So I have this semi-dry top that is quickly becoming less than semi-dry. The seams are (were) sealed w/ some sort of rubberized coating which is now cracking splitting apart. Part of the joy of spending most of my time in a desert.
Is this something that’s repairable and how would that even work? Can the paint on rubber that they used even be gotten? And if so could it just go over the older stuff or would that need to be removed?
I’m pretty crafty and use to make clothes for a living.
Another thought that I had was to silicone seal the seams from the outside like we do w/ our tarps, any thoughts on that?
You might check with the manufacturer. I had the same issue with a 15 year old $100 Kokatat Gore-Tex dry top (that I got for $40 because it had a small tear in the shoulder due to a rusty hanger). When I called customer service they said to send it in and they’d look at it. They called back a week later and said it looks like a material failure and they did not have that style anymore. . They then asked if a Rogue would be a suitable replacement, a $500 dry top. All they wanted to know was what color.
Round file it. Past it’s time except for UV protection.
Really want to try use aqua seal.
Gearaid (who makes Aquaseal) has a number of seam sealant and waterproofing restoration products. This Seam Grip product or their seam tape would be my first choice for your dry top.
I don’t, however, recommend their “Fast Cure Seam Sealant” with the brush top, though. I tried it on some blown out tent seams and the squeeze application brush didn’t apply well.
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Do you have a reason for recommending Seam Grip over Aqua Seal? The Aqua Seal looks a lot like what my older NRS Revolution dry top is seam sealed w/. Some black rubbery, go on liquid, type of seam seal.
You seem to be a pretty crafty person, as far as I can tell from your posts, would you attempt to get the older seam seal off before using anything new over it?
Can’t afford to do that if it’s just needing the seams resealed. I don’t throw my hammock tarps out when they start leaking at the ridgeline or around the panel pull-outs, I just reseal them. Figured it can’t be much different. 
I always try to scrape off any old sealant if possible so I can get the best adhesion to the original base material. Current project is a large 12 year old REI car camping tent on which ALL the seam sealer failed (about 20% of it shed off like dandruff and then I set up the thing and picked/scraped off the rest) as well as all the coating on the fly. which I will attempt to restore with GearAid’s fly coating sealant.
If I was resealing a dry top I would probably opt to use adhesive seam tape, like the manufacturers mostly use, for more durability to friction.
I have mostly used AquaSeal over the years on wet suit and sprayskirt neoprene patches and on the stitched seams of my skin-on-frame kayak. Never used it on a fabric based garment because it seems like the thickish application needed would be a bother to apply evenly in long thin runs. The Seam Grip product flows thinner. Hope some others with more experience with dry tops can give you more concise feedback.
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If you clean the seam and apply Melco iron on Seam tape vs Aquaseal or Seam grip…it will be easier to get on. {the urethane products tend to catch and not let you just slide. If you want to use Aquaseal mix a little Cotel with it and it will flow smother.
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