Fiberglass roofs

[Johno02]

Our Motor Home has a fiberglass roof, which I really like, as it is all one piece. Do any of the current builders or coaches still have these?? I have seen a lot of damage and failures on the rubber roof, and we ever upgrade, I would like to have fiberglass.

[msmith1199]

dougrainer wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically what I said????

No, the glue did not fail. The air intruding under the Rubber caused the rubber to pull loose. BIG difference. HOW do you think we remove the old rubber when we replace the Roof?????? Doug

You blow on it?

People like you we fire as customers. You are not worth the BS you bring. To answer your STUPID response--you cut in strips and PULL it off the decking. It takes a LOT of strength to rip those small strips OFF a correctly glued roof. So, this shows the force of wind at 60 mph getting under the Rubber and pulling it loose to bubble. To also answer your stupid response, if glue failed why do you not see bubbling at the middle or rear of a rubber roof in transit? Because there is no place for the wind to get under at those spots. Doug

You would never have to worry about having me as customer. I made a completely accurate statement about a problem with rubber roofs and you have to come in with a know-it-all attitude to tell me I'm wrong. Only problem is I wasn't wrong as all I said is the roof bubbles after the glue pulls loose. You came in with why that happened, but that didn't prove me wrong as I never said why. Maybe you should learn to quit being such an ass.

[Gjac]

Each material has its advantages and disadvantages. As a young Eng It saw a lot of impact tests on FG structures. We used to drop 1/2 ball bearings from 20 ft and measure the damage to the surrounding structure. What was observed was a halo of cracked resin around each impact site. On .030 panels these would allow water to enter into the substructure. Without getting too technical if you dropped enough balls you could end up with a severely damaged structure. I flew into Texas one time and tried to rent a car and most were severely damaged by hail stones. I think this is what Doug was eluding earlier. Rubber or TPO would resist impact much better. I think the thermoplastic materials like the TPO are a good compromise between the high strength FG and the rubber that can be torn by tree branches. Having said all that I would not let roof material be a determining factor of the next MH I buy. My EPDM roof is 20 years old and has been patched in several places but does not leak. I just looked at two 2009 MHs with a one piece FG roof and the caulking was not maintained and there was leakage and a lot of water damage.

[bjbear]

dougrainer wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically what I said????

No, the glue did not fail. The air intruding under the Rubber caused the rubber to pull loose. BIG difference. HOW do you think we remove the old rubber when we replace the Roof?????? Doug

You blow on it?

People like you we fire as customers. You are not worth the BS you bring. To answer your STUPID response--you cut in strips and PULL it off the decking. It takes a LOT of strength to rip those small strips OFF a correctly glued roof. So, this shows the force of wind at 60 mph getting under the Rubber and pulling it loose to bubble. To also answer your stupid response, if glue failed why do you not see bubbling at the middle or rear of a rubber roof in transit? Because there is no place for the wind to get under at those spots. Doug

I understand the point you are making about the difference between glue failing in place vs. glue failing due to an effect (air under edge) that is outside the design parameter that the glue was engineered for.

Since you are experinced with roof repair, do you have some advice on the difference between the rubber and fiberglass roofs? Can you recommend a preference? I am dealing on a Monaco right now which has a fiberglass roof. Anything I shoul be checkng besides the obvious seal along the front edge?

[dougrainer]

msmith1199 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically what I said????

No, the glue did not fail. The air intruding under the Rubber caused the rubber to pull loose. BIG difference. HOW do you think we remove the old rubber when we replace the Roof?????? Doug

You blow on it?

People like you we fire as customers. You are not worth the BS you bring. To answer your STUPID response--you cut in strips and PULL it off the decking. It takes a LOT of strength to rip those small strips OFF a correctly glued roof. So, this shows the force of wind at 60 mph getting under the Rubber and pulling it loose to bubble. To also answer your stupid response, if glue failed why do you not see bubbling at the middle or rear of a rubber roof in transit? Because there is no place for the wind to get under at those spots. Doug

[msmith1199]

dougrainer wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically what I said????

