5'ver roof repair.

[DieselFreak250]

Hey everyone, new here, first post. so may be long ( going to be) and rambly forgive me, I was given a 1992 mallard sprinter. 28' fifth wheel, this thing has extreme water damage, I have to replace wall studs, rafters roof decking on both ends, and had to fix a corner of the floor with new decking. I do everything myself and Love wood working so its not an issue to work on this, I have carpentry skills. I had planed on remodeling this thing on the inside anyway, just hadn't planned on all the water damge. A little background on me, I am disable and on a Fixed income. I am not the one paying to repair the water damage. that is being paid for by the ones who gave the sprinter to me. Basically this is for me to live in sometimes and to be able to have my own place, It will not be towed at all, and if I ever did decide to tow it somewhere, it would not be far and wouldn't be but once or twice every few years or so,

Basically this is the situation, I need to replace the roof decking on the front and back of this thing. which means i need to peal the rubber roof back, the owner before me, silicone everything that was leaking with regular silicone. made a mess of the roof around the ladder and all those seems. he knew their was a leak but just covered everything up with silicone, and new paneling. anyway I want to take the rubber roof completely off, and do something different, the roof is the Original and from what i see from the inside it is a white rubber EPDM liner. just from the big gap from rotting deckboard. (i have to rebuild a whole new corner of this thing in the rear, floor to ceiling) Anyway for the roof decking I was thinking of doing Bedliner, or a liquid rubber right on the plywood decking, My budget for this project is very strict, I have been given $500 to redo the roof. Hence why i am looking at bedliner or liquid rubber. again this thing does not have to travel, and will not have to even be taged, Eventually i Plan on making a pergola over top of it with vines shading the roof. (may take a few years) So the roof has to give me at least 5-10 or better years of leak free hassel, So I come to you go folks to kind of help me with this roof situation.

thanks for any help you can give me.

(Mod if this is in wrong section please move)

[DieselFreak250]

OK so Rain is comming sunday, I still have to finish tearing off the roof, but No one around here carries butyl tape, for the seams. and Even if I did oder it and over night it to me, Its to late in the day to get it by tomorrow, what would you recommend for the edgeing, I am going to use bedliner, but I am wondering if their is something at lowes or home depot, I may be able to get for the seams, I have reread this thread, and even miss some of your comments, I am sorry for that. and do thank you for your help. So what do you guys suggest.

Map40 I reread your thread about using gorrilla tapeon the seams and then bedliner over it, I am not worried about pretty, I am more so worried about functionality, It reminds me of when i was testing drylok to water proof a playwood aquarium i used painters tape on a shoe box around the edges and then drylocked it and it held water just fine. it was a test before i did the big tank. So that is an option to use tape. once the bedliner has a nice thick coat on shouldn't have to worry about the tape ever coming up, I just never used bedliner so I'm not to sure, I could always drylock it first then bedliner over it lol. maybe over kill.

Nmdriver 2 You mentioned bondo all purpose, would bondo Body filler work for the seams and edges, just trying to figure out things,

And just a heads up I know on the first page someone wanted to be ignorant about my disability, i didn't see those post until after i reread this thread, I have a brain trauma, I can't work, BUt that doesn't stop me from doing phyical labor at my own pace. I wish i could work, I miss driving truck and All, and that is also why i may not catch your post or remember to respond to it. so please forgive me if I over look something...

[DieselFreak250]

THe fridge isn't the Orignal and is not a gas type, the only thing on this thing that is GAS is the stove. and soon that won't be. I tried to find a model number but the sticker is missing, But I do know that it is just a eletric fridge, no gas hookup or anything.

As far as the roof, I wish I had added more pitch, I should of,

[map40]

DieselFreak250 wrote:
Grit Dog: its ok I can be defensive and come off as un greatful and ignorant, Never intend to come off that way its just how I am. But I don't worry about them. The roof is bassicly flat, it doesn't have a arch to it, well it does but its so small and the way the plywood is waving its almost not there. it basically a flat roof at this point. altho I never thought about the roll roof. but pricing it here locally is going to cost me almost $300.00 just for 3 rolls though it is an idea, I'll keep looking for a cheaper price of it, I'm still open to idea's I haven't finalized what I am using yet for the water proofer. still busy working on taking the old roof deck off and puting the new on.

