Have been having issues with my roof. There are several small holes in the rubber. In the past Dicor sealant has worked wonders, but after a few years it basically came off. Redone, came off. Decided to fix it permanently with Eternabond. Cleaned area, dried, applied, used roller to activate. Lasted 6 months and peeled off.I did note at the time of Eternabond use that it didn't seem all that sticky. Secondly, I blame myself for maybe not cleaning the roof properly first, though I did use soap and water, and dried thoroughly.So I recently bought a new roll of Eternabond, and this stuff is STICKY. Me, the scissors, the plastic wrap it came in. I was excited; maybe my last roll was old/junk. I also bought the Eternabond cleaner that is acetone based. Got up there a few days ago, 50 degree sunny weather, roof was dry. Peeled off all of the old stuff, cleaned well with the acetone cleaner, dried well, stuck down the new eternabond and rollered. Seemed very stuck.Today I go up there to do another small spot. Most of the Eternabond was unstuck. The roof was wet with condensation (it's in the 30s at night).Is this a temperature factor? Roof factor? Idiot factor (me)? I've dried it and cleaned it again, but am concerned that any Eternabond I apply today will just be unstuck tomorrow.Thoughts? Tips? Should I just drop a tree on the roof?? (kidding!)A new roof is out of the question at this time. I've gotten a lot of info in the past about coatings, but if I can't even get Eternabond to stick, how will I get a coating to stick?Thanks for any words of wisdom.

If you have an EPDM rubber roof, why not use the products designed specifically for an EPDM roof? They are available at any roofing supply company. Basically they are adhesive products similar to what is used to patch a hole in a tire inner tube.

It sounds like the roof has aged to point of deterioration,What did the sticky side of the EB look like, is it shiny gray, like oem new, our is it dull, perhaps darker maybe black, like the epdm compound is crumbling and sticking to the EB

As I recall Eternabond adhesive works through pressure - they recommend a steel roller for application (although many use wooden one). What did you use to apply? Also - Eternabond doesn't work in the presence of silicone - just a reminder.

I used a 2" hard rubber roller for roof seams. No silicone used up there. I watched a "how to apply Eternabond" video online and the installer there only used hand pressure to install it; no roller. Everything seemed adhered well at the time of installation.How do I know if I have an EPDM rubber roof vs TPO rubber roof? I would love to put a commercial EPDM product on there (someone here gave me the name of a good one a while back) but was afraid to invest the $350 and have the test patch not work/stick/adhere, or not cure if on the wrong substrate.My roof is 15 years old and is probably at the end of its lifespan. I do not have the tools/knowhow/energy/time/garage to do it myself. Local guy wants $6K to do it; another place $5K. Not in the cards. I've been patching, it's successful, dry through many rains, then the next rain no longer dry and the patches failed. RV has been fine all summer, roof checked many times, then patches failed again last week.The new Eternabond is shiny dark gray, very sticky; where it peeled up it took white roof with it and no longer sticky, even though it had been cleaned and dried and seemed adhered (edges checked) at the time of application. Parts of my roof are no longer white. Does Eternabond not stick to old roofs?Appreciate your wisdom.

The EPDM gets a "chalky" residue on it after years of use and YES, your roof is to old for the Eternabond to adhere to. Doug

Color me frustrated | Good Sam Community

27 Replies

whit
Explorer
Dec 28, 2015
I just did my 1995 Bounder roof last week. I used Eternabond several years ago where the rubber roof meets the front and rear caps and have had no problem. As you can see in the photo my roof was in bad shape. Mostly black and on its last leg. My father owned the RV before me and he painted the roof with Cool Coat. It was coming off bad. Took a full day of power washing, brushing and scraping to prep the roof. I also had a few small cuts in the rubber. The skylight over the shower was cracked so I replaced it. Also installed new vent pipe covers, refrigerator
cover, AC unit cover. I used Liquid Roof and the primer. I learned some valuable lessons while doing it, but it came out great. You definitely could use the material to patch, but why would you if your roof is old. Just do the whole roof. I removed the old Dicor lap sealant around all the vents, skylight, antenna, etc. and resealed them. Then I primered and liquid roofed right over it.
I might Eternabond tape it also, although I don't think it needs it. I primered and Liquid roofed over the Eternabond tape front and back also.
bluwtr49
Explorer II
Dec 22, 2015
Just a thought....you did mention that the Dicor held up for several years before failing. To be honest, with all the problems you're having pehaps revisiting Dicor might be in order and hope for another few years again.
infogeek
Explorer
Dec 22, 2015
Thanks, Rocky.

