I remember reading this a while ago - there are two types of roof's installed on RV's. EPDM and something else.I know 2Oldman is the king of all searches - but I'm not that good.I remember the way to differentiate was the coloring on teh back. Today I pulled one of my vents off and found the color on the a "blackish" color. Which roof type do I have - And as long as you're reading this.. What adhesive do I use to reattach a replacement piece to the sub-straight base?ThanksJosh

The other type is TPO. That's as much as I know. :)

Sure fire way to tell,this link will tell you What kind of roof you have

EPDMTPOFiberglassAluminumI would avoid the first two. My first RV, a Winnebago had a fiberglass roof. The same stuff that was on the sidewalls. My current Airstream has aluminum. When shopping I immediately ruled out anything with EPDM or TPO.

Bobbo wrote:EPDMTPOFiberglassAluminumI would avoid the first two.While I would prefer fiberglass or aluminum, for the cost to upgrade to a rig that has them, you could replace the rubber roof options several times over.

I wish I could afford an AS with an aluminum roof and body!

EPDM roof Material or Something Else? | Good Sam Community

fj12ryder
Explorer III
May 16, 2022
The other type is TPO. That's as much as I know. :)
IAMICHABOD
Explorer II
May 16, 2022
Sure fire way to tell,this link will tell you What kind of roof you have
Bobbo
Explorer II
May 16, 2022
EPDM
TPO
Fiberglass
Aluminum

I would avoid the first two. My first RV, a Winnebago had a fiberglass roof. The same stuff that was on the sidewalls. My current Airstream has aluminum. When shopping I immediately ruled out anything with EPDM or TPO.
valhalla360
Navigator
May 16, 2022
Bobbo wrote:
EPDM
TPO
Fiberglass
Aluminum

I would avoid the first two.

While I would prefer fiberglass or aluminum, for the cost to upgrade to a rig that has them, you could replace the rubber roof options several times over.
Lwiddis
Explorer II
May 16, 2022
I wish I could afford an AS with an aluminum roof and body!
dougrainer
Nomad
May 16, 2022
Bobbo wrote:
EPDM
TPO
Fiberglass
Aluminum

I would avoid the first two. My first RV, a Winnebago had a fiberglass roof. The same stuff that was on the sidewalls. My current Airstream has aluminum. When shopping I immediately ruled out anything with EPDM or TPO.

Please explain the basis for your comment. I have over 43 years as a RV tech. I have seen ALL roof materials. While I also would prefer Fiberglass, I would NOT like Metal roofs. Metal roofs will be damaged by normal size Hail that would dent a car. Fiberglass, rarely. It takes a LOT to punch holes thru fiberglass. It takes a LOT for Hail to damage a TPO/EPDM roof. For cost, I would like a EPDM/TPO roof. Your Airstream, the COST basis alone makes a Metal roof standard. Doug
Bobbo
Explorer II
May 17, 2022
dougrainer wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
EPDM
TPO
Fiberglass
Aluminum

I would avoid the first two. My first RV, a Winnebago had a fiberglass roof. The same stuff that was on the sidewalls. My current Airstream has aluminum. When shopping I immediately ruled out anything with EPDM or TPO.

Please explain the basis for your comment. I have over 43 years as a RV tech. I have seen ALL roof materials. While I also would prefer Fiberglass, I would NOT like Metal roofs. Metal roofs will be damaged by normal size Hail that would dent a car. Fiberglass, rarely. It takes a LOT to punch holes thru fiberglass. It takes a LOT for Hail to damage a TPO/EPDM roof. For cost, I would like a EPDM/TPO roof. Your Airstream, the COST basis alone makes a Metal roof standard. Doug

The basis for my comment? Personal preference. While I know that a good hail storm will dent my aluminum roof, I would be REALLY surprised if it punctured it. Dents, I can live with. You state that "{i}t takes a LOT to punch holes thru fiberglass." I posit that it takes more to punch a hole through aluminum.
jodeb720
Explorer
May 17, 2022
OP here -

First thanks to IAMICHABOD that link told me I have an EPDM roof - Now the follow up question - what adhesive is the correct one to repair a section of the roof?

Thanks!

josh
dougrainer
Nomad
May 17, 2022
Bobbo wrote:
dougrainer wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
EPDM
TPO
Fiberglass
Aluminum

I would avoid the first two. My first RV, a Winnebago had a fiberglass roof. The same stuff that was on the sidewalls. My current Airstream has aluminum. When shopping I immediately ruled out anything with EPDM or TPO.

Please explain the basis for your comment. I have over 43 years as a RV tech. I have seen ALL roof materials. While I also would prefer Fiberglass, I would NOT like Metal roofs. Metal roofs will be damaged by normal size Hail that would dent a car. Fiberglass, rarely. It takes a LOT to punch holes thru fiberglass. It takes a LOT for Hail to damage a TPO/EPDM roof. For cost, I would like a EPDM/TPO roof. Your Airstream, the COST basis alone makes a Metal roof standard. Doug

The basis for my comment? Personal preference. While I know that a good hail storm will dent my aluminum roof, I would be REALLY surprised if it punctured it. Dents, I can live with. You state that "{i}t takes a LOT to punch holes thru fiberglass." I posit that it takes more to punch a hole through aluminum.

The Aluminum can get "cuts/cracks" instead of holes. While you state a Hailstorm will dent your roof. Well, A/S's do NOT just get dented roofs. Depending on which way the storm is blowing you get hail damage on various sides also. Regular RV's (very few metal sides left) just get roof top hail damage unless Fiberglass. Doug (we also service/sell A/S)
3_tons
Explorer III
May 17, 2022
My TPO Roof (thermopolyolifin) is about as good today as the day I bought the camper 13 years ago, in fact I can’t even see a difference…When not in use, the truck camper has been ‘mostly’ (but not always) covered, yet gets used regularly, I’d estimate that between two different vehicles it has about 185k miles on it, including plenty of NV high desert camping…So it’s not quite clear to me why one would seek to avoid TPO??

3 tons