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wrigley615's avatar
wrigley615
Explorer
Jul 28, 2014

Aluminum roof delamination

Hi everyone, I have a Lance with an aluminum roof that's about 13 years old. Recently I've noticed that when I head up to the roof there are areas where the aluminum has detached from whatever it was adhered to (I'm guessing plywood). My question is if it is possible that after some time, the glue or whatever it is that attaches the two together will just fail or is this a sure sign of a water leak? From everything I can tell there is no leak anywhere. I have been pretty good at patching up the occasional crack with Dicor and the caulking around the edges is pretty good. The caulking around the edges could probably be redone though as it is discolored and appears pretty old but doesn't look like it should leak. Nothing leaks in the interior and there are no signs of water damage anywhere. I'm perplexed as to how this all of a sudden just happened and then how to remedy the problem. I've searched plenty on the forum here and it's unlike any delamination issue I can find.

8 Replies

  • sonuvabug wrote:
    Yup ... mine does the same and it's OK. Question, what does everybody wash theri aluminum roof with? Any special cleaners? Also, do you seal or treat it with something?


    Rainwater washes my roof :)

    I don't seal / treat it with anything, then my alu roof is probably a lot thicker than anyone else's (welded checker plate) so I'm less worried about corrosion.

    Steve.
  • sonuvabug wrote:
    Yup ... mine does the same and it's OK. Question, what does everybody wash theri aluminum roof with? Any special cleaners? Also, do you seal or treat it with something?


    I covered my aluminum with Raptor truck bed liner 2 part epoxy. I wash it with boat wash.
  • Yup ... mine does the same and it's OK. Question, what does everybody wash theri aluminum roof with? Any special cleaners? Also, do you seal or treat it with something?
  • My brand new aluminum roof does the same thing, because I only attached it at the edges and around the side. Aluminum likes to expand and contract so you need to give it elbow room.
  • Ok thanks, I'm getting ready to sell it and had a near heart attack when I first went up on the roof!
  • You don't have a problem there , its not attached but at the edges and at all the penetrations , in the heat mine will pop up and look funny to