Sealing Up the Roof

Whenever I think about the project as a whole, I get overwhelmed. It's just so big. Back when I led wilderness canoe trips, I told kids to focus on each paddle stroke or each step of a portage. If you put enough of the small steps together, you end up going quite a ways. I feel like that applies to me here.

My focus has been sealing up the roof so that when winter comes the snow stays outside. There are still some big holes, but I completed a milestone today. I filled and sealed the old AC hole with a brand new Fan-tastic Fan.  

In the photos below you can see the progression from old monstrosity to sleek technology. I'm planning on stubbing in 110-VAC and a drain line to the hole between the skins, just in case I want air conditioning in 10 years.  For now, the old had to go! 

The HUGE old AC.

Cover torn off.

Ugly, huge, & heavy AC.

Reinforced plate had to go.

The PO used tar to seal it.

Fan-tastic Fan installed.

Rivets sealed from the underside.

The old roof profile.

The new roof profile

I'm sealing everything with Trempro 635 - it is the modern version of Vulkum. A polyurethane-based sealant, it is supposedly better than anything else for aluminum. (I'd like to shake the guy who used tar.) I put new rivets in all the old, unneeded holes from the AC support plate that I removed from the roof. Then I caulked the inside with the Trempro.  I think this is the best way to fill those holes.  If anyone knows a better way, please let me know!

I have the front astrodome hole to fill, the fridge and heater vents to cover and/or patch, and several plumbing vents to recover. Then all I need to do is seek out and caulk every last seam leak. No problem! (Ugh. One paddle stroke at a time.)