Older 5th wheels with thin roofs
Hi there, I bought a 1997 NuWav Snowbird two years ago. The roof was soft back then and still is soft, the entire roof. We just had a new a/c installed, the mechanic said the roof was soft and th...
Forum Discussion
Our 1994 Alfa was built using plywood roof joists spaced every 16". 3/8" plywood was glued and stapled to the roof joists and a EPDM roof membrane glued to the plywood. Yes roofs were soft to help reduce the weight. These were RVs designed not to have people up on the roof like watching a Nascar Race.
Other RVs were designed so folks could use the roof. These used sandwich component technology for the roof. Plywood,rigid foam sheets, wood stringers and plywood glued and pressure sandwiched to dry. Makes for a very solid but light weight roof. Commercials used to show 12 or more people standing on the roof.
When I have to go on my roof I can see where the roof joists are so I step on the joists to keep from crunching the plywood. Or I use pieces of plywood to distribute my weight.
If you have evidence of water damage and soft spots in the plywood, then you would need to repair the damage before recoating the roof.
Some RV'ers have begun using a Rhino Liner (spray on truck bed liner) type product to seal the roof and strengthen. Look through the blog posts at www.rv-dreams.com. These folks just had their roof redone using this type of product.
Other RVs were designed so folks could use the roof. These used sandwich component technology for the roof. Plywood,rigid foam sheets, wood stringers and plywood glued and pressure sandwiched to dry. Makes for a very solid but light weight roof. Commercials used to show 12 or more people standing on the roof.
When I have to go on my roof I can see where the roof joists are so I step on the joists to keep from crunching the plywood. Or I use pieces of plywood to distribute my weight.
If you have evidence of water damage and soft spots in the plywood, then you would need to repair the damage before recoating the roof.
Some RV'ers have begun using a Rhino Liner (spray on truck bed liner) type product to seal the roof and strengthen. Look through the blog posts at www.rv-dreams.com. These folks just had their roof redone using this type of product.
