Photos of Roof Repair & Replacement

[The_Handier_Man1]

Sent: 10/28/2008

Here is a detailed photo album of my D24 Indian, "Wilbur", roof replacement from tear-down to re-build.  Curved trusses were used to cure the "flat roof syndrome" and a number of other modifications made to improve upon the original design.  Very detailed photos of every aspect and phase.

A must see! 
https://web.archive.org/web/20160318170422/http://picasaweb.google.com/109641835469071142409/1973WinnebagoIndianRoofReplacement

[mywinnierolls]

This will be a great resource when I need to tackle my '75 Brave in the spring.  What did you use for ply?  And what is on the ply? (Just primered and painted with the snow roof stuff?)

[The_Handier_Man1]

I used 1/2" plywood and only the snow roof products over the ply.  There is a seam tape to be used on the edges of the ply with the undercoat material.  Sorry no free gifts other than the pictures and advice,  Les

[ClydesdaleKevin]

When I finally find my old backup disks of all the pictures we had on the old site of The Ark (before sucky MSN put on photo limits and I had to pare down my albums) I'll have to post pics of how NOT to repair a roof...lol!  Outstanding job, Les!

Fortunately our 77 Itasca still has a perfect roof with absolutely no sags at all.  The original owner had owned other flat roof Winnies before he bought the Itasca new in 77, so he wisely added a crossmember and roof support at the front AC unit...the back AC unit is so close to structural walls (the closet on one side and the corner of the bathroom on the other) that it needed no further support.  Also, I guess, at least with the newer nose style they started using on the Itasca line in 77, they no longer used seamed panels on the roof...the roof is one solid smooth sheet of aluminum...no corrugations and no seams.

We I bought it 2 years ago, it had never even been coated...with ANYthing...its whole life!  Of course, most of that life was spent in Death Valley, so Excalibur hardly ever saw any rain.

The first thing I did when I bought her was to scrub the roof down with TSP, rinse it off clean, let it dry, sealed every vent and whatnot with Acylic Seam Sealer (Kool Seal brand), and then coated the roof with several coats of white Kool Seal.  No leaks from the roof to date, and I finally tracked down the leak over the dashboard...water was coming in through one of the front marker lights!

Anyway, I'm rambling again...AWESOME job Les!

Kev

[ohhmom]

Les
Thanks for all your help on this one...Alan is half way through with putting on the plywood on the top.   We have purchased sheet aluminum and we are going to place that on top of the plywood afterwards....it is all one piece of aluminum...and then we will work on the coating.   You and Wilbur have been a life saver!
Donna

[The_Handier_Man1]

We have purchased sheet aluminum and we are going to place that on top of the plywood afterwards....it is all one piece of aluminum...and then we will work on the coating. 
Donna

So where did you buy the aluminum, size, thickness and the big question,  how much did it cost?  I am sure others want to know,  Les

[ohhmom]

The aluminum was bought at Great Dane  it is 105 inches wide and you could get whatever length that you wanted.   This is the same aluminum that is used for tractor trailer roofs.   The cost...after bargaining....was $217 for a 17 foot piece.   Alan liked this best because there are NO SEAMS therefore less chance of roof leaks. 

[terridactyl]

hi dude
you have been my inspiration to tear off my old roof and tackle the replacement as an engineering project instead of good ol carpentry, basically it involves 15each  2"X1"X16gauge rectangular steel box section spanning the width of my 25' chieftain. They were cambered to about 3" at the centres on a power roller. A central and two side bearers tacked to the existing angle section (MIG welder)  I then clad the roof with 16gauge structural aluminium alloy. NO metal fixings, all bonded down with SIKAFLEX 291 structural polyurethane  panel adhesive and insulated on the inside with 3/4" celotex board.......not bad for a foreigner living in the UK ?

[audioguyinMI]

Am I to understand that you put plywood over this rib structure, and painted with Kool Seal primer followed by Kool Seal elastomeric?

Just trying to understand the process... as my 75 Indian is currently a convertible... this might steer me a different way.

I'd never considered losing the metal altogether.

Impressive collection of photos.