So far the latest patch is holding. I have some liquid roof + primer that I am planning on trying for the next go round, as I am assuming this patch will fail. Seems pretty stuck at the moment. I plan to prime/coat the entire roof in the spring. Should have done that this year but listened to the bad advice from the RV man (who wanted to sell me a new roof).
driveandfish
Explorer
Dec 19, 2015
Eternabond also sells a primer for deteriorated roofs that you apply after cleaning and before the eternabond membrane. Maybe that would help.

Rocky
Bruce_Brown
Moderator
Dec 08, 2015
I just looked mine up. I had $475.06 in materials when I did our TT. That one is 33' and required ~28' of material. That price includes the rubber material, 4 sheets of new decking, tape for the decking seems & edges, all the new butyl tape needed, the glue and even the Eternabond I sealed the edges with. (I went straight to Etenabond vs using lap sealant)

I realize yours is a bit longer, and there is a fair amount of labor, but $5K is a bit crazy, even if some of your decking is bad.

Camper Rehab
ksg5000
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2015
For what it's worth - consider putting a tarp on the roof until warm weather arrives - working on roof when the weather is cold/lousy is tough and your chances of failure go up.
rgatijnet1
Explorer III
Dec 08, 2015
The difference between a white and a black EPDM roof is the coating. The rubber portion is the same and it is not porous. If the white is gone the roof is still waterproof. That is why you need to talk to a roofer and NOT some guy at an RV shop.
infogeek
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
Gjac wrote:
You said you have "several small holes". I assume these might be 1/4 in dia holes or 1 in long tears without seeing pictures.

There are 3 1/8'-1/4" punctures that were present/repaired when I bought the rig. Now there are 3 1" areas just forward of my vent fan. Not sure how long those have been present; they were uncovered when I removed the failing Dicor 2 weeks ago.

As of this morning the new eternabond and Dicor are sticking. I will keep the other products in mind, also.

The only consideration for replacing the roof is that it is 15 years old. An RV man told me that if I cleaned it, I'd probably strip away all of the white and then my roof would be basically porous and I'd be ****ed. Not sure if that was just part of his hard sell to get me to let him put on a new roof. I figure before I drop that amount of cash I want to exhaust all other options.
Gjac
Explorer III
Dec 08, 2015
You said you have "several small holes". I assume these might be 1/4 in dia holes or 1 in long tears without seeing pictures. If that is all it is I would not replace the whole roof for that if the rest of the roof is good. My roof is 20 years old and I had two small tears from tree branches while backing into a NF cg. What I did is to abrade the surrounding area wipe it with acetone then pull up EPDM rubber from the roof then inject the caulking(Geocel)under the rubber and over to create a sandwich of caulking. I would use a caulking that has better adhesive properties than Dicor. 3M 5200 or 4200 would be a good choice also I just happened to have the Geocel on hand. Good Luck,save your money for the new kitchen.
infogeek
Explorer
Dec 08, 2015
Bruce Brown wrote:
rgatijnet1 wrote:
Have you checked with a local roofer, NOT an RV shop. The material rubber for your entire coach will cost around $350 and the adhesive and flashing materials another $200. Obviously there will be labor to remove any items on top of your roof but that is no different from a stick house or commercial project. Remember that EPDM is a roofing material first designed for commercial roofing projects and the MH industry adapted it for their use. I have installed hundreds of thousands of sq ft of it on hotels and commercial buildings and we never used Eternabond, in spite of their claims that it is good for any type of roof. Call a local roofer and see if they will look at your roof and give you an estimate.

Best advice yet.

I put a new rubber roof on our TT. I did 100% of the job myself, and while it was time consuming $5-6K is just crazy.

I've been having an issue with one of my knees or I'd offer to do it for 1/2 $$$ or less.

Check back in the Spring, maybe I'll be healed up by then.

Yeah, my house needs a new kitchen before the RV gets a new roof at that price. I think the last update there was circa 1970.

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Color me frustrated

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