Replacing Rubber EPDM roof - 2001 Jayco Designer

We just had several hours of torrential rain and wind (nearly tropical storm conditions).

The only leak was a very tiny bit (few tablespoons) of water coming in from a skylight, which happens to be over the shower so all the water drops went straight into the gray tank. :-) I removed the interior trim panel and I don't even see any ceiling damage from this tiny leak.

So I guess it's holding up. I'll get up there and apply some more Dicor self-leveling compound around that skylight, and maybe touch up all the other areas with more Dicor.

We have another 24 hours or so of this type of weather so I'll keep going out and checking for more leaks. Hopefully I won't find any.

Sea Six wrote:

shadows4 wrote:
Wow Sea Six, awe writeup. I have a 30' 5er and paid 4500 last year for a new roof installed. I don't feel so bad now. I thought it was a little high but after reading how involved it is... Wow! Just wow! Awesome job!

I'd have to say you paid about what the job is worth, especially if they went to the trouble of replacing all the sheet goods and even replaced insulation and repaired structural 2x2's and 2x4's. By doing it myself I did manage to save about $1,000 which is about what I thought would be the best case scenario. This was by no means a guaranteed outcome.

You have to remember I played General Contractor on this job. That means I took on the risk of someone getting injured and took steps to prevent accidents, did all the research and decided how the job should be done, made sure the work was actually being done according to my research, dealt with cost overruns and unforeseen issues, hungover workers not showing up for work, planned for rainy weather before the job is complete, rounded up all the materials/tools/supplies, tried to find all the dropped screws/nails/drill bits before they wound up in my tires, etc. etc.

Someone who is running a fully licensed and insured business with a commercial location large enough to accommodate an RV out of the rain/falling leaves/debris, staffed with reliable, certified RV techs who have done this job countless times and have everything on hand they need to do the job right is easily worth that extra $1,000 bucks. Easily.

I was aware of these types of issues because I do maintenance for rental properties as my full time job. I've had several projects such as this where I decided to run everything myself instead of paying a general contractor to do it for me. If I didn't have the means to handle a significant cost overrun I might not have taken on the project in the first place... And that means I'd have had to trade the RV or try to sell it as-is.

Hopefully my experience will give someone else facing this decision a few things to consider. If you are unwilling or unable to take on the risks as I've outlined, you should let someone else take the risks and pay them accordingly. That's what I chose to do and was lucky to get paid for my efforts. It doesn't always turn out that you do come out ahead.

Actually I had the trailer in for other work (filon repair). Since they already had to pull part of the roofing back. And fix previous owners crappy repair job. The shop owner told me he normally got around $6000 for a roof replacement like mine. I guess he felt sorry for me. LOL Anyway they did replace all the plywood, new vent fittings, A/C gasket etc. I would have tried the replacement myself but as I only have my driveway to work in I thought I would let the pro's do it.
Again congrats awesome writeup and job. Good luck, John

shadows4 wrote:
Wow Sea Six, awe writeup. I have a 30' 5er and paid 4500 last year for a new roof installed. I don't feel so bad now. I thought it was a little high but after reading how involved it is... Wow! Just wow! Awesome job!

I'd have to say you paid about what the job is worth, especially if they went to the trouble of replacing all the sheet goods and even replaced insulation and repaired structural 2x2's and 2x4's. By doing it myself I did manage to save about $1,000 which is about what I thought would be the best case scenario. This was by no means a guaranteed outcome.

You have to remember I played General Contractor on this job. That means I took on the risk of someone getting injured and took steps to prevent accidents, did all the research and decided how the job should be done, made sure the work was actually being done according to my research, dealt with cost overruns and unforeseen issues, hungover workers not showing up for work, planned for rainy weather before the job is complete, rounded up all the materials/tools/supplies, tried to find all the dropped screws/nails/drill bits before they wound up in my tires, etc. etc.

Someone who is running a fully licensed and insured business with a commercial location large enough to accommodate an RV out of the rain/falling leaves/debris, staffed with reliable, certified RV techs who have done this job countless times and have everything on hand they need to do the job right is easily worth that extra $1,000 bucks. Easily.

I was aware of these types of issues because I do maintenance for rental properties as my full time job. I've had several projects such as this where I decided to run everything myself instead of paying a general contractor to do it for me. If I didn't have the means to handle a significant cost overrun I might not have taken on the project in the first place... And that means I'd have had to trade the RV or try to sell it as-is.

