What is a "RUBBER ROOF", and how best to take care of it
I tell you what - rubber roofs are made of "EPDM" roofing material.
Fine, you say. Just DANDY! What the heck is THAT?
Well, I get curious too, in fact it bugged me - so of course I looked it up:
EPDM = Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer
Interestingly, several other things are made out of this alphabet-soup substance and you may be familiar with some of them.
1) Fish Pond liners
2) Rubber Radiator Mounts
3) Above Ground Pool Liners
- But the kicker is something almost every one of us has a pile of old examples of somewhere in our yard:
GARDEN HOSES!
Now, we know that you can discard an old plastic garden hose and just hope it goes away, is carried off, or might one day be useful for something. The sad fact is that that stuff lasts until just about one day after forever...
So EPDM roofing material (unless something punches a hole through it, it gets extremely dry rotted, it bubbles up from water intrusion causing the adhesive holding it down to seperate, or Katrina rolls through again) WILL last a very long time.
Most RV manufacturers warrantee THE ROOF MATERIAL ITSELF for ten years. KZ warrants theirs for twelve years. But there IS a catch:
IT MUST be resealed within every two years. The material that seals the edges, and or anything that goes THROUGH the roof (vents, tv antennas, refrigerator chimneys, etc...) has got to be redone before it cracks and permits leakage.
You should get up on the roof of your unit every time you put it into, or take it out of storage. Make it a habit! Look for cuts or other damage in the rubber itself. Look around all the sealed edges for any sign of cracks or unusually dry looking sealent. Look INSIDE THE UNIT for any evidence of water damage.
Even a pinhole leak can result in accumulated water in the very last place on earth you want it to be, and that will cause structure damage in time.
Anything from discolored trim, to de-lamination of the exterior walls can often be traced right back to a bad roof seal. FLOORS inside an RV can be destroyed by water first finding a way in, and then seeking the lowest point to come to rest.
YOUR ROOF is the first line of defence in terms of making your RV last as long as it possibly can!
And I will repeat what I have put in other posts here: To seal an old bunch of DICOR with NEW - YOU HAVE GOT to overlap all of the old sealant.
Either take the time to CAREFULLY remove the old stuff before laying down new, or go all the way over the edges of the old seal.
AND OH BY THE WAY: It really does stick much better to a clean and dry roof.
NOTE: I reiterate - DRY! Anything made to repel water, is also REPELLED BY water.
It's amazing. Most people never get up there and look over their own roof. EVEN if they have a ladder on the back of their RV! I really don't know why that is....
Dirt on a roof is not necessarily a bad thing - it can stave off some of the UV damage from bright sun to an extent. But there are other things you don't want up there. Leaves for one. Tar from old leaves contains acids that ARE NOT BENEFICIAL! Mold is another "HECK NO!" that you don't want on it. Microbes from biological stuff can attack rubber and tear it to ribbons.
DEFINITELY clean the roof with detergent (and some bleach - not a very high concentration - THINK: MINIMAL! Don't use bleach unless you absolutely HAVE to kill mold), and hose it off thoroughly. (Bleach will OXIDISE the rubber, so be careful of it.) before resealing. It will help the sealent a lot. Think about it - just like sealer, what happens when you paint DIRT?
'Sticks to the dirt real well, but the dirt might not stick very good does it?
Try to store your coach in a shaded spot, but not under a tree.
If you have to - stretch a tarp over the top. Better to lose a tarp than a roof anyday!
And CHECK UP ON IT frequently...
I think that covers most all of the basics. There are other kinds of roofing, but 99% are EPDM even on aluminum sided trailers. The bottom line is to GO LOOK, just to be aware of what is happening with it, and reseal even if it doesn't seem to need it if the warrantee for it requires that to be done.
~Wolfie
PS: One of the properties of DICOR that is a part of it being "self levelling" is that it forms an outer skin, and thereafter takes weeks, months, or longer to completely dry. You may think you did a horrid job spreading out DICOR on a roof. Wait a few days and go look again...
I swear it's like magic! It gets smoother and smoother over time.
* My Father told me this about paint, and it's relevent:
"The whole trick to paint is to get it on there in the first place. You can smooth it out with a brush all you want to after that."
Tomorrow or sometime I'd like to talk about different techniques and kinds of sealer to use in other areas, such as trim on front caps, over compartment doors, and so on... FACT: Pure silicone sealer won't droop and sag or run, Latex sealers will. And getting any of that stuff smooth and just where you want it is an art all of it's own.
EPDM DOES NOT GET ALONG WELL with anything made out of petroleum!!!
Never use any kind of petroleum based cleaner or restorative. It will break it down, and then you'll be between a rock and a hard spot - because the warrantee will be voided.
-NEVER PAY FOR ANYTHING YOU DON'T HAVE TO! Work whatever warrantee program you have TO THE BONE in getting everything right. Trust me on that!
