Why RV different than house?

If your house wall and roof framing were made of 1x2's and 2x2's, with 1/8" paneling as shear wall and 1/4" ply or OSB as roof sheathing, with 24ga aluminum sheet for roof and siding, all nailed with finish nails and screwed with tiny wood screws, then taken off it's foundation, placed onto a thin, weak RV trailer frame and towed over potholes and down twisty roads at freeway speeds, it would be falling apart and leaking all over, like most RV's

Okay, got it. That's why I lean on all the expertise on this forum. RV'ing is a learning experience. Thanks again all of you!!

If your house wall and roof framing were made of 1x2's and 2x2's, with 1/8" paneling as shear wall and 1/4" ply or OSB as roof sheathing, with 24ga aluminum sheet for roof and siding, all nailed with finish nails and screwed with tiny wood screws, then taken off it's foundation, placed onto a thin, weak RV trailer frame and towed over potholes and down twisty roads at freeway speeds, it would be falling apart and leaking all over, like most RV's.

Probably the RV comparatively suffers from light weight materials,flexing, cut corners and cost considerations, and heavy reliance on sealants. Certainly other transportation implements, often the same general shape as an RV, are less maintenance intensive.

I wonder how the tiny house on wheels units hold up in this regard. They appear to use more traditional home building materials and techniques. OTOH will a shingled roof blow apart at speed? Probably not if attention to that detail.

Part of the reason roof maintenance is important on RVs is the structure the roof is protecting is lightweight and any rot or damage will significantly weaken it. There is little margin for safety. More professional over the road or rail equipment has sturdier structure which is less affected by a leak should it occur.

All in all I see it as RVs shooting for a price point with assembly practices and materials to match.

just4mrg wrote:
Just a question. I've only been RV'ing for few years. I follow all this talk on resealing roof, etc. Why is an RV roof so different than the roof in my home? The roof in my house has wet vents, exhaust vents, etc coming through the shingles. Never in years do I ever get up on the roof in my home to inspect and reseal. But with an RV I read this is required annually. Just wondering why the RV roof is treated with so much more care. Thanks.

Put your house on a trailer that flexes and then take it for a trip for a few thousand miles at speeds up to 60 mph and see how well it does.

Most house roofs (at least in areas that get much precipitation) have a significant slope to them. That makes it a lot simpler to seal and to have effective flashing around vents and so forth, since the water only goes in one direction. (If you live in areas where there's freezing weather and get an ice dam, you can quickly find out how well sealed a shingle roof really is when water goes the wrong way!)

valhalla360 wrote:

FYI - don't go years without checking out your house roof. Minor leaks can create a lot of rot and damage without you realizing it.

Exactly. When we had a s&b we inspected the roof at least once per year and the older the roof got, the more often we inspected it until it was replaced.

As others have said....

Example: 65mph into a 20mph head wind is the equivalent of exposing your roof to hurricane force winds. How many hurricanes has your house been thru with no damage?

FYI - don't go years without checking out your house roof. Minor leaks can create a lot of rot and damage without you realizing it.

Cheep shingles weigh about 200 lb a square (100 square ft), good ones about 350lb. A 38 ft camper 8 ft wide would take 3 squares which is so heavy you would need to add support framing under it, more weight.

And the extra weight. We see what is called "park models" that are built more like houses and are not meant to be rolling down the road. The membranes on RV's nowadays are similar to flat roofs you would see on many commercial buildings. And these membranes are a big improvement from the rv roofs of yesteryear, IMHO

I'm a noob too, but I think your rv moving creates alot of body movement. As the rv moves all the seals will be flexed, especially with body roll on corners. All the twisting and torquing has got to be pretty tough on even the best of seals. And then if it does leak, the effects are devastating to build materials inside leading to much $$$

ok I'm late. Rick has you covered