Hopefully my experience will give someone else facing this decision a few things to consider. If you are unwilling or unable to take on the risks as I've outlined, you should let someone else take the risks and pay them accordingly. That's what I chose to do and was lucky to get paid for my efforts. It doesn't always turn out that you do come out ahead.

Wow Sea Six, awe writeup. I have a 30' 5er and paid 4500 last year for a new roof installed. I don't feel so bad now. I thought it was a little high but after reading how involved it is... Wow! Just wow! Awesome job!

Ok, job is now complete. The main thing that strikes me about the job is how good it smells inside... like a new camper! No more sour, mildewy odors; it now smells like fresh, clean wood. There is a little bit of residual adhesive odors, but I've got the vents open and a few windows and that should go away in a few days.

Six days. About 129 man hours. We had either three or four people working each day.

Total cost was around $3500. I think we used either 7 or 8 full sheets of 3/8" untreated plywood, about four 8' 2x4's, several hundred screws, the 32' by 9.5' EPDM roof and the manufacturer's installation kit. I picked up a couple of extra tubes of self leveling Dicor as well, per the RV parts manager's recommendation. I think we needed one of them.

We cut the old EPDM rubber roof off by using a razor knife to score around all the fixtures on the roof. Then we peeled off the old roof. Then we went around and removed all the old fixtures. There were only a few small places with wood rot; however, due to the old plywood being completely covered with old adhesive and me wanting to get all the old wet insulation out (most of it was completely dry) we went ahead and pulled off the old plywood.

The roof had started to sag around the air conditioner. This was causing the ac unit to pull out of its gasket, which was causing most of the leaks.

We jacked the ceiling up from the inside with two 2X4's in a T formation, and then shored up the 2X4 rafters with additional wood and construction adhesive/screws. By the time we got the new plywood on the roof, it was much stronger and as straight as it came from the factory.

The new roof went on per the EPDM manufacturer's guidelines: fresh new untreated plywood, 9" roller to apply the adhesive, half of the roof done at a time.

I had to put a 20X40' tarp over the project because it did rain one day. No big deal. We planned for it.

All the fixtures were replaced except for an additional Fantastic Fan for the bathroom. New butyl tape for all fixtures... and we used the Dicor self-leveling product, rather than the Eternabond tape because it came in the installation kit with the new roof.

We repaired several little things along the way, like one of the ladder support bolts was rusted and broken. Now it's firm and tight with new butyl tape.

It sure looks good. It's nice to be able to walk around up there without having to worry about stepping through the roof or destroying the brittle, thin old EPDM material.

We're going to get some rain on Friday ... 100% chance. So I'll see what kind of job we did.

I'll post a youtube video I found that is pretty much exactly like the project went for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkF4nMX4w7Y

I called the manufacturer of my roof before I committed to buying the expensive (I paid $895 for the 32 by 9.5' material) roof and made sure I knew what they recommended as far as removing the old roof and putting the new one on. The roof also came with written instructions. It's no big deal, really... just a lot of work. Follow the directions and you'll be ok.

Pictures, pictures, please. We are all rooting for you. I admire the
amount of work your taking on. Good luck

Katdaddy wrote:
Just curious, where is the camper while the project is underway? Do you have a building large enough to work on top?

It's outside.

We have four to five days of 0% chance of rain,

I have a big tarp plus some visquene if it looks like it might start raining.

No snow in this part of FL.

waltbennett wrote:

katysdad wrote:
We use the thinnest luan plywood to cover the old roof. no need to replace original decking, just damaged area. Screw it down good along edges and tape seams with the mesh tape like you use for drywall joints. This will give you a very smooth and good looking roof job.

Be careful screwing the new stuff down - if you've a drill, you'll easily pull right through the new. I'd cover the whole roof. IMHO that's the easiest way to get a new surface for the new roof. I'd also look into Rhino. It's the same stuff used in truck bed linings, but without the sand (or whatever they use). I'd think it'd be a lot easier to put on right.

I meant it to read cover the whole roof with the thin luan After repairing any soft or damaged areas. You can take a belt sander and taper the edges about an inch back from the caps so it is easier to get the rubber under the cap.

Sorry I didn't get it worded right the first time.

Just curious, where is the camper while the project is underway? Do you have a building large enough to work on top?

I'd be happy to.

I've taken several pics... when I get back I'll post them up.

Thanks for all the responses.