Hallmark Roof Leak Rubber Roof TPO

Silversand wrote:
....I looked closely at your photos, and to me, your roofing material looks like TPO (not EPDM rubber).

'Silversand' tipped me off to this topic and I started writing him before I actually _read_ the topic. I concur with his observation for several reasons...

TPO is typically the _same_ color all the way through. So, white on BOTH sides. EDPM is typically black or a darker color on the hidden side.

TPO is less resilient. In fact, earlier formulations could be so 'brittle' that installations would 'shrink' under mere sun exposure and thus tear at the edges.

What I think happened in most of the photos I'm seeing, here, is that water has infiltrated the roof ( ...either through 'insults' to the material or through deficits in caulk at equipment installation points) and caused underlying wooden structure to de-laminate (...in a word - - 'expand'). This expansion results in the tearing of the TPO at the edges. Even older OUTFITTER campers have quite a bit of wood up in their roofs. Once the TPO tearing has started, it is a sign that the 'jig is already up'. I know you don't want to hear it but I think HALLMARK gave excellent advice by proposing that the roof be rebuilt. Earlier HALLMARK campers have much more wood in them than OUTFITTERs do so cutting to the chase and rebuilding the roof might very well save the rest of the camper.

If one can manage to get their roof recovered before the water can do its worst, then one is ahead of the game. But I guess it is not human nature to do that. Just putting caulk over bad caulk is not likely to solve much. I'm lucky in that I store my OUTFITTER Caribou inside a nominally heated garage space so I've gotten away with murder in terms of maintenance. I _do_ frequently inspect my roof and caulk for 'issues' but I hope I have good enough sense to have my roof recovered by OUTFITTER _before_ they need to build a new roof for me from scratch (...to be determined - - grin !).

OUTFITTER and HALLMARK, both, have progressed in roof design so it would make sense to consider a whole new roof to take advantage of those advances in materials - - especially if the existing roof foundation is going to need extensive replacement before recovering.

NOTE WELL that merely 'covering up' the edge tears does NOT result in an effective repair ! FIRST, the water _source_ must be found and eliminated ! I described the mere caulking of edge tears to 'Silversand' as "...re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic".

NOTE ALSO that these issues are not "defects" of HALLMARK or OUTFITTER 'designs' but rather a 'feature' of what was a _standard_ roof design for RVs at least up until recent years. It is incumbent upon the owner to maintain the roof integrity, on an annual basis, whether it is covered in TPO, EDPM, aluminum, or fiberglass.

Carpe diem !