Time and time again I try to tell people that the weakest link in an RV is the weather seal on the roof itself. If it fails, the coach will BE destroyed.

WOOD DOES THAT, especially press-wood.

Water destroys the bond of the glue, and the coach self destructs.

You can see it, if you look along the sides. All of the little bulges where the walls are coming apart stand out. Stand at one end and sight-line down the full length of the wall, just like looking for ripples in a car or trucks bodywork.

If you see an area like that - feel it with your hand, press it, push it. If it feels spongey there is rot behind that place. And that costs a pretty penny to replace, and PAINT TO MATCH. (There are people who digitally colour-match paint with a scanner, and provide the exact shade of paint. That's all they do. You still need a painter)

You can tell a coach coming apart from neglect, and there is no helping it short of rebuilding those walls.

Don't go there if you can avoid it. It costs more than a new coach, sometimes even if you can do it yourself.

ROOF LEAKAGE is an RV's sure doom.

 

Man Greywolf I got your back on this one. Back in 1989 I bought a 2 year old Lance truck camper. Heck I thought I could not go wrong. It looked new. The price was right.

First rain storm came, it was not used once, out in my storage yard setting on a box. I didn't even think twice. It stormed for three days.

The next weekend saw camping and boating with good weather. I went down loaded the camper. I never looked inside until I had it pulled along side our back door so we could load it. I opened the door to horror. Dang near everything in the camper was wet, drying wet or in a stage of beginning mold. It stunk!

I am a carpenter, and I refurbished that Lance, to where it was better than new. But I am telling you, if I had to charge someone for the work I done, hell, you could buy two new Lance campers!

You are right on my friend.

It turned out the previous owner of this "RV" had drug it under some trees on a trip and ripped a huge hole in the roof.

I was not smart enough to check out the most important part of an RV, "the roof".

 

The material up on there is the same stuff garden hoses are made out of - and will last forever.

But the edge seals don't.

I guarantee ya...

THEY have to be kept up.

(Rips and tears are another story...)

You called it, and I can't say it enough.

Go look at the roof itself....

What does it take to climb up on a ladder?

SHOOT PEOPLE - it makes all the difference in the world

What you DON'T look at will be the most important every time.

And that right there is the most critical to a coaches survival and value.

I've always heard that the last place a buyer looks is at the roof.

I tell ya what - I DON'T BELIEVE IN STUPID PEOPLE!

And I'm fixin' to change the "never look at the roof" thing. It really does matter, and I hope you never forget that.

I'm going to paraphrase an old saying right now -

"An awareness of prevention, is worth thirty thousand bucks or more worth of destroyed coach"

(Ounce of prevention, etc...)

(It can get up to .8 million or more on a class "A" diesel pusher)

The same roofs are on them too.

 

How strong are those roofs? I think my owner's manual said something piddling like a 150# person. Well I am well over that so I don't get on the roof.

With my 12D shoes and handsome 280# frame, am I going to fall thru the roof or crack some joists?

My 98 Prowler, fiberglass trailer looks pretty good when looking out our second story window, but I am too high and near sighted to get a good look.

Thanks for any info.

Jim Henderson

 

If I was going to get on my current travel trailer roof I would use about 40"X40" pieces of 1/2" plywood to help support my fat backside. And I would try to step or crawl in the center of the pads to distribute my weight fairly evenly.

Maybe Greywolf can chime back in here, to help us big guys, on being on our RV roofs.

 

Thanks for the tip, just went up and looked closer at our 2002 Kountry Star. The caulking is cracking, What is best to reseal it with?

 

There is a resealing discussion I put together here listed in the tips sticky - but once again, DICOR lap-sealant compound and a common caulk gun works best.

DICOR is self levelling, and smooths out gradually. You can use a lot of different techniques to spread it out, but it will become smooth in a week or so no matter how sloppy it may look at first.

The important thing is to either remove the old sealant first, or completely overlap the edges (number one).

And TWO - Clean the surface with a mild detergeant and a brush (pushbrooms and a hose work great) and let it dry completely before sealing it.

Save your reciept for the DICOR if your roof is still under warrantee.

Most roofs I deal with are either wood, or composite. There IS no absolute to work with. If it feels like it won't take your weight, I bet it won't. You can't know in advance if the roof itself is damaged.

I weigh 220, if I feel a soft spot, I avoid going up there unless I have to. Fortunately we have scaffolds where I work.

 

Wolfie - what about Eternabond tape. I used it on my last TT to seal the end caps and it seemed to work very well and made a nice, smooth seal.

 

When I work on a roof, I use a pair of 36"X36" 3/8 plywood pads that are covered with carpet to prevent accidenly scarring the roof membrane with a sharp edge. Seems to support my 240 lbs. well.

 

I don't trust tape, though it might do a good job. It is only sticky on ONE side.

I lean more towards original construction materials. If it was built with it - it was for a reason.

To seal a cap, I would unscrew it, get some sealer underneath the edges, and screw it back down.

 

Something else to add. Don't assume the caulk is good if it looks good. I've seen leaks appear in places along good looking caulk lines but there was actually a pinhole or small crack developing. I know it sounds like a PITA, but a complete recaulk every so often would be a good thing. UV light does bad things to caulk.

 

I have been using Alex-Plus caulk for years. It holds up really well. I wait for about a week and then go over it with a good grade of white external latex paint. This seems to retard the effects of UV rays.

 

Thank Greywolf, did my roof yesterday. It had two seams and used 3 tubes of Dicor. Need to get one more to finish. Got a pretty good blister on my knee though. Also have another question. Have about 5,000 miles on it. Bearing should be ok for another 5 before they should be repacked?
Thanks again

 

NEW THREAD BUDDY!

 

I have a 23' Thor Vortex toy trailer. How often should I be checking the roof? 6 months, annually, whenever I think about it?

Thanks