Every caravan roof has the same weak spots. Here's why more sealant won't keep the sun off them.
You've probably never spent long on your roof, and that's normal. The trouble is that the roof is where the sun sits the longest, and the sealant gives out at the same few places whatever the roof is made of. Here's where that happens, why the usual fixes only buy time, and a straight answer to the worries we hear most about covering it.
By Anders from the warehouse.
Last updated 6 November 2026.
Summary: A roof stays watertight because of sealant: at the seams front and back, along the joint where the roof meets the wall, and around every vent, the antenna and the air conditioner. Sealant dries out, shrinks and cracks in the sun, and a new layer on top sits in the same sun as the old one. A tarp and a full cover each bring problems of their own. A cover for just the roof keeps the sun off those seams, and the worries owners raise about covers are answered further down.
The cover itself: white 210D Oxford fabric, waterproof and sun-resistant, made for strong sun. Nine lengths from 5.5 to 13.5 m, all 3 m wide. The edge hangs 30 to 40 cm down the sides, one person puts it on, shipping to Australia is free and takes 5 to 10 business days, and you get 90 days to send it back or get a refund.
1. The sun goes to work where the roof is sealed, not where you'd think to look.
Fibreglass, aluminium or a membrane, the weak spots are the same. There are the seams at the front and back, and the long joint where the roof meets the wall. Then there's every hole cut through the roof: the vents, the antenna, the air conditioner. Each of those places is kept watertight by sealant, and sealant wears out with the years. In the sun it dries out, shrinks, cracks and pulls away from the edge it was meant to seal, and that gap is the way in for the next storm.
2. You won't see the damage from the ground. You'll find it from the inside.
A crack in the sealant doesn't leak on the day it opens. It waits for the first big storm, and then the water slips past the seam and soaks into what's underneath, sometimes for a whole season. What makes it costly is how quietly it happens. It often shows up inside first: a stain on the ceiling, a corner that smells damp, or a spot that feels soft. By the time you notice any of that, the crack has been open for a while.
3. Why another tube of sealant only buys time.
So the usual answer is another bead of sealant on top, and on a seam that has only just started to crack, that's sound upkeep. Keep doing it. But the new layer sits in the same sun as the old one did, so you're back up the ladder before long. And once water is already in, a fresh layer on the outside doesn't reach what got wet underneath. Every summer of patching is one more summer the roof spends in full sun. What the seams need is less sun on them in the first place.
4. A tarp or a full cover trades one problem for another.
A plastic tarp is cheap and goes on fast, but it moves in the wind, and a tarp that moves rubs against the van all season while it holds moisture underneath. A full cover is the opposite bet. Because it wraps everything, it's heavy to get into place alone, and all summer it lies against the paint and the decals on every side. Ask the owner of one how often it actually went on.
5. Cover just the roof, and leave the rest of the van alone.
This cover takes only the roof, because that's the part in the sun all day. The white 210D Oxford fabric is waterproof and made for strong sun, so the sun hits the fabric instead of the seams. The edge hangs 30 to 40 cm down the sides, which keeps the joint between roof and wall under fabric too. It fits over rooftop air conditioners, roof vents and skylights, and since nothing hangs lower than that edge, the door, the windows and the hatches stay clear. One person puts it on: unfold it on the roof, latch the woven webbing straps under the edge of the body on all four sides, and pull the two reinforced straps across the top.
Your length, your price, before you click anything
Every size is 3 m wide, so the only thing to measure is the length: the body, drawbar not included, rounded up to the next size when you land between two. One cover costs what its row says. On the product page the bundle box opens on a 2-pack, so with one caravan, switch it to 1 pack and you pay the row.
Nothing here is shorter than 5.5 m or wider than 3 m. A smaller van, or a wider one, needs a different cover, and we'd rather lose the sale than your trust.
The worries we hear most, answered straight
Won't it trap moisture and grow mould under there?
It can if it goes on wet, so don't put it on wet. The fabric is waterproof, which means little air moves under it. Wait for a dry day, and lay something under it that keeps a gap; a pair of pool noodles down the centre line does it.
Won't it rub the roof and the paint when the wind blows?
A full cover rubs because it hangs loose down every side. This one covers the roof and only the top 30 to 40 cm of the walls, and it's strapped on all four sides with two more straps across the top, so the wind can't get under it and lift it. The straps are woven webbing, not elastic, so they don't stretch out.
Won't the sun wreck it after a season or two?
We can't tell you how many summers it lasts, because we haven't measured that, and a number nobody measured is worse than no number. What we can give you is time to find out: 90 days to put it on, leave it through the hottest weeks and the first storms, and send it back or get your money back if it isn't holding up.
Isn't it a two-person job?
One person does it. The bundle goes up on the roof, you pull it out from the middle toward both ends, and then you walk around the van and latch the straps one by one. After the season it folds down to an armful. Doing the whole job from a ladder, without stepping onto the roof, is the one thing we can't promise.
Can I still get into the van?
Yes. The cover stops 30 to 40 cm below the edge of the roof, so the door, the windows and the hatches stay clear, and you can go in and check on things whenever you like.
Will it fit over my air conditioner?
Yes. It fits over rooftop air conditioners, roof vents and skylights. With a lot of gear up there, or a very tall unit, go one size up.
My van is built to sit outside. Why cover it?
The walls are, because rain runs straight off them. Up on the roof, the sun sits flat on top of the seams all day, and those seams stay tight only as long as the sealant around them does. A cover doesn't make the van any tougher. It just takes the sun off the one surface that has to fight it all summer.
My dealer said covers do more harm than good.
Ask what harm they mean. The reason dealers tend to give is a cover that shifts in the wind and rubs the finish and the roof. That's what a loose cover does, and it's why this one is strapped on all four sides with two more straps across the top. If you'd rather see it for yourself than take our word or theirs, that's what the 90 days are for.
Is it worth the money?
It's priced by length, and the table above shows the price for one cover. Hold that up against fixing a leak in your roof, and then decide.
Does it fit a fifth wheel?
Measure the main flat part of the roof and pick your length from that. Whether the cover also reaches over the raised front above the hitch, we don't have the maker's answer, so we don't claim it.
What about solar panels?
The cover goes over them, so they're covered while it's on. If your batteries depend on the panels while the van is parked, this cover works against you, and we'd rather say so.
How long does shipping take?
Free to Australia, and 5 to 10 business days to your door.
So what do the owners who cover the roof do differently?
They stop waiting for the perfect cover and fit the one they'll actually use. Length off the table, bundle box set to 1 pack, and the 90 days treated as a test drive: on goes the cover before the worst of the summer, and if it turns out wrong for their van, back it goes.
The box holds one cover in the length you picked: white 210D Oxford that takes strong sun and sheds rain, 3 m across, woven webbing straps on all four sides with hooks for the edge of the body, and two straps for the top. Shipping to Australia is free and takes 5 to 10 business days, and it comes with the one thing we can promise: 90 days to return it or get your money back.
I'll be honest:
this cover isn't for every van. Shorter than 5.5 m or wider than 3 m, and none of the nine sizes fit, so keep your money. If you want the sides and the wheels covered too, buy a full cover from someone who makes one. And on the raised front of a fifth wheel, we don't know yet how it sits.
Last, the price. It's set by length, and the table above shows the price for one cover. The bundle box on the product page opens on a 2-pack, so if you own one van, click it down to 1.
That's why you can try it risk free.
Read your length off the table, or open the product page and pick it there. Then let the 90 days do the deciding. Whatever the reason, tell us within 90 days and either the cover comes back to us or the money goes back to you. Shipping to Australia costs you nothing.