Huge hail storm - Repair / replace an aluminum roof

Ok, here is the latest. I received the estimate, $22,200. $9700 in parts, $10500 labor plus taxe and a few other things. I have a $500 decuctible. It is not total lost because it does not reach 70% of the MH value. There is about 120 hours of work.

The shop told me he will most likely replace the Luaun under the metal roof. For this he will have to open a claim supplement, which does not seem to be a problem for him. He said once the work is in progress and they find unseen problem due to the storm, the insurer will pay.

They will replace the metal roofing, .030 as per Monaco design, paint it white, replace all the vent and cover, sky lite, two Air conditionnning and 2 Windshield.

They will replace the top aluminum sheet of the cargo doors and repaint it. Other little stuff like repaint the front of the MH.

The shop asked me if I wanted the top replaced with rubber, I said no because metal roofing is much nicer, is so easy to clean and last forever, except during hail, but in 60 years, this is the first time I get hit, I should be good to go the graveyard before I get another one!

If doing it myself without insurance, I would of certainly left it alone and fixed the apparant dent, there is no crack on the roof.

Nice and useful post.

Have you thought of laying a thin layer of fiberglass over the existing roof. That would fill the dents and give another layer for insulation as well.

rgatijnet1 wrote:
It may be a moot point if the RV shop has no way to form the metal around the edge of the roof. It rolls over the edge and overlaps the side walls about 8" down from the top. There is a piece of trim that covers the fasteners. It overlaps in the middle of the roof, which is where it is sealed.

I suppose a metal shop can pre-roll the metal sheets if needed. There are many metal shop in my area.

I took a piece of metal from the fan opening and I will have it measured.

It may be a moot point if the RV shop has no way to form the metal around the edge of the roof. It rolls over the edge and overlaps the side walls about 8" down from the top. There is a piece of trim that covers the fasteners. It overlaps in the middle of the roof, which is where it is sealed.

I will have them measure it. I think it's a bit thin as well but it has a luaun underlayer which makes it stiffer. This was from the part list I received directly from Monaco for a Cayman 2003. The walls are listed as .063.


Roof Metal, .030 x 55.25 Polar White
Sidewall Metal Bottom .063 x 48 - Polar White (Standard)

Kidoo wrote:
I just phone Monaco and the told me the roof was 0.030 aluminum. They said they don't have a supplier for that anymore.

Yes, the bending of the roof will be a chalange maybe.

This is the problem with older MH, parts and repair are hard to find.

That may be the thickness of the roof on the current Monaco coaches, but mine is much thicker, as is yours. I've replaced the AC unit, skylight, and vents and have seen the thickness of the roofing aluminum used back then. I have had six people, with chairs sitting on the roof watching a race and have no dents for the chair legs. .030 aluminum would not be able to do that. At the very thinnest, for 2003, yours may be .063 aluminum. Forming the aluminum around the side edge of your coach is the big problem which is why I said they would probably write off your coach as being unrepairable.

I just phone Monaco and the told me the roof was 0.030 aluminum. They said they don't have a supplier for that anymore.

Yes, the bending of the roof will be a chalange maybe.

This is the problem with older MH, parts and repair are hard to find.

That may be a problem since Monaco stopped using that method of roof construction in 2004 and then Monaco was bought out by Navistar in 2009 and then sold to Allied Specialty Vehicles in 2013. Flat aluminum sheets are available from any Aluminum supply company but getting it bent the way Monaco used it, over a decade ago, will probably not be something that an RV shop will be able to tackle.

rgatijnet1 wrote:

Kidoo wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

Kidoo wrote:
I have an apointement monday at a Motorhome dealer. They have a big boddy shop for MH. The insurer wanted me to wait until they come to check it out in 6 days, but I do not trust insurance companies. So I will have an estimate of the damage and I will be in position to deal with the insurer, or at least know the possibilities. The MH dealer is well equiped and to my knowledge the only shop that can do all the work involved.

The insurer did offer to others I know to fix / suck out the dents on cars without painting. I don't if they can do this on a MH aluminum roof with so many dents. The dealer told me the roof can be replaced. How much it cost, we will see. I contacted an independent sinister expert to help out if needed.

I will report on the outcome.

There are a few different methods to remove hail dents in steel vehicle bodies. One uses induction heat to pop out a SMALL dent. Another uses glued on studs and a puller for larger dents, and even dry ice can be used on minor hail dents.
For your aluminum roof, which is .090 thick, the aluminum is stretched and they may try the glued on stud method to pull the dents out. This may help but I suspect that it will leave small mounds rather than a level surface.
I would not do too much until you hear from the insurer. You may be pleasantly surprised. Even if they do replace your roof and repair all of the vents and AC units, they still have the cargo doors and windows to deal with. Even tho you have fiberglass sidewalls, the impact from the large hail could have fractured the laminated seal which could possibly lead to future delamination of the sidewall. Don't assume that since you can't see any dents that there is not damage done.

I tried to find .090 aluminum but all I find is .024 for alu. roof on the web. Can you tell me where you found it was .090 as it makes a big difference on the solidity of the roof.

The material used on the Monaco coaches is NOT roofing material. It is sheet aluminum that is formed for the roof and sidewalls. IN other words they take a flat sheet of .090 aluminum and bend it to roll over the edge of the coach. Then it peaks in the middle and that is the only roof seam. The sidewalls of the Monaco coaches during that period of time were just laminated .090 sheets glued to foam, altho some, like yours, were the fiberglass panels. The roof on those coaches is strong enough to dance on if you are so inclined. You do not get any rain noise as you would get with the much thinner aluminum roofing material.

Thanks for the info. Do you know where I can get this information from factory or else so I can pass it on the the RV dealer? The shop in my area don't seem to have replaced aluminum roof before.

There is a big RV dealer in my area and he does body work year around, roofing ect. but for my alu roof, it looked like he never did any. I do not want cheap roof paneling for sur.