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Rubber roof
- Thread starter moperkont
- Start date
Had one, (EPDM) on my Tioga Motorhome that I lived in while a transient woods worker. What I learned from mine and looking at others:
Above all an examination to determine if there is rot in the roof underlayment. After that the material should not be overly chalky or largely off color and certainly not brittle and look intact.
#1 look at the edges where the rubber folds down along the sides of the camper. Usually the mfg will finish the top edge along the trim with silicone, Silka, or the like. Make sure the this is well sealed. I ended up pulling the trim/silicone as the plywood underneath started wearing pinholes in the material and using Eternabond over the rubber and under the trim. A google search should turn up a youtube or blog describing this repair.
#2 Any vents or the like, the same as above applies. In my case the rubber roof was laid first and all the vent ports and A/C opening were cut with the hardware applied over it.
#3 If there is an A/C unit make sure it's tight and shows no sign of water leakage around it. If it shows much leakage water probably got under the rubber, based on the install statement above.
#4 If it has been punctured/torn by something, (Tree branches can be h@!* on them) hopefully the repair was done with EPDM compatible stuff. On inspection the repair should have very good adhesion. RV outfits are notorious for just taking a caulk gun to a tear and calling it good. Not everything sticks or sticks well EPDM. Enterabond works well for tears too. Hopefully the spot in question was dry or well dried before the repair. If you can pinch up and lift a significant amount of the rubber roof the repair was probably made wet and the glue has separated from the underlayment.
#5 There should be no obvious large bubbles in the material as adhesive is applied to the underlayment then the material is rolled over much like laying linoleum.
#6 They make EPDM coatings that extend the roof life and keep them supple. See my chalk statement above. You may see brush marks or wavy spots that indicate this has been done. Some products popular with RV roof sealing will not adhere to the rubber well and come off in a short time. look for flaking or bubbling you can easily peel up revealing the original material underneath. I bought my Tioga used and someone prior had used an incompatible sealant on the roof. After the first summer out, It started coming off like a dog shaking off water over a couple of trips down the highway.
After that and should you purchase the camper the rubber type roofs are fairly durable certainly waterproof and somewhat maintenance free. All I ever did to mine was after the coating flake off was do the Eternabond along the edges, periodically check the vent seals and stuff and once a year or so cleaned it with an RV roof cleaner and a floor brush. I did re-coat mine once with some sort of elastiflex stuff. Went on with a roller and was still intact when I sold it a few years later.
Good Luck.
Above all an examination to determine if there is rot in the roof underlayment. After that the material should not be overly chalky or largely off color and certainly not brittle and look intact.
#1 look at the edges where the rubber folds down along the sides of the camper. Usually the mfg will finish the top edge along the trim with silicone, Silka, or the like. Make sure the this is well sealed. I ended up pulling the trim/silicone as the plywood underneath started wearing pinholes in the material and using Eternabond over the rubber and under the trim. A google search should turn up a youtube or blog describing this repair.
#2 Any vents or the like, the same as above applies. In my case the rubber roof was laid first and all the vent ports and A/C opening were cut with the hardware applied over it.
#3 If there is an A/C unit make sure it's tight and shows no sign of water leakage around it. If it shows much leakage water probably got under the rubber, based on the install statement above.
#4 If it has been punctured/torn by something, (Tree branches can be h@!* on them) hopefully the repair was done with EPDM compatible stuff. On inspection the repair should have very good adhesion. RV outfits are notorious for just taking a caulk gun to a tear and calling it good. Not everything sticks or sticks well EPDM. Enterabond works well for tears too. Hopefully the spot in question was dry or well dried before the repair. If you can pinch up and lift a significant amount of the rubber roof the repair was probably made wet and the glue has separated from the underlayment.
#5 There should be no obvious large bubbles in the material as adhesive is applied to the underlayment then the material is rolled over much like laying linoleum.
#6 They make EPDM coatings that extend the roof life and keep them supple. See my chalk statement above. You may see brush marks or wavy spots that indicate this has been done. Some products popular with RV roof sealing will not adhere to the rubber well and come off in a short time. look for flaking or bubbling you can easily peel up revealing the original material underneath. I bought my Tioga used and someone prior had used an incompatible sealant on the roof. After the first summer out, It started coming off like a dog shaking off water over a couple of trips down the highway.
After that and should you purchase the camper the rubber type roofs are fairly durable certainly waterproof and somewhat maintenance free. All I ever did to mine was after the coating flake off was do the Eternabond along the edges, periodically check the vent seals and stuff and once a year or so cleaned it with an RV roof cleaner and a floor brush. I did re-coat mine once with some sort of elastiflex stuff. Went on with a roller and was still intact when I sold it a few years later.
Good Luck.
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