Leaky bus

[sealguy77]

Howdy y'all,

It was a depressing moment when it rained after I had done a roof raise, added sheet metal and windows, and painted the bus, and there were so many leaks on my bus.

Some leaks were from rivets, some were from sheet metal screws (used the same original screws and other ones, some were from seams of overlapping sheet metal, and other leaks were from around the windows.

Do y'all have any advice for fixing these leaks? I would prefer not to rip off all the sheet metal and start again. Caulking? Silicon? Replace rivets?

Thanks in advance y'all!

 

[DeMac]

...bump
I don't have a clear answer for retrofitting the seams.

Could you provide some pictures of the affected areas? Windows. Transition. Sides. Rivet. Screw.

Do you have access to the inside of the rivets?

Each variety of leak may require more than one solution to correct. You are not alone. Some skoolies have gone to great lengths, to mitigate leaks.

 

[musigenesis]

Howdy y'all,

It was a depressing moment when it rained after I had done a roof raise, added sheet metal and windows, and painted the bus, and there were so many leaks on my bus.

Some leaks were from rivets, some were from sheet metal screws (used the same original screws and other ones, some were from seams of overlapping sheet metal, and other leaks were from around the windows.

Do y'all have any advice for fixing these leaks? I would prefer not to rip off all the sheet metal and start again. Caulking? Silicon? Replace rivets?

Thanks in advance y'all!

Are these leaks mainly from the new material that you riveted on after your roof raise? Generally, if you rivet sheet metal, you want to have a bead of sealant under the edge of the overlapping piece that is partially squeezed out when the riveting is done. This creates a seal that is mechanically pinched between the two pieces and thus is not dependent on the adhesive properties of the sealant to maintain watertightness. The rivets themselves will also not be intrinsically watertight unless they are put in "wet", meaning you glop sealant around the hole before popping the rivet (the sealant will also squeeze out in this case).

Since you're already put everything up without sealant (I'm assuming), it is possible to seal the seams and all of the rivet heads externally with a good polyurethane sealant like Dynatron-550, although this will probably not last as long as squeezed-out seams. The stuff is gray so you would have to repaint afterwards, although there is a Dynatron-570 variant which is white and might match if you painted your bus white. There are other sealants in different colors that might match your painted color and let you avoid repainting.

 

[Timeline]

If you need to put sealer on the exterior, use some masking tape, it will look better. Pull the tape right away!

 

[sealguy77]

A little of everything

...bump
I don't have a clear answer for retrofitting the seams.

Could you provide some pictures of the affected areas? Windows. Transition. Sides. Rivet. Screw.

Do you have access to the inside of the rivets?

Each variety of leak may require more than one solution to correct. You are not alone. Some skoolies have gone to great lengths, to mitigate leaks.

Hi DeMac,

Nice picture...I think that will do the trick and provide some good shade.

I'll try to get some pictures, but I do have access to the interior and exterior of the affected areas.

 

[sealguy77]

If you need to put sealer on the exterior, use some masking tape, it will look better. Pull the tape right away!

What kind of sealer do you recommend on the outside? How do you recommend using the masking tape -- for a clean line?