professional I just have real life experience from being a newbie to the mobile dwelling community. Due to my newness, inexperience in this lifestyle, and other things happening at the same time, my leaky RV roof was a huge hit to my confidence!
When you have water pouring into your home no matter what you live in or where it’s a huge problem! It can bring so many other issues to the forefront and leave you without a place to live!
So when I had water pouring into my home one night, all I could do was sit there depressed and figure out when I could stay until it stopped raining enough to try to figure out the problem. I did not record much of the water pouring into my home but I did get my troubleshooting phase and you can see that below!
So What Was The Cause?
After a lot of trial and error in my troubleshooting phase, I finally figured out what was the initial cause of the water getting into my RV.
It was in fact NOT my AC that was the main cause! It was small holes normally cause my lime deposits or rust from not cleaning your roof. This happened before I got the RV, because I cleaned my roof every few months to make sure it wasn’t a mess up there. When I looked closer to where water would puddle on the roof I could see darker spots and those were tiny holes where water was getting in between the wood on my roof and leaking into where the AC was. Since there is a 14″x14″ hole where the AC sits on the roof that was where the water was escaping from. Plus the fact the AC is heavy and most of the water puddles down near that area.
This was not the only cause! I found out the antenna was loose and a previous leak (that I knew about) was open again in that area. This was also allowing water to come in where the antenna knob was on the inside of the RV.
My leaky RV roof was caused by neglect! No one cleaned it and it was never re-sealed for being such an old RV (1983).
How Did I Fix It?
I fixed my leaky RV roof a number of ways:
- Resealed around the AC opening and added extra sealant on top and on the ceiling part inside.
- Even though my AC was not the main reason for the leaking it did have clogged hoses where it drains out the evaporated water. Most AC leaks are caused by this! It was an easy fix. I just unclogged the openings to let it drain and made sure my new sealant didn’t block these areas.
- The antenna had to go! I didn’t use it anyway. So, I covered the hole with a piece of sheet metal from Lowes and self-tapping screws. I also used Dicor lap sealant to cover the edges and screws holes. *I use one of those clear TV antennas now, they are HD free channels!
- What about the small holes? I used some aluminum roof tape to cover those small holes near the AC that was causing the leaking.
- After all of that, I got some white roof sealant paint, It’s easy to use and you just paint it on with a roller and a brush for the edges around vents. I did two coats of this. Make sure you cover it all so there is no place for water to get under it. They also recommend you prime the roof so it adheres well.
- Lastly, I went around to all the screw holes and any place that looked like it would leak and used the Dicor lap sealant on those areas.*
*There is also Eternabond Tape that I couldn’t afford at the time but it has great reviews and I’ve talked to plenty of people to know this stuff works!
How did you fix your leaks? Comment below any tips or tricks you know that maybe able to help someone else dealing with a leaky RV roof or AC leak on their RV.
