Winnebago Fiberglass Roof

rubber roofs sucks in plain English more maintenance less rewards doing all the work and they will fail, stick with the winny's roof much better deal last a lot longer and less chance of leaks.

No problems with the fibreglass skin. Regularly check the sides where the roof skin goes into the extrusion on top of the sidewall. We found the first cracks in the adhesive after about 5 years. It was a fairly simple repair, scrape/clean out old adhesive and then put in the new, its a Manusbond sp?? adhesive caulk.
Goes without saying, check all the caulking.
Winnebago sealants.

Beverley and Ken

crawford wrote:
rubber roofs sucks in plain English more maintenance less rewards doing all the work and they will fail, stick with the winny's roof much better deal last a lot longer and less chance of leaks.

x2
as Beverley, or Ken sez. keep up the maintenance.
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:

crawford wrote:
rubber roofs sucks in plain English more maintenance less rewards doing all the work and they will fail, stick with the winny's roof much better deal last a lot longer and less chance of leaks.

x2
as Beverley, or Ken sez. keep up the maintenance.
bumpy

This is bad advice. There are many types of roofing material that people lump into the rubber roof category so do some reading.

Some roofing materials, like TPO, can last a very long time if maintained properly and the maintenance is no more difficult than on a fiberglass roof.

super_camper wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

crawford wrote:
rubber roofs sucks in plain English more maintenance less rewards doing all the work and they will fail, stick with the winny's roof much better deal last a lot longer and less chance of leaks.

x2
as Beverley, or Ken sez. keep up the maintenance.
bumpy

This is bad advice. There are many types of roofing material that people lump into the rubber roof category so do some reading.

Some roofing materials, like TPO, can last a very long time if maintained properly and the maintenance is no more difficult than on a fiberglass roof.

a TPO roof is NOT the same as a rubber (EPDM) roof. so what is the "bad advice".?
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:

super_camper wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

crawford wrote:
rubber roofs sucks in plain English more maintenance less rewards doing all the work and they will fail, stick with the winny's roof much better deal last a lot longer and less chance of leaks.

x2
as Beverley, or Ken sez. keep up the maintenance.
bumpy

This is bad advice. There are many types of roofing material that people lump into the rubber roof category so do some reading.

Some roofing materials, like TPO, can last a very long time if maintained properly and the maintenance is no more difficult than on a fiberglass roof.

a TPO roof is NOT the same as a rubber (EPDM) roof. so what is the "bad advice".?
bumpy

Correct. It has 3 letters in stead of 4. It is still a cheaper and not as good as fiberglass IMO.

Dakzuki wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

super_camper wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

crawford wrote:
rubber roofs sucks in plain English more maintenance less rewards doing all the work and they will fail, stick with the winny's roof much better deal last a lot longer and less chance of leaks.

x2
as Beverley, or Ken sez. keep up the maintenance.
bumpy

This is bad advice. There are many types of roofing material that people lump into the rubber roof category so do some reading.

Some roofing materials, like TPO, can last a very long time if maintained properly and the maintenance is no more difficult than on a fiberglass roof.

a TPO roof is NOT the same as a rubber (EPDM) roof. so what is the "bad advice".?
bumpy

Correct. It has 3 letters in stead of 4. It is still a cheaper and not as good as fiberglass IMO.

but TPO is more desirable than rubber (EPDM) IMHO.
bumpy

And the problem with my statement is what? All you have to do is research leaks and eternabond tape 90% of all people with RV's have to fix roofs with eternabond tape because of high failure of rubber roof because of water leaking in. I bet the company is making a good profit The tape gives a 15 year warranty the rubber roof is lucky to get 10. Make you think maybe you should coat the whole roof with the stuff LOL. My buddy's winnie has 14 year on his and still look's like new and never had a leak.

In my opinion, motor home roof materials rated best to least.

#1 - Seamless body & roof combination, 100% gel-coat, very thick fiberglass
#2 - Gel-coat very thick fiberglass roof "hat" (I have not seen used in many years)
#3 - Thin Fiberglass sheet stock, rolled over the sides of the rig
#4 - TPO sheet stock, a plastic material
#5 - Rubber sheet stock

Also important is a crowned roof. A flat roof sags over time. You want to prevent water puddles which generally form around the heavy a/c unit. Puddled water also freezes which can be hard on the roofing material.

Rubber & TPO roofs could be more favorable but they are most commonly used in flat-roof designs.

A gel-coat thick fiberglass roof would best to survive a very bad hail storm.

TPO and EPDM roofs suffer from the same problem... seams that are right on areas that are blasted by water. A fiberglass roof rolled over the sides (as pointed above) won't have water at high speeds (60+mph when on the road) hitting directly on places where it can come into the rig.

With the caulked seams of a TPO or EPDM roof, your motorhome essentially has an expiration date stamped on it due to water getting past caulk and rotting areas like the cabover. The only real defense against certain conversion to scrap by a rubber roof is a spray on elastomer epoxy like rvroof.com or Rhino Lining's, and those dealers are very few and far between.

As for ron.dittmar's suggestions, I would add a 1.5 in there. A one piece aluminum roof that is cupped over the sides by at least 2-3 inches. A friend of mine has a rig that has that, and his trailer has seen virtually every type of weather that can be thrown at it, and no leaks yet.