Cleaning an epdm roof

LarryJM wrote:
John,

As I said if one is to do any routine maintenance on an EDPM roof then your 4x a year especially using the 303 is IMO probably the one that I will concede is probably the best you can do and will actually extend the life of an EDPM roof.

IIRC an application of 303 lasts on the order of 1 to 3 months so at 4x a year you are IMO getting 95% of the benefit of using that and even simply slapping in over even a dirty EDPM roof might be just as effective as cleaning it first and then applying 303, but we won't really know and in the end it's not that important since what you do I readily admit works and I can see why.

However, you IMO are the exception to the rule on maintaining an RV in general and your roof maintenance just further demonstrates that and 99% of the folks out there would not do what you have done, nor keep their RV long enough to actually see any end benefit.

Of course we can't really tell, but even the roof with all those spider cracks while looking bad are still IMO full serviceable and might last another 10 to 15 years before the membrane would actually need to be replaced and getting 15 to 25 years service out of an EDPM roof should satisify any normal persons expectations and/or requirements.

I haven't actually done it, but it would not surprise me if you use upwards of 1 1/2 gal of 303 a year doing an application 4 times per year and at $50/gal over 10 years thats close to $750 in 303 alone which is almost the cost of a new membrane less installation where all the roof replacement cost is admittedly.

Larry

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the good words on taking care of the camper. And having one long enough to even get data like this... I'm humbled!

I have been helping folks with 10 plus year old campers lately. Not everyone buys new ones. And some folks may actually want to keep their campers a long time. They sure do not build them like they use too. I agree that the number of folks that do nothing at all on their roof is way too high. Come 6 to 10 years of doing nothing and the leaks are already in it. Yes this is from the caulking but my post was to help show, cleaning can enhance the life of the roof, not damage it.

The spider cracks is a fallout I believe from UV rays. By my using the 303, I warded off those cracks. Some cracks are small, some very large where you can see the black layer below it. To me, is a not good thing to have the spider cracks. If the white layer helps in retarding the UV attack on the black layer, anything to slow down the degradation of the white layer helps. And lets not go there that cleaning is killing the white layer. See the post above. If you follow the Dicor method, you can clean the roof and not kill the white layer.

I agree the white layer cracks are not affecting the membrane from leaking directly. The black layer is the water seal but the black left exposed will then start to break down more, IMO. If you have worn off the white layer enough the black layer is showing up, then a recoating needs to be done to build back up the white layer.

I'm not with you on putting 303 over the top of dirt. They will make the dirt situation of abrasiveness worse. It will be like bonding layers of new 3 months dirt on top of each other. My gosh the black streaks could take on new meaning... and the dirt could accumulate more... Putting 303 on a clean roof really helps the dirt fall off for a period of time. Remember you put those nice fancy rain guard flaps on to help on the black streaks and keep water off beating on the camper. Smart move!!!

I use a little less then 1 qt of 303 per roof treatment and that is everything up there not only the rubber. That is 1 gallon a year, $50 bucks in 4 treatments. I saw 3 months on the reapply instructions, I did not notice the 1 month thing. Spending $700 in 303 over 14 years is still cheaper then a new roof.

I have done total roof replacements, the material is $768 plus 246 work hours for a 27 foot camper with a walk on EPDM roof. That also included rebuilding the rear and front wall wood rot so the roof only is somewhat less labor. You pick what ever dollar per hour you want on the labor. A roof replace is not cheap. I can link the repair if wanted. It comes down to, if you cannot do the labor yourself, sell the camper the repair cost may be more then the camper. Point being, maintain the roof it is cheaper then replacing the roof.

I know I'm most likely not going to change ones mind on cleaning a roof if folks are in the camp of, don't clean the roof. OK, it's their roof, do as you please. Just like I'm not going to change what I do. Maybe though some folks who really do not know what to do, might think about this more and make a call that fits them. Hopefully they learn you have to maintain your RV rubber roof every year on a periodic basis or else the camper will die a death of water infection.

Thanks

John