Awnings, Roof Seals and What Wind Does to an RV
Wind damage and water intrusion are the two things that ruin RVs. Here is what to check and what to do when an awning lets go.
Two things do most of the serious damage to RVs, and neither is mechanical. Wind takes awnings and anything not secured. Water gets in through failed seals and destroys structure from the inside where nobody sees it until it is bad.
Both are largely preventable.
Awnings and wind
An awning is a sail. Gulf Coast afternoon storms build fast and arrive with wind that will take an awning apart, and it does not need to be a named storm to do it.
The rule is simple and it gets ignored constantly: if you are leaving the site, roll it in. If weather is building, roll it in. If you are going to sleep, roll it in.
An awning that has started to come apart in wind will tear further and can damage the side of the rig, the rail and the arms. Getting it secured is the priority even if it means cutting fabric.
What fails on an awning
- Fabric tearing, usually starting at a stress point or an existing small tear
- Arms bending from wind load or from being driven with the awning partly out
- The roller tube bending
- Spring tension failing, so it will not roll up
- The mounting rail pulling from the sidewall, which is the expensive version
- Motors and controls on electric awnings
Roof seals are the quiet killer
Every roof penetration — vents, antennas, AC units, skylights, the front and rear caps — is sealed, and every sealant has a service life. Sun and heat degrade it, the roof flexes as the rig moves, and eventually a seam opens.
Water gets in and travels. By the time it shows up as a stain inside, it has usually been wetting structure for a while. Delaminated walls and rotted framing are what that becomes.
Inspect the roof twice a year
Get up there safely, or have somebody who can. Look at every seam and every penetration for cracking, separation, chalking or gaps. Sealant that has gone hard and cracked is done regardless of how it looks from ten feet away.
Resealing is straightforward maintenance with the right products for your roof material. Using the wrong sealant for the membrane causes its own problems, so match the product to the roof.
Water damage in an RV is cumulative and it is largely invisible until it is structural. A roof inspection twice a year costs an hour and prevents the single most expensive thing that happens to these rigs.
The other places water gets in
Window and door frames, the seams where sidewalls meet the roof and floor, storage bay doors, the slide-out seals, and anywhere somebody has mounted an accessory through the wall.
Slide-out seals in particular take a beating and they are what keeps water out of the largest opening in the rig.
Storage matters here
Rigs that sit outside in Gulf Coast sun for months take UV damage on every seal, every gasket and the roof membrane itself. Covered storage extends all of that substantially.
If it sits outside, the inspection interval matters more, not less.
After a wind event
- Look at the awning and secure anything loose before it does more damage
- Check the roof for anything lifted or displaced
- Look at vent covers, which are frequently the first thing to go
- Check the seals around anything that moved
- Look inside for any sign of water intrusion
- Photograph damage before anything is repaired, for insurance
Sealant is not all the same
Self-leveling sealant goes on horizontal surfaces. Non-leveling goes on vertical ones. Using the wrong one means it runs where it should not or does not flow into the seam where it should.
And the sealant has to be compatible with the roof membrane. The wrong product on the wrong membrane can attack it, which is a considerably worse outcome than the leak you were fixing.
Before you travel
- Awning fully retracted and latched
- Vent covers intact and closed
- Antennas and dishes down
- Storage bays latched
- Slide-outs fully in and seals seated
- Nothing on the roof that is not secured
That list takes two minutes and it prevents the majority of highway damage to an RV. Most of what tears off at seventy miles an hour was left out or left up.
Wind on the interstate is a different thing from wind at a campsite, and an awning that was fine sitting still comes apart at speed.
If you have storm damage on a rig or an awning that has come apart, call (850) 495-0366. Dispatch answers around the clock and James comes to where the rig is sitting.