life of a rubber roof, without any damage

spoon059 wrote:
Once consumers started clammering for products to use to "treat" and "seal" and "protect", the industry started to give them products, for a reasonable fee, of course.

That's a common phenomenon, mistrusting (or not reading) the owner's manual. So yeah, mfrs will see that and provide products to satisfy that perceived need.

Sorta like after-market products to get better fuel mileage, because the mfrs are engaged in a conspiracy to make you buy more fuel. Or any number of "natural" cures and supplements because doctors don't know what they're doing. Do they ever work? Maybe, in rare cases, but it's usually designed to just take your money.

Depends on what you expect from the roof. If you expect it to keep out moisture, it will last a very long time. If you expect it to be sparkling white, it will last about 6 months. The same EPDM is used in commercial applications and requires ZERO maintenance. Up until about 10 or 12 years ago, the manufacturers didn't recommend any maintenance besides cleaning and inspecting the caulk joint at the sidewalls. Once consumers started clammering for products to use to "treat" and "seal" and "protect", the industry started to give them products, for a reasonable fee, of course.

Those products, if used properly, won't damage the roof. I have seen ZERO literature that use of those products will actually extend the life of the roof, however. Their are people that absolutely have to do "something" to feel better about the roof, so the industry decided they could make money off those people.

Growing up we had campers, dad never washed them. Not once. Every spring and fall we would re-caulk the joints. They did fine. My last camper was a 1998 Nash 22H. Great trailer, loved it. My wife's uncle owned it before me. Never once in the 12 years that he or I owned it was the roof washed, treated, protected or sealed. I cleaned the joints to inspect them and to put Eternabond on them. Never leaked, sold it 3 years ago and I believe its still being used.

That would put the life at 20 years on that particular model... stored outdoors its entire life, never placed under cover and parked under a pine tree for the 5 years I owned it...

94 5er 24 yrs and the mh is 20 yrs and still no major sign of wear, wash every yr. sometimes twice.

My '97 5er with a 31' 10" rubber roof has never been treated and washed twice in 21 years.
I had my own rv/mobilehome repair business years back so non of my rvs have never leaked

Ironically, long before I owned an RV - I knew about "Rubber roofs" (EPDM). The building I owned for my business started leaking (flat roof) and after getting information and quotes, I went with the EPDM membrane. It came with a 15-year warranty (maybe it's longer for a building since they don't experience high winds like the roof of an RV does?) And interestingly - I was told there was zero maintenance. Ever.

Typical rubber roof on RV's probably 10 years in AZ or other sunny climes, 15->20 years up North or in shade. That is the UV part of the degradation. Molds and dirt will attack rubber, too, as will mechanical action (poor glue-up on installation causing membrane to lift when in transport).

A good mold abatement is installing mild Zinc strips so that water runoff from rain will carry the Zinc Oxide across the membrane. Copper works somewhat less efficiently and is more expensive.

I've installed the Zinc strips on residential roofs where tree cover is close to 100%. An owner with a shallow roof slope and tree cover, that previously had a green/black roof from various fungi, now has a clean roof. Since aftermarket or after-installation of metal strips can be cumbersome, placing a bare copper wire across the roof on either side of the ridge can be an easy deterrent. Those with flat RV roofs will need to get inventive for metal placement.

2oldman wrote:

ScottG wrote:
If it's someplace extremely hot and sunny, like Fl, the life can be as short as 15 years or so. Around here they easily go 30+ years.

I'm not sure which is worse, PNW moss or Nevada sun.

That pink mod we get might be the worst. Doesn't hurt anything but sure looks sissy!

SoundGuy wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
The warranty is typically 7-10yrs but that gives the manufacturer a good margin of error so 15-20yrs with a moderate level of maintenance should be expected.

I'd like to see documentation to support this claim as any roof membrane warranty I've seen is 12 years, no less, no more, the point being one should expect it to last at least this long provided it's been correctly maintained.

The roof "Warranty" is very misleading. A good sales tool at best. If you read the fine print it states the warranty covers the fabric only not the installation, adhesive, fittings or labor. Then after all this it is pro-rated. So if the fabric fails after say 11 years...you might, after jumping through a bunch of hoops receive a check for $20.00. Doesn't sound like much of a warranty to me.

B.O.

greenskeeper wrote:
A BIG, thanks to all who replied to my post, looks like I will have it done when we get south this winter...……………….

By "done," do you mean replaced?

To me, it makes no sense whatsoever to replace just based on age if the condition is fine. It seems to me about as silly as replacing your windshield because it's 15 years old, even if it's not cracked or pitted.

A BIG, thanks to all who replied to my post, looks like I will have it done when we get south this winter...……………….