Replacing roof on 2001 Fleetwood Toy Hauler 5th Wheel

Question

The OSB paneling and the EPDM are thrashed on my roof. The previous owner pulled the A/C up at some point, I assume because the wood was rotting, and they ripped out a bunch of the wood, put down a standard piece of ply on top of the rubber and sealed the hell out of it. The roof is soft and soggy, sagging, and every seam is leaking. We are about to begin full-timing while we save for a house and I want to do the roof before we move in. I intend to order the EPDM kit once I get it out of storage and get a full measurement on how much I need in a few weeks. I have a tarp long enough so I intend to pull the roof back panel by panel and replace it. I'm going to delete the roof antenna since we don't ever use it and if we were to ever want to have mobile TV again we would just go with satellite. I'm looking for advice.

Should I go with OSB or exterior grade ply? I keep seeing conflicting info online. I haven't pulled the first panel off yet but looks like 1/2". I also read that if you go with OSB to put 1/4" luan down for a smooth surface to apply the rubber roof. I was going to also lay down 2 coats of primer on the panels prior to the adhesive for the rubber roof, so I wanted to get some opinions on that.

Also wondering if I should seal the seams between panels underneath the rubber or not? Trying to do the best I can for a DIYer to make sure the roof lasts.

Any advice or tips/tricks would be much appreciated!!

Thank you!

dedmiston · Answer

Hi RBR,Welcome to the forum.I don't have any advice on the roof, but here's my $0.02 on the TV antenna:As long as you're pulling up the roof, DEFINITELY install an HD antenna.  It's so much simpler/cheaper than satellite.  We have an HD  antenna on our fifth wheel and it's incredible.  We have been able to pull in decent channels everywhere we've camped.  We get tons of channels in good quality HD, as long as you're willing to move the antenna around until you find the best position.  For years I would set up a portable satellite dish, but we could only get standard def channels on the portable dish and we had to either bring a receiver from home or pay for an extra box for the RV.  Once we switched to all HD at home, I didn't have any extra boxes anymore and we stopped trying to watch TV on the road.On our last trip, my kids got hooked on a channel called MeTV, which is all reruns, kind of like TV Land.  They got hooked on The Andy Griffith Show (they couldn't believe the little kid was Ron Howard), Matlock, and a bunch of other oldies.  "We'll go to bed after this episode of Perry Mason is over..."The antennas are cheap and the Over The Air channels don't cost you anything.Good luck with your roof!

rockbottomracin · Answer

Thanks for the reply! I'll definitely look into an HD antenna!Anyone else have any advice on this project? I'm thinking about going with bodiless exterior grade ply!

mapguy · Answer

existing roof sheathing is probably 3/8 cdx plywood. Personally would not use osb due to the rough texture.

Be prepared to do roof truss repairs if everything is soft and mushy.

Also, would consider using TPO instead of EPDM material.

lantley · Answer

While it is not cheap I would consider on of the new commercially applied RV roof coating Sprays. Flex Armor RV Roof

texaschaps · Answer

Lantley wrote:While it is not cheap I would consider on of the new commercially applied RV roof coating Sprays. Flex Armor RV Rooflooks to me like white truck bed spray in liner ..

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Replacing roof on 2001 Fleetwood Toy Hauler 5th Wheel

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