Advice - Roofing options

I have found Dicor to be a pretty good company, they have a help line you can call. (they have answered all my questions, and in fact have told me how to do it rather than spend big bucks at the dealer). Going on 17 years now and the rig has never leaked How about this idea? Use Dicor self leveling and non self leveling around the edges of the etranabond. Depending if vertical or horizontal.

Then use the Dicor product to cover the roof, etrnabond included. I know their are other products out there. But based on my experience with Dicor, I would use their product. As a thought perhaps watch their youtube stuff and give them a call. My thought is RV's are their biz, they probably know it better than many other companies

Yes, but I can buy ALL the materials necessary to redo my roof in EPDM rubber for less than $500...I'm finding this process is going to run in the thousands (I'm reading between $4-5K) - IMHO, that's WAY overkill for a 24 y/o motorhome.

ryan

RV Armor is applied by Certified Technicians and has a lifetime transferable warranty. This is not something you can do yourself.

We have a '94 Tioga and this type of roof is on our agenda for next summer. It's worth it to me to have a roof I don't have to think about. This coach has suffered enough water damage.

I have not done extensive research here...is RV Flex Armor something I can install? I'm assuming I still have to remove all of the rooftop stuff...? And how much does it cost?

Again, this RV is already 24 years old...

Thanks - ryan

IMHO get rid of the rubber completely. It will leak somewhere sometime. I replaced my failed rubber roof in January 2016 with RV Flex Armor. Expensive yes, but about the same price is a replacement rubber roof and there are zero caulking joints to constantly monitor and wonder when a leak will happen at a spot you missed. My roof is completely zero maintenance except for an occasional washing with Dawn and a soft brush if I want the dirt gone. Another benefit is the RV Flex Armor roof is 3/16" thick which ads some insulation benefit as well as sound from hard rain. I am hearing impaired and I can now hear my television even during hard rain storms.

Would I make this change again? Yes, and I would do it immediately on a brand new unit before I ever used it.

I have fought roof issues in the past. I learned a lot of lessons the hard way. First I assume that you're sure that you have EPDM. I have seen people who thought they had EPDM and it was TPO. The modern units now have a third kind of rubber roof that's similar to EPDM but, it's not. If you have TPO and try using EPDM products it wont work for very long. If you're real motivated covering the whole roof with a sheet of rubber will fix it. Every other option on an old roof starts the process of playing catch up every couple of years with leaks. Some people have had good success with a five gallon bucket of EPDM liquid rubber. If you go that route watch for air bubbles. They will turn into little funnels and compound any leak. But, the liquid rubber works pretty well, as long as you get the right product. The one gallon cans of stuff that you see at camper supply stores doesn't seem to do well. If you go that route clean the roof really well before you start putting it down. Personally, I would order something else. I really hate to say what I used because it was EPDM liquid rubber that wasn't specifically for RVs although the label said it could be used for RVs. It was thicker than the stuff at the camper stores. It was a two part deal in a five gallon bucket that I mixed with a paint mixer on a drill. It dries really slow but, can be rained on while still wet. I can't really recommend it as a long term fix though. It's rolled on with a paint roller but, it needs to be redone every few years. It's messy, real messy. It will ruin whatever clothes you're wearing when you use it. It sticks forever to anything it touches. But, it's not as good as the sheet rubber, which is a big job because the AC, vents, antennas and such all have to come off to recover the roof with a sheet of EPDM. The 5 gallon bucket was $300.00 bucks. It will never cure in the fridge so, I used most of it on the first cover. Then I put what was left in a container and stored it in the fridge for six months. Then I got back up there and went over it a second time.

That lasted for a few years then it started leaking again in a different place. I learned to get on the roof every few months and cover any suspicious places.

Thanks for the reply. After reading a bit about the Flex-Armor products - sounds expensive. I'm looking for something I can do myself - economically...

ryan

I doubt #1 will help very much in your case; if the rubber is being punctured or worn through at the edges, a coating of paint--even thick elastomeric paint--isn't going to prevent that very well or for very long.

#2 or some variant of it is the correct answer.

#3 may work, but is clearly a stop-gap measure and may be wasted effort if you later decide to replace the front portion of the roof. Adding an unnecessary seam doesn't strike me as a particularly wise idea.

In your shoes, I would investigate the possibility of using something like RV Flex-Armor or RV Armor. I have no personal experience with either of these (nor any other similar products or processes), nor know anyone who does, but they do sound promising to me.