Roof, Slide and Awning
RV Roof Leak Detection, Tracing and Sealing
Typical range
$350 to $3,500
Shop hours
2 to 14
Labor rate
$210/hr
The short answer
Leak detection finds where water actually enters, which is rarely where the stain appears, using moisture metering, pressure testing, and controlled water testing. Detection and sealing runs $350 to $3,500, or 2 to 14 hours at $210 per hour. An RV systems estimate is $150 and is refundable against authorized repair.
01
What this work actually involves
Water in an RV travels before it shows. It enters at a roof penetration, a cap seam, a window corner, or a slide opening, then runs along a rafter, down a wall cavity, or across the top of a ceiling panel until it finds a low point and stains something. We regularly trace a stain above the dinette back to an antenna base twelve feet away. That is the entire reason detection is a separate service from sealing. Sealing the roof you can see and hoping is a common approach and an expensive one, because it treats the symptom location instead of the source.
The method is layered. We meter the ceiling, walls, and floor to build a moisture map, which tells us the direction water is moving. Then we water test in controlled zones, starting low and working up, one penetration at a time, with someone inside watching. On sealed cavities we use pressurized smoke testing, which finds gaps that a hose will not because it moves under pressure into any opening. Thermal imaging is useful early in the morning when there is still a temperature differential between wet and dry substrate.
The sources cluster predictably by climate band. Inland valley units from Corona through Riverside show sealant fatigue at every penetration, because the wide daily temperature swing works lap sealant loose at the edges while it still looks intact from the ground. Coastal units from Newport Beach, Long Beach, and Oceanside leak at fasteners, because steel screws in aluminum flanges corrode galvanically in salt air, the head swells, and the flange lifts. Low desert units leak at terminations where a shrunken membrane has pulled back from the cap.
Systems and brands we work on: Dicor, Eternabond, Alpha Systems.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Full moisture survey of ceiling, walls, floor, and slide openings with meter readings
- Zone-by-zone controlled water testing with an observer inside the coach
- Pressurized smoke testing for sealed cavities and hidden penetrations
- Thermal imaging to locate wet substrate behind intact finish surfaces
- Roof penetration inspection at vents, AC, antennas, ladders, and plumbing boots
- Cap seam, drip rail, and termination inspection where the roof meets the body
- Photographed source documentation with the moisture map for your records
- Targeted sealant removal and rebedding at the identified entry point
- Eternabond reinforcement at seams and terminations that need mechanical strength
- Post-repair water retest of the corrected area before delivery
03
When you need this service
- A ceiling or wall stain that grows after every rain
- A musty smell in overhead cabinets or a closet that closes up
- Soft or bubbling wall panel below a window or a slide opening
- Water appearing on the floor with no visible source above it
- Bubbling or lifting on the exterior sidewall, which is delamination starting
- Interior trim or wallboard that has separated at a seam
- A leak that was sealed once already and has come back in the same place
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Interview and history
When it leaks, how hard the rain has to be, and where the unit is stored. Whether a leak appears only in wind-driven rain narrows the search substantially.
- 02
Full moisture mapping
Meter readings taken on a grid across ceiling, walls, and floor. The shape of the wet area tells us the direction water is traveling and roughly how long it has been going.
- 03
Roof and penetration survey
Every flange, seam, termination, and fastener examined at close range. Lifted sealant edges and corroded fastener heads are photographed and noted for the report.
- 04
Controlled zone water testing
Water applied to one zone at a time, lowest first, with an observer inside. Testing the whole roof at once tells you there is a leak but never tells you where.
- 05
Smoke or thermal confirmation
Pressurized smoke on sealed cavities and thermal imaging in the early morning to confirm findings that water testing suggested but did not isolate.
- 06
Source correction
The identified penetration is opened, cleaned to the substrate, rebedded on fresh butyl, and sealed. Reinforcement tape is added where the joint needs mechanical strength.
- 07
Retest and report
The corrected area is water tested again, the interior is re-metered, and you get the photographed moisture map with the findings.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $350 to $3,500 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 2 to 14 | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Body and paint labor | $210 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Paint supplies | $55 per paint hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Body supplies | $5 per body hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
07
Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Class A Gas Motorhomes
A Class A gas motorhome is a flat-front coach built on a Ford F53 or Workhorse front-engine chassis, typically 28 to 38 feet. Rear
Vehicle
Class C Motorhomes
A Class C is a coach body built onto a cutaway van chassis with a sleeping or storage cabover extending above the factory cab. Tha
Vehicle
Standard Fifth Wheels
A fifth wheel couples to a hitch in the truck bed through a kingpin and pin box, with a raised forward bedroom over the truck. The
Vehicle
Travel Trailers
A travel trailer tows from a ball hitch behind the tow vehicle rear axle on an A-frame tongue, which makes it the most sway-prone
Vehicle
Truck Campers, Slide-In
A slide-in truck camper sits in a pickup bed and is clamped down at four points, so it absorbs the truck frame twist directly. Jac
Vehicle
Pop-Up Campers, Tent Trailers
A pop-up camper is a low box trailer with a lifting hard roof, canvas walls, and fold-out bunk end decks. The lift system, the bun
Vehicle
Vintage and Classic RVs
Vintage coaches, from riveted aluminum Airstreams and Avions to GMC motorhomes and 1970s Class A units, use construction and parts
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Questions about roof leak detection and sealing
Frequently asked questions
What does RV leak detection cost?
Detection alone typically runs $350 to $900 depending on unit size and how many zones have to be isolated. Detection plus targeted sealing runs to $3,500 on a coach with multiple entry points. The published range is 2 to 14 hours at $210 per hour. An RV systems estimate is $150 and is refundable as a credit against an authorized repair.
Why can I not just seal everything on the roof?
Because most leaks we trace are not on the roof field at all. They are at cap seams, window corners, slide openings, marker lights, and corroded fasteners. Sealing the whole roof costs real money and leaves the actual entry untouched, which is why so many owners arrive here having already paid for a full reseal that did not stop anything.
How long does it take to find a leak?
Most are isolated in two to four hours of testing. Intermittent leaks that only appear in wind-driven rain take longer, because they require simulating both water and direction. Leaks that have been sealed over multiple times take longest, since previous repairs mask the original path and sometimes create a second one.
Will my insurance cover the water damage once you find the source?
It turns on cause. Sudden intrusion from a covered event such as hail, an impact, or a storm-driven failure is generally claimable. Gradual seepage from sealant that dried out over years is treated as maintenance. Our moisture map and photographed source finding is the evidence a carrier makes that determination on, which is exactly why we document it first.
My leak came back after being repaired. What went wrong?
Almost always the original entry point was never found and a nearby one was sealed instead. The second most common cause is caulking over old hardened butyl or old sealant, which bonds to the failed material rather than the substrate and separates within a season. We cut old sealant out to the flange rather than adding to it.
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More roof, slide and awning work
Ready to move on roof leak detection and sealing? Bring it to Yorba Linda.