Roof Job ?'s

[jleo313]

My daughters and I took the MH out to Jellystone park near Canyon Lake, and it rained.  The roof has a leak near the back; it was dripping onto the two twin beds.  I have decided to apply the Black Jack 1000 product....

So I started cleaning the roof last evening.  I am scraping off the old caulking, tar, crud, and whatever else is up there off.  I am using a razor blade scraper and being gentle, then will come back with soap and water.  I am taking off the vents and and AC to reseal.

So here are the questions finally...

1. Should I use Butyl puddy underneath the vents, then use Eternabond over the vent seam?

2. The roof has large bubbling...What do I do with those?  Pop and reseal with Eternabond?

3. Where can I find a AC gasket to go underneath my coleman Mach ?
4. Am I doing this the right way cause I have never owned a Motorhome and I am shooting from the hip... Hm?

The motorhome is a 1987 27 foot Windcruiser.

[OldEdBrady]

There are LOTS of items on roof repair/replacement on the forums.  You should do a search.  But, to start you off, go here:


http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?topic=2431.0

[jleo313]

Great resource..thanks.

How about the bubbles though? 

Also when I put the Eternabond tape on, do I put it over the screws that hold the seams and vents down, or underneath?

[OldEdBrady]

I would recommend putting the screw THROUGH the Eternabond.  It should seal around the screws.

[Stripe]

As to the AC seals, you can get the replacement foam strips oddly enough from Amazon.com, just do a search for camco roof ac gaskets. The kit is relatively inexpensive and includes the leveling pads as well.  When I did/do my roof work, I use heavy duty plastic scrapers I found at the local NAPA store.  They work like a charm and don't scrape up the aluminum like a metal one would do. I was very surprised by how much force I could use on them and they never broke or cracked and did a very good job of getting up the majority of the old seals off the roof. After that I used a wire brush to clean the surface with. after that it was easy to set the AC unit in place. Has rained several times since then ( I live in Seattle) and no leaks.

Hope that helps.
CMM500
P.S.  I have pics of the work I will post later.

[Oz]

As Ed Brady said, you can screw right through the Eternabond tape.  When I did my roof, I put the tape over the screws because I had no intent of removing them for a long time - LOL!

You can take a look at my project photo album:
http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?action=mgallery;sa=album;id=7

As for the bubbling... this isn't going to be good news.  If it's bubbled up, it's more than likely water damage has caused the roof to delaminate from the backing.  Which means, there's a good chance there's rotted wood under those bubbled areas.  If they aren't large areas, you could drill a hole or holes and inject some adhesive sealant in and put some weight on the area for a while until you have a bond.  Then, cover the holes with Eternabond tape.

I had gotten my new roof air conditioner rubber/foam compression gasket from a local RV dealer.  It cost me $20 in 2005 or 6.

There are also topics on this seal with additional, good info.  The message search is going to be a very good tool for you here.  Our members are awesome!

http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?topic=4099.msg11784#msg11784

[jleo313]

Thanks all....I appreciate the feedback!  I have been scraping now for two days.  Yes there is some rotted wood underneath, but it seems to be fairly solid up there.  The majority of the bad area is in the back seams that runs horizontal.  I am hoping this should hold me over for a couple years till I can replace the roof.

[audioguyinMI]

Yep.  It's all a matter of diminishing returns.  The hardest part of re-doing the roof is committing to doing it.  Of course, you need to be reasonably handy, and enjoy that sort of thing.  But I enjoyed replacing the roof MUCH more than I enjoyed ANY occasion of scraping elastomeric, brushing, and stuff.


The real bonus comes after - I have LOOKED at the roof in the last couple of years, but I haven't done anything else to it - because I flat didn't need to. 

[ClydesdaleKevin]

If the Blackjack 1000 product is that silvery fibrous stuff, stay away from it!  You want to use a white elastomeric roof coating...examples are Kool Seal, and Henry, sold at Home Depot, makes an affordable version too.  Also stay away from anything dark colored or it will turn your RV into an oven.