Thanks,
Bill

[The_Handier_Man1]

I used plywood with the snow roof http://www.snowroof.com/ product.  I think it works great and is something I can repair if a tree limb or something tries to go thru it.  No metal is on the roof.

[Bartolo]

Greetings,

Just wondering how this repair has held up over the past couple of years?  Would you do the same if you had to it all over again?  I recently purchased a 1975 19' Winnebago and need to do the same type of repair.

Thanks

[The_Handier_Man1]

My roof still looks great.  Of course I park mine in the garage when not using it.  A nice thing about the roofing I used was when I replaced roof vents I just cut out the old vents and sealed over the new ones with the same roofing.  Some members really like the rubber sheet roofing or using aluminum.  I would use the same stuff again if I get another classic with a rotten roof.  Hope that helps.   Les

[ibdilbert01]

I too copied Les's roof design, except I put rubber roofing on top.   Going on 4 years no leaks, actually it would be pretty hard for it to leak.  (knock on virtual wood)

And on the next winnie, rotten roof or not, it'll be getting the same roof replacement.

[Wayfarer Malang]

I love you post some time i want to give my roof a more round look like the sheep wagons and put solar panels and add a more permeant sleeping space above the drivers compartment. I have ideas but I have no idea how like the round things  I have  never built any thing. I am figuring out the wiring so there my be hope..
So any Ideas how to make round thingys for the roof...
Peace

[W0WOP]

This post is a bit old but I have a couple questions.  (If ya remember) 

First:  How wide are the trusses?

Second: How high are they at the edge? (I swear I saw this someplace but I searched for an hr and can't find it.)

I' just purchased 74 Chieftain that could use a new roof. I plan on using a CNC router to cut out the trusses from 1/2 in ply and sandwich  them together (3 thick i suppose). 

I'd climb up and check myself but the RV is not accessable at the moment and I want to get a few ideas pounded out.  I also want to have everything ready before I start tearing things apart. 

I'll start a new post about the project if anyone is interested (maybe even share files).

Thanks
Mike

[ibdilbert01]

2x4s were used for the trusses.    They are cut to look like an arch.   I just used a saber saw.     The ends are 3/4 inch, the centers are the full height of the 2x4.     To make a tapered/dome affect to the roof, the last truss from the ends are only 2 inches high.    For the top, I used 1/4 plywood, it formed nice and is light.    Then I glued rubber EDPM on top.     I used carpet glue, because I'm cheap, I also glued Styrofoam to the backside for insulation. 












(Later I replaced the black EDPM with WHITE, the black got rather hot in the sun and was hard to keep the RV cool inside. )

[Oz]

This is the beauty of working on classic RVs - when it comes to coach work, you don't have to be fancy, you don't have to be a skilled carpenter, and your work doesn't have to be perfect to achieve the desired results!

[maxximuss]

Looks great! Nice work!

[W0WOP]

Went to the camper today and was able to take some measurements. 

Span - 7 feet 9 1/2 inches

Front curve to rear - 24 feet 10 1/2 inches

Your guys's roofs look great, lets hope mine turns out half as nice.

I'll start a new thread soon as I get things rolling.

Thanks again,
Mike

[Oz]

Sweet.... take good pix and thorough notes to share an put it on the Projects board!

   

[W0WOP]

One last question.

Are there any detailed pics of the front?  What did ya do under the "flap" section?

Thanks Again,
Mike

[ruggb]

Nice work!  I wish I had known about this site before I replaced the roof on my 74 Chieftan last fall.  Took a weeks vacation and my Dad and I tore into it without really researching anything.  I just joined so not sure how to add links to my album that shows some pics of my roof redo.  I will try to add a picture or link.  http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?action=mgallery;sa=album;id=511

Bryce

[malodin]

ibdilbert01, where did you get the epdm and did you glue it directly to the wood roof? I recently finished up my wood roof replacement and have just used white snowcoat roofing as of right now but have thought about going with the epdm ontop of it, as now would be the perfect time to do it because I have no vent holes or a/c unit on yet.

[Mayhem_audio]

link in first post no longer works

[Oz]

That's the problem with old posts with off-site images.  They change, the poster no longer uses the site and the account is deleted, etc. etc.   But, there's still a LOT of useful information in the content of the topic.