life of a rubber roof, without any damage

Mine is 15. Never washed, never treated, looks fine. But, 50% of it is covered in solar panels.

They say, 10 years. But folks seem to get more than that out of them.

It will not hurt to treat the roof at all. I wash mine and treat it twice a year. It sits exposed to the elements. Keeping that roof baby-butt smooth with the RV roof treatment only helps water and dirt run off easier.

I've never understood why folks spend so much effort on polishing showroom new, the sides of their campers and then never touch the roof, when the roof is the absolute most important part of the camper.

Besides, cleaning and treating the roof twice a year means getting up and inspecting it too, which is the perfect time to look for cracks in the calking, any nails, screws, staples beginning to poke through the rubber, or any worn spots due to age and weather elements exposure.

Yes, get up there and wash it. Then treat it. Inspect it, square inch by square inch. Check your seams, around your vents, air conditioner, and everything else too while you are up there. It's all to your own advantage and longevity of your camper. You have nothing to loose and only everything to gain.

I’m goomg on 12. I think next year I’ll coat it. After that it’ll need a new one. Hopefully by then I’ll be in a DP.

Had a 1999 Jayco 5th wheel and after 14 years the roof was about gone. We had it coated with a roll on product but then sold it right away.

Agree on treating it annually or bi-annualy. As for the life of your roof, you should refer to your original paperwork. I believe ours is 10 years, but some are 20. We've had ours inspected and were told it should be replaced in a year and we bought it brand new in 2010, so that's close to its life expectancy.

Sold the last one at 20yrs...because the roof was nearing the end (the white layer was worn thru).

The warranty is typically 7-10yrs but that gives the manufacturer a good margin of error so 15-20yrs with a moderate level of maintenance should be expected.

The problem is when you get to 15-20yrs, replacing the rubber is more than the value of the trailer.

valhalla360 wrote:
The warranty is typically 7-10yrs but that gives the manufacturer a good margin of error so 15-20yrs with a moderate level of maintenance should be expected.

I'd like to see documentation to support this claim as any roof membrane warranty I've seen is 12 years, no less, no more, the point being one should expect it to last at least this long provided it's been correctly maintained.

Depends where you are as well. In the South they do not last near as long as the North. The intense UV degradation is what shortens their life. My seasonal in the North will probably last 20 years.

Mine is about 20 years old and the membrane is okay, though obviously not new. The outer coating is pretty much intact still. I have had the glue attaching the rubber to the underlayment gradually give out over the past year or tow or three and for that reason will see about replacing it before too long, but the membrane itself would be good for at least a few more years I think and possibly quite a few. I suspect the glue loosening is mostly due to aging, but don't know absolutely for sure.

If it's someplace extremely hot and sunny, like Fl, the life can be as short as 15 years or so. Around here they easily go 30+ years.