Kev

[Oz]

I do have to agree with Kevin, although I don't know the properties or quality of any of the silvery type stuff available these days.  However, my experience was that the silver stuff was of definitely lower quality.  My first Indian had it gobbed on the roof, it took days to remove it, and there were plenty of cracks and leakage even though the PO had coated it just 2 years before.  I heard the same from several other RV owners as well as read lots of posts echoing the same results.


Elastomeric is much thinner and designed to stretch a little to compensate for the twisting of the coach when it's moving.  Kool Seal in white is getting harder to find but, like Kevin, I found a similar product at Lowe's and Home Depot.  I don't remember the name but, it's most likely what Kevin found.


For seams which may have a bit of a gap, they also make the patch kits which is a strip of mesh with a little bit heavier version of the normal coating to put on it.  However, I just opted to run a strip of Eternabond tape across the one seam on my 2nd Indian which needed it.  I also ran the tape around the outside edges of all the fixtures which come up through the roof - roof hatches, refrigerator vent, etc.  Underneath these fixtures, I put the thicker, double-sided Eternabond tape (no foil on one side) and screwed through it.


It was a very comforting feeling to know I was going to stay "high-and-dry" for a long time!

[OldEdBrady]

I tried many things on the Alfabago.  The only thing that worked for me was Dyco 890.  It is available in most RV parts dealers around the country.  So, there's an alternative if you can't find those other things.

[jleo313]

I am down to the last bit of scraping and cleaning before I eternabond all seams/vents etc...

One problem I am running into though, is that the PO put tar looking stuff on the seams near the back and that coupled with old caulk doesnt seem to want to come off completely.  I am going to get it as clean as I can, but I have a feeling that I will never be able to get it to the super clean way I want to.

[Stripe]

I was lucky enough not to have the "tar" however, not so lucky on the rubberized caulking. This is where the plastic scraper set I got from Napa came it handy as well as the drill mounted wire brushes I had. The scrapers could get a LOT of the caulk off but not all of it, that is where I used the wire brushes. I have two styles, the Wheel and the one that looks like a shaving brush (the name of which escapes me right now). The wheel is great for narrow channels and inside corners. The "shaving" brush is great for larger areas of work. Both work great. But remember my roof is metal, so I can put a bit more "oomph" into my work.

CMM500

[Stripe]

Here is what I use.  Purchased it from Lowe's.
Black Jack® 5530 Ultra-Roof 1000
10 Year White Siliconized Elastomeric Roof Coating (not sure why but it's Miami-Dade County approved)

http://www.gardner-gibson.com/linedetails.aspx?id=87
I could not find the brand Mark used, but was able to find this substitute.

[jleo313]

Thanks Coachmanm500!

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

There are several brands of Elastomeric coatings.  Black Jack White Ultra Roof 1000 is the current Brand carried by Lowes.
Home Depot carries the Henry product but may be hard to locate a store with a gal can of it in stock.  At least here in Northern VA it's a problem.  5 gal is there.  You most likely can order it from them.
Kool Seal was one of the first mfg's to produce Elastomeric coatings and was the product of choice initially.  Now though, their is mostly sold through RV shops here locally and runs $75 a gallon.

I used the Black Jack Ultra Roof at lowes this year for some patching.  Cheaper and works just as well.  Kevin swears by the Henrey Product from Home Depot.

Ed's swears by Dyco 890.   I am not familure with that product but Ed says it works great.

Dave

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I've used both the Lowes brand and the Home Depot brand, and they seem to work equally well...in fact, they seem to work just as well as the very expensive Kool Seal.  We put a lot of miles on the RV, and have noticed no difference in longevity.  They all seem to hold up very well to road vibrations, rig flex, high winds, weather, and time.

Kev

[jleo313]

I have some pics and will upload soon (if I can figure out how to do it)...

Ran into a small issue last evening though.  There is a skylight over the shower that was busted, so I removed the exterior portion of it.  The interior portion comes throught the roof, but it is not level with the roof.  I had planned on putting a piece of tin over this and screwing it down, then taping the edges.  It is the original skylight and is shaped kinda rectangular with curved edges, and I have not been able to find a match anywhere.

Not sure what I am going to do with it yet??

[Froggy1936]

Hi there are a lot of options The best being a fan that will remove moisture and heat They are resonably priced and available at all R/V suppliers The wireing for the fan is most likely already installed by the manufacturer  Frank