leaking skylights fix

[mr brown]

as the previous owner had glued my daughter's rooflight with sikaflex, when it started leaking , a lot , i found i couldn't remove it without breaking it. so i washed and dried off the existing mastic and covered it with this stuff, applied with a spatula , 6 months later , dry as a bone . if you feel you want to do it properly at a later stage , this stuff can be removed with white spirit. 145 Butyl Rubber Sealant - 310ml 145GY | Zoro UK

 

[Ellerker]

Hi! Thanks for the tip! I have the same problem with my classic Hymer; rooflight too fragile to contemplate removing. I was considering doing something similar to what you describe with Sikaflex 221 simply because it seems to be the goto adhesive/sealant for folks. I am new to motorhoming and have never used either product, I am interested if/why the Butyl rubber is a better product for exposed surface seals.

What are the alternatives to this course of action? What does 'doing it properly at a later stage' look like?

Many thanks for the original tip, and in anticipation of further insights.

 

[mr brown]

sikaflex is an adhesive , sika dries and is extremely difficult to remove and won't stick to some plastics
butyl is a sealant which sticks to more or less everything,never dries out and can be removed easily with white spirit

doing it properly means removing skylight and thoroughly cleaning both mating surfaces, packing out any corrugations and re-sealing with a sealant, or you can use an adhesive if you feel it will never leak and the adhesive definitely will adhere to both surfaces
remember , sika doesn't stick to the plastic nozzle it's applied through, it will peel off

 

[mr brown]

i should have said that butyl is a non -setting sealant .a better description .
years ago when i first start making my own campers , i used to go to commercial scrappies to get my windows, hatches, guttering and other trim. they were always sealed with butyl , and even , in some cases, on 20 yr old bedfords etc , the butyl was still fresh

 

[saxonborg]

I have had some butyl strip in my garage for at least 30 years and it is still soft and flexible, I have just used a strip to stop a leak on the rear passenger door card of my Passat, did the job well.

 

[johnyw1]

I have had some butyl strip in my garage for at least 30 years and it is still soft and flexible, I have just used a strip to stop a leak on the rear passenger door card of my Passat, did the job well.

A friend sealed a very leaky roof all the seams were leaking, he bought a large tin and did his entire roof, ligiud rubber, more like liquid gold still dry 3 years later