No, the glue did not fail. The air intruding under the Rubber caused the rubber to pull loose. BIG difference. HOW do you think we remove the old rubber when we replace the Roof?????? Doug

You blow on it?

[Ray___June]

We sold our 1975 American Clipper 2 years ago. My dad bought it new in 75, & I bought it from him in 85. It came with a fiberglass roof and was still in fair condition when we sold it. We had friends with TPO & rubber roofs who had issues within 8-10 years. That was enough to convince me that fiberglass is a better option.

When we were looking for a RV to full time in, my first criteria was a fiberglass roof.

[dougrainer]

msmith1199 wrote:
So basically what I said????

No, the glue did not fail. The air intruding under the Rubber caused the rubber to pull loose. BIG difference. HOW do you think we remove the old rubber when we replace the Roof?????? Doug

[msmith1199]

So basically what I said????

[dougrainer]

msmith1199 wrote:
Okay Doug I get it. The roof bubbling is not because the glue failed. It's because the air caused the glue to fail?? Was I wrong because I used the word glue instead of adhesive? Isn't glue an adhesive? Either way didn't the glue fail and cause the roof to bubble???

No, Adhesive or glue, it will not cause bubbling if it fails. The bubbling is caused because air is getting in somewhere and getting under the Rubber and bubbling it up. You would be amazed at how small (less than a 1/4 inch) gap anywhere in the front area that is not correctly sealed and allowing the Air in transit to get under the rubber. Of course, the longer this continues to happen the larger the bubble and amount of membrane comes loose from the existing adhesive. Eventually the force of the air will rip the rubber away from the front Cap and the rubber will flap and no longer bubble. Usually we find the area where the sidewall awning rails are not correctly sealed and there is that small 1/4 inch hole allowing road wind to get in. This will not leak water in but allow wind to get under the rubber. Also this can happen when the EPDM is incorrectly replaced and they did not insert the membrane UNDER the Cap or front metal rail. Doug

[msmith1199]

Okay Doug I get it. The roof bubbling is not because the glue failed. It's because the air caused the glue to fail?? Was I wrong because I used the word glue instead of adhesive? Isn't glue an adhesive? Either way didn't the glue fail and cause the roof to bubble???

[dougrainer]

msmith1199 wrote:
Quite a few times I've seen motorhome and trailers (mostly trailers) with rubber roofs and you could see the glue holding it down had given way and the roof material was bubbling up. The driver probably had no idea it was doing that since it was only visible at freeway speeds. My guess it most of those roofs were probably close to failure.

I have a fiberglass roof on my motorhome and never had any issues. I even hit a tree branch once that destroyed my bathroom roof vent and did nothing to the roof. I've heard stories of people tearing holes in the rubber roof with tree branches.

As to roof bubbling going down the road. It is NOT because the glue failed. The Rubber is installed UNDER the front Cap or front metal overlay and screwed down with a metal strip. IF there is anything that allows AIR to get under the cap or that sealed front edge, that will allow air to be forced under the membrane and slowly brake the adhesive loose and cause that bubbling. Even if you had a non glued Rubber in front, if sealed correctly, without air being forced under it, it will not bubble going down the road. Doug

[Jim_Norman]

There is Fiberglass and then there is Fiberglass. Winnebago uses a sheet of fiberglass whereas it lookes like Tiffin uses a molded fiberglass roof. We had an Itasca and the roof was thin, we started having to recaulk the joint and were getting worried about it potentially peeling. Founded or unfounded I am not sure. Looking at the Tiffin Video it does look like the roof is a unit.

[msmith1199]

Quite a few times I've seen motorhome and trailers (mostly trailers) with rubber roofs and you could see the glue holding it down had given way and the roof material was bubbling up. The driver probably had no idea it was doing that since it was only visible at freeway speeds. My guess it most of those roofs were probably close to failure.

I have a fiberglass roof on my motorhome and never had any issues. I even hit a tree branch once that destroyed my bathroom roof vent and did nothing to the roof. I've heard stories of people tearing holes in the rubber roof with tree branches.

[Johno02]

Thanks for the comments guys!! Hoping we don't have to upgrade anytime soon, but you never know.