Had started the restoration process of my '79 Coachman little over a year ago, Sadly as I started pulling out the interior I found that the only thing any good was the aluminum shell so the project was scrapped. Picked up a 95 Prowler 27x for a good deal. Now, thanks to the lovely winter we had in PA I have a hole in the left front corner of the roof, two broken ceiling joists, and a cracked top rail. Thankfully I can back it inside my shop to be able to work on it but still a mess. Now to my question... I am going to cut the first 7 feet of the aluminum roof off to give adequate access to the joists and hopefully be able to tie in a patch plate on the top rail. I can get a 4x8 sheet of aluminum from a local supplier for $34. Was planning on using roof sealer caulk and pop rivets to install the patch, as well as caulking the seam from the inside. Once caulk is dry next step is to be eternabond tape around the entire patch. Does this seem to be a sound plan? Also what is a recommended coating to go over the patch panel since it is bare aluminum, as well as coating the rest of the roof while I'm up there? I'm hoping to get this taken care of for around $500 if possible.

To repair the top plate in the wall, you will more than likely have to either remove the interior paneling or siding in that location.The rafters will be attached to the ceiling so a manner of eliminating that fastening will be necessary unless you can jack the ceiling into position and sister-repair the rafters from above.I buy a fair amount of aluminum and my local distributor sells vinyl coated aluminum sheet in various dimensions. The vinyl coated sheet goods offer some cosmetic upgrade and are easy to paint. Sealants: Stay away from anything containing silicone. Rather than an off-the-shelf roof patch material, I'd suggest you aim for a polymer or urethane sealant. Geocel sells a variety of sealants for mobile applications, all of which are polymer based. Eternabond tape is a great sealer, i have it on every seam on my roof. When I was done applying the Eternabond, I sprayed two coats of acrylic roof paint over the entire roof. If you are going to be coating bright, unfinished aluminum, a primer has to be used. I recommend Sherwin-Williams Industrial DTM primer, it is listed for bare aluminum. Your budget could even be high for this project. Good luck.

I actually already cut back the roof half way across, and also the wall down to the chair rail. Once the roof is well sealed I'm going to use a screw jack to lift up the rafters enough to give access to the top plate to repair it and then sister on some joist boards. Hoping it is a quick and easy repair, and would be even better if I am under budget. Side note, I checked and all I can get from local supplier is bright or painted sheets, no vinyl coated. Do you think it would be worth using a few rattle cans worth of paint on the inside?

I see. This is pretty much the approach to what I did for the rafters, cut back to good material and sistered in two pieces of plywood with filler between. Mine had an advanced stage of "water cancer" and I was able to recover the patient fully. I must have used 20 tubes of construction adhesive in the process, every piece that was replaced got a liberal dose of adhesive when joining.One of the parts of the process that held up time was removing the thousands of staples and screws holding the siding and roof to the top plates and framing. In retrospect, I could have made better use of a sawzall and grinder rather than trying to pull them. Since I did my project, I now have one of those small reciprocating flush saws. That would have been an excellent tool for the job. Painting aluminum: Any bright or mill faced aluminum needs a primer for good bond. It is all about the fast oxidation of the surface of the aluminum. Commercial fabricators of aluminum parts will maybe anodize, prepaint. Either that, or apply an etching primer that reacts favorably with the oxide on the aluminum. Both of these steps are beyond the kin of the usual handyman. The Sherwin-Williams Industrial DTM primer is very good, better results than the two-part process of etching and primer, IMO. I would assume it has a blend of etchants in the formulation. The good news about the SW DTM primer is that you can source it just about anywhere in the US at your local SW dealer. Some don't carry it as a stock item but delivery is usually in a day. You can brush, spray, or roll it on.Painting the inside surface of the aluminum sheet isn't going to net you much in the way of durability or function (unless you camp every year at sea-side). If the price of the painted sheet is similar to the unfinished, I'd choose painted every time. Here is a picture of my front rock cover made from vinyl coated aluminum sheet goods. The cover is the same now, (3 yrs.) as the day I made it:Picture of roof after applying two coats of elastomeric roof paint:

Kinda running into a chicken and egg problem also. I can pull the trailer into my shop to repair the roof, but it will take up two of my three bays and if the shop doesn't make money I can't fix camper. I have been reading through your repair posts for advice and quite informative by the way. If I cut the roof off it has to stay inside, but not sure I can fix the rafters and top plate with roof on. Can one be done before the other or is a one shot deal? Basically I need to do the repair over a weekend hopefully, if nothing else at least get the wood replaced and a new skin on top.

Another thought I just had. Since I will be using the eternabond tap around the entire patch should I try and remove the top trim rail between the roof and side wall or just leave a lip on the roof to attach to?

Roof Repair | Good Sam Community

Blackdog79
Explorer
Apr 04, 2014
I actually already cut back the roof half way across, and also the wall down to the chair rail. Once the roof is well sealed I'm going to use a screw jack to lift up the rafters enough to give access to the top plate to repair it and then sister on some joist boards. Hoping it is a quick and easy repair, and would be even better if I am under budget. Side note, I checked and all I can get from local supplier is bright or painted sheets, no vinyl coated. Do you think it would be worth using a few rattle cans worth of paint on the inside?
westend
Explorer
Apr 03, 2014
To repair the top plate in the wall, you will more than likely have to either remove the interior paneling or siding in that location.

The rafters will be attached to the ceiling so a manner of eliminating that fastening will be necessary unless you can jack the ceiling into position and sister-repair the rafters from above.

I buy a fair amount of aluminum and my local distributor sells vinyl coated aluminum sheet in various dimensions. The vinyl coated sheet goods offer some cosmetic upgrade and are easy to paint.

Sealants: Stay away from anything containing silicone. Rather than an off-the-shelf roof patch material, I'd suggest you aim for a polymer or urethane sealant. Geocel sells a variety of sealants for mobile applications, all of which are polymer based.

Eternabond tape is a great sealer, i have it on every seam on my roof. When I was done applying the Eternabond, I sprayed two coats of acrylic roof paint over the entire roof. If you are going to be coating bright, unfinished aluminum, a primer has to be used. I recommend Sherwin-Williams Industrial DTM primer, it is listed for bare aluminum.

Your budget could even be high for this project. Good luck.

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