Wet insulation behind chair rail

[elliot_peas]

I'm taking out the metal skins between the windows and the chair rail, and planned to caulk the windows & then rust converter & Rust-Oleum the floors. I was planning to use green board insulation in the walls, floor, ceiling (I'm taking the metal off the ceiling also and will caulk)/patch). Floor needs some hole filling.

ANYWAY I wasn't planning to remove the chair rail portion, but I'm finding wet insulation in there, just as the bottom. I'm wondering if I should address that without removing that part, maybe from outside, or if sealing the windows/roof would be adequate? I don't want to create a mold factory.

[EastCoastCB]

Pull out all the wet stuff but don't remove the chair rail.
Spray some rust converter down there if its rusty.

Properly sealing the windows and roof with seam sealer (not silicone) will be key. But also remember that metal tents sweat and the humidity will run down the walls. So whatever you use to insulate make sure its not organic.

[elliot_peas]

Thanks - that's in line with what I was thinking. Working with metal sweating is weird!

[Tango]

Can also be from inherently leaky Skoolie windows.



Yes...they ALL leak until you do something about it.

[Nachowarrior]

i fixed a lot of my leaks just by recaulking the windows from the outside.

for the roof and any mounts you put up, get self leveling sealant. cant remember what type of caulk i used for the windows. paintable something or other.


edit; metal sweat can be helped by a thermal break between the framing and your desiered finish.

[elliot_peas]

There are a surprising number of gaps in the window situation!

[CMORGANSKOOL]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Pull out all the wet stuff but don't remove the chair rail.
Spray some rust converter down there if its rusty.

Properly sealing the windows and roof with seam sealer (not silicone) will be key. But also remember that metal tents sweat and the humidity will run down the walls. So whatever you use to insulate make sure its not organic.

What kind/brand sealer do you recommend?

[Nachowarrior]

this is what i picked up for the roof and any holes. i have had some luck with silicone for some applications.

[Tango]

Can't do any better than an OEM grade Seam Sealer like 3M. Avail at auto paint supply houses and online.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Tango

Can't do any better than an OEM grade Seam Sealer like 3M. Avail at auto paint supply houses and online.

THis^

Seal all the seams with seam sealer. I use the 3m Dynatron stuff at AutoZone.

That Dicor stuff is good for sealing some stuff too. I've used it with great success on roof vents. Flat, non-visible surfaces.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

THis^

Seal all the seams with seam sealer. I use the 3m Dynatron stuff at AutoZone.

That Dicor stuff is good for sealing some stuff too. I've used it with great success on roof vents. Flat, non-visible surfaces.

Dynatron 500 is epic stuff. AutoZone has the best price for it ($14 a tube) but they usually only have two tubes in stock, so I'm perpetually cleaning out AutoZone of their meager endowment.

I need to figure out a better technique than smearing it with my fingertips, though. Looks completely amateurish, like every cheap **** apartment I've ever lived in.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Dynatron 500 is epic stuff. AutoZone has the best price for it ($14 a tube) but they usually only have two tubes in stock, so I'm perpetually cleaning out AutoZone of their meager endowment.

I need to figure out a better technique than smearing it with my fingertips, though. Looks completely amateurish, like every cheap **** apartment I've ever lived in.

I tape each side of the seam with wide masking tape. Then I run a moderate bead of seam sealer in the seam. Then I wet my finger and smooth it, gently pressing it into the seam. There are videos of it that show it better than I can describe. Its easy, though.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I tape each side of the seam with wide masking tape. Then I run a moderate bead of seam sealer in the seam. Then I wet my finger and smooth it, gently pressing it into the seam. There are videos of it that show it better than I can describe. Its easy, though.

Do you pull the tape up right away, or after the sealer dries?

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Do you pull the tape up right away, or after the sealer dries?

Right away.
Once I've smoothed the seam sealer I pull the tape off.
The tape and the wet finger smoothing method make it look great. Even better than factory.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Right away.
Once I've smoothed the seam sealer I pull the tape off.
The tape and the wet finger smoothing method make it look great. Even better than factory.

I have to do some seam sealing on the roof where one panel overlaps the adjacent one. If you use the tape method for this, do you put one line of tape right on the edge of the top panel, or do you offset it a bit so that the sealer goes over the edge by that amount? (hope that makes sense)

Or should I use something like Dycor self-leveling sealant for this? Sorry to grill you like this, but Friday is going to be a massive thunderstorm day so I'm hoping to do a bunch of sealing tomorrow and then use the rain to tell me if I've found the leaks. (I don't have running water where my bus is so this is the only way to tell right now)

[EastCoastCB]

Yeah you want it to get onto each panel evenly.
For a roof seam I run about a 1/4"- 3/8" wide strip between the tape. The tape I put on either side of the seam I'm sealing.