Leaks in the RV

Leaks in the RV are certainly at the top of all camper’s worst nightmare lists. A motorhome or travel trailer can be badly damaged by a leak in the roof or a side wall, and these damages are often difficult and expensive to fix.

Unfortunately, RVs are also notorious for their poor craftsmanship, especially in more recent years. This poor craftsmanship leads to leaky rigs, sometimes even right off the factory floor, meaning RV owners must be hyper vigilant in order to catch leaks early on. Luckily, as long as you do catch leaks in their early stages, you shouldn’t be left with lasting damage.

Here’s how to ensure you stay on top of potential leaks and keep your rig in tip-top shape for years to come.

Finding and Recognizing RV Leaks

The first step is knowing how to recognize leaks when they do come up. In most cases, this is pretty easy. After all, water dripping in around the skylight or streaming in under a window seal is pretty obviously a problem, and you should definitely pay attention during rainstorms to find these obvious leaks.

However, sometimes leaks can be a little bit sneakier, coming in inside of cabinets, puddling under mattresses, and sometimes even remaining behind walls. These sneaky leaks are what require us to be a little bit more vigilant and play detective.

Because leaks can hide, we recommend checking inside cabinets and storage bays, and behind and under furniture after every heavy rain just to be sure you aren’t dealing with any moisture inside your RV.

While investigating, be sure to watch for the following signs of leaks. Some will be apparent, but others are less so:

• Puddles on the floor or in the bottoms of cabinets.

• Moisture on walls, especially under windows and in corners.

• Peeling or wrinkling wallpaper.

• Soft spots on the floor or in the walls.

• Counters and other built-in furniture separating from walls.

Related Read: RV Roof Maintenance

Tracking Down RV Leaks

Once you find that you have a leak, the next step is tracking down where the leak is coming from. Once again, this will be very easy in some situations and very tricky in others.

You see, it’s completely possible for water to leak straight down through a crack in some sealant. However, it’s also possible for water to sneak in through an opening and then run across the roof or down a wall before appearing in your rig. This means you might have to do some investigating in order to find where the water is getting in.

We recommend starting with where you see the water coming inside your RV. Head outside and look around that area for any possible entrance points for water. Look very carefully, as water can sneak into even the tiniest of cracks. If you don’t see a problem where the water is entering, look further up.

Keep in mind that water will always run wherever gravity pulls it, so going up the wall or looking at a higher point on a slanted RV roof will almost certainly send you to the right place.

Repairing Leaks in Your RV Roof and Walls

When you find a potential entrance point, you’ll want to get that crack or hole patched up as soon as possible. Didn’t find an obvious entrance point? Your best bet is to go over all of the seals surrounding the area of the leak—especially those uphill of where the water is entering—in order to ensure they’re all watertight.

If your issue is with a seal, your job is simple enough: Remove old, dry, cracked, peeling, or chipping sealant, clean the area well with mineral spirits, and go over the seam with new sealant.

For seams on the walls of your rig, you’ll want to use a non-sag RV sealant. Before applying, use a finger dipped in mineral spirits to go over each new bead of the stuff in order to ensure full coverage and a smooth seal. This will dry your skin something fierce, so take care here.

When it comes to seams on the roof, a self-leveling RV sealant is ideal. Simply apply the product and allow it to level itself out, making sure to cover the seam completely. Keep in mind that solvents such as mineral spirits can damage a rubber roof and should only be used sparingly to clean old sealant before applying the new over it.

If you find holes or tears in your roof, you’ll need to patch those right away. There are patch kits available for this, but we find that EternaBond tape works just as well and is much easier to apply.

Occasionally, you’ll find a leak around a window or storage bay door. In this case, the best thing to do is remove the entire window and replace the butyl tape that runs along the inner edge. However, if you don’t have the time or tools to accomplish this job, a bit of non-sag sealant will do the trick until you do.

Preventing Future Leaks

After repairing any leaks you find in your rig, you definitely aren’t going to want to deal with that issue again. In order to avoid leaks in the future, you’ll need to stay on top of preventative maintenance. Luckily, this is pretty straightforward.

In order to properly maintain your RV and help prevent leaks, you should:

• Reseal the entire RV at least once a year, going over all seals whether or not they seem to need it.

• Inspect seams at least 4 times a year.

• Inspect the roof after hail storms, when tree branches fall, after driving under low hanging limbs, and any other time roof damage could have occurred.

Related Read: What to Do When Storms Hit While RVing

• Park under cover whenever possible to protect seals from UV damage, and thus avoid having a leak go unnoticed while the RV is in storage.

Clearly, catching leaks early and repairing them as quickly as possible is highly important. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand how to go about doing that so you can continue to enjoy camping in a dry, leak-free rig.