Oddly enough, I read an article about this roofing material yesterday while at the Dr's office. The article was about how bubbles in this type of roof is normal. Some guy had this kind of roof put on and he took it back to the dealer and even contacted the manufacturer, they all told him it was normal, but he didn't believe them.
Danged Wolfie, your just a whole bundle of information on this one. I take it that you have been playing the RV game for a while now. I'm on my 4th 5ver and am still loving it. I'm hoping that when I retire I'll get to do a lot more of it.....Happy Camping or should we say" Roughing it in comfort"
__________________
2003 F350 DRW 7.3, modified to HD
Great advice! I know I tend to forget about the roof and don't check it like I should. Now I'll give it a good once over when I get it out this spring. Thanks Wolf
Dawn dishwashing soap is what my manufacturer (Keystone) and dealer recommends for cleaning the outside of my trailer.
I'll have to try that....my wife loves the stuff for getting out tough stains on the fronts of my shirts, as I have a hard time keeping food in my mouth.
I think I've been on my roof twice but have forgotten about cleaning and checking for crakes...thanks wolfe
One question, do our roofs like being climbed up on?. I have an 1989 King of the Road and it does not have the thicker roofs like I see today. When I go up I crawl around. I am also a fan of Eternabond tape. What do you all think of this stuff?
Mike
i was told by my dealer when I bouth our 5th wheel in 2004 to use Murphy's Oil Soap on the roof and have been ever since, do it about twice a year, looks good so far no issues.
I am also a fan of Eternabond tape. What do you all think of this stuff? Mike
I swear by the stuff. In fact I just got through doing the front and rear seams of the new travel trailer. Now I going to do all of the other roof protrusions one at the time as I get the time. Then I caulk the perimeter of the roof with 3m 4200 where molding/gutter is at the wall.
This will last the life of the membrane and all I have to do is to wash it a couple times a year. I do however check it when I wash it but I don't have to worry about messing with diccor sealant or crappy caulking. I've done all my previous units this way and have never had problems with roof leaks.
__________________ Marty
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsta
In 5 minutes someone opened the door, popped the hood, started the truck, broke the heated seats and stole your horn and then just left? Where the hell do you live??
Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthTexasDiesel
You know you bought a cool truck when men just walk up to it and stare at it, and women simply have a confused look on their faces and ask "why?"
One question, do our roofs like being climbed up on?. I have an 1989 King of the Road and it does not have the thicker roofs like I see today. When I go up I crawl around. I am also a fan of Eternabond tape. What do you all think of this stuff?
Mike
Rubber only lasts so long. Walk on it carefully unless you have had a platform made on the top to watch sports from. You don't want a lot of traffic on unprotected EPDM.
Greywolf, well written article full of information. I will rep you tomorrow when the rep gods set me free.
How do you feel about putting the liquid rubber made for EPDM roofs on. My neighbor is at a point where he has to do something to his travel trailer roof. I have no experience with the stuff, so I was not able to help him making a decision. I don't think he has the money for a new roof right now, so just wondering if he could get a few more months/years by coating it with the liquid?
__________________ Marty
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsta
In 5 minutes someone opened the door, popped the hood, started the truck, broke the heated seats and stole your horn and then just left? Where the hell do you live??
Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthTexasDiesel
You know you bought a cool truck when men just walk up to it and stare at it, and women simply have a confused look on their faces and ask "why?"
Greywolf, well written article full of information. I will rep you tomorrow when the rep gods set me free.
How do you feel about putting the liquid rubber made for EPDM roofs on. My neighbor is at a point where he has to do something to his travel trailer roof. I have no experience with the stuff, so I was not able to help him making a decision. I don't think he has the money for a new roof right now, so just wondering if he could get a few more months/years by coating it with the liquid?
I think DO IT RIGHT.
What THAT means is finding a place that sells the roofing material, and the supplies to do it yourself. It isn't that tuff to do, with some forethought....
Also scope out everything you can find out about it on the internet.
I have written a lot about the way to lay a new EPDM roof on here, it can be found.
DO NOT go to an RV dealer asking what they think - they'll sell you a paint job of "ELASTOMERIC SEALER" that is nothing more than house paint....
It's crap, and will not work unless they lay on at least three coats in good weather that allows it to dry and cure. *It is water soluable until it dries completely
-It's too late in the year for that to work, temperatures are below 65 degrees "F".
I wonder what I would do?
Frankly I would shelter it until it could be done right, or sell it before it went bad. The honest way to go is to protect it by whatever means is necessary.
On the other hand - using EPDM sealer (DICOR) you can patch any holes or gouges, seal all the way around the edges, seal around things that stick up from the roof (or go through it) and SPOT SEAL any leaks traced to certain places. All you need is a caulk gun and some tubes of DICOR.
SPREADING A COATING OF SOMETHING over the entire roof (how I read that) is not a good idea.
Lookit -
Go look at the sticky topic at the top of the forum. I told a lot in there - check it out.
I may have read this wrong - but don't cover EPDM with anything different unless you want to rip the whole roof off and put something else up there
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