Just went out to inspect the roof again and it is flat on top with a slight ease on the sides.

Also I was wondering the refrigerator in it is not the Original will i need a roof vent for it if i decided to move it to another location? right now it has the side panel to access the plug and the roof vent for the Original just want to remodel the Kitchen area so would I need a side vent and roof vent?

If the roof is flat, add a pitch to it with the plywood if you can. nothing worse for an RV roof than a lake sitting on it.
As far as the vent, you need it. The RV fridge is amonia based, so the cooling part HAS to be vented on the outside. If not, if there is a leak, the amonia can easily kill you.

[DieselFreak250]

Grit Dog: its ok I can be defensive and come off as un greatful and ignorant, Never intend to come off that way its just how I am. But I don't worry about them. The roof is bassicly flat, it doesn't have a arch to it, well it does but its so small and the way the plywood is waving its almost not there. it basically a flat roof at this point. altho I never thought about the roll roof. but pricing it here locally is going to cost me almost $300.00 just for 3 rolls though it is an idea, I'll keep looking for a cheaper price of it, I'm still open to idea's I haven't finalized what I am using yet for the water proofer. still busy working on taking the old roof deck off and puting the new on.

Just went out to inspect the roof again and it is flat on top with a slight ease on the sides.

Also I was wondering the refrigerator in it is not the Original will i need a roof vent for it if i decided to move it to another location? right now it has the side panel to access the plug and the roof vent for the Original just want to remodel the Kitchen area so would I need a side vent and roof vent?

[Grit_dog]

Hey good to hear you're gettin er fixed up.
Pay no attention to the 2 d icks that posted on the first page. They're better than the rest of us.....lol.
For your roofing. Presume the trailer roof still has a bit of pitch to it where water drains off, right? I wouldn't mess with any rubber roll on coatings or any other backwoods engineering ideas.
Roll roofing is cheap and lasts as long as shingles. $150 will buy you like 3 rolls of roofing. Since the roof is still essentially flat, seal the lap seams and nails with roofing tar like Henry's.
Cheap and more durable and last longer than any of these other things.

[DieselFreak250]

OK just and update. i bought the plywood, but am very unhappy with it. decided to buy the plywood from Ace, and got 2 sheets up and it is wavy as all get out. its like the freaking ocean. almost thinking of going with 1/2" taking back the crappy stuff and driving the hour to home depot to get better stuff i can pick myself. But the good news is the whole corner has been redone and the rafters are beefed up and the wall is all solid and back to new.

[agesilaus]

NMDriver2 wrote:
Did someone here try to send me a personal message? I lost my login ID and Password and had to re-register as NMDriver2. Maybe I will be able to stay logged in with this id.

Anyway, all purpose bondo will fill the voids between plywood sheets and give you a smooth solid transition on the edges. It sets up quick though so do not mix to much at a time and buy extra hardener.

Yeah it was me, nothing important just thanking you for posting your repair scheme. I have to undertake some roof repairs myself. Heng's is on it's way but I think we are scheduled for rain this weekend so I'll have to do it next week.

[NMDriver2]

Did someone here try to send me a personal message? I lost my login ID and Password and had to re-register as NMDriver2. Maybe I will be able to stay logged in with this id.

Anyway, all purpose bondo will fill the voids between plywood sheets and give you a smooth solid transition on the edges. It sets up quick though so do not mix to much at a time and buy extra hardener.

[map40]

DieselFreak250 wrote:
Well I got half the roof tore of yesterday, so the camper is partly a convertable now. going ot get the plywood today. and finish tearing off the roof tonight.

agesilaus, I plan on going with 1/4 BC plywood, I figure it will probably be the best stuff to use. I have used 5mm luan, i reskined my 240 gallon aquarium stand with it, I would not trust it to walk on. its way to thin and I'm way to heavy. as far as budget for the plywood its going to cost a $150-160. roughly. and that isn't even comming out of the roof budget. I will need 7 sheets so I'm not to concerned about that. What type of bondo where you going to do?

Map40, How did you do the edge of yours did you use tape? I find on mine that When i was pulling up the old plywood I didn't have to remove the trim full of screws I had started to. but there was no need other then to pull the rubber out from behind it. So just curious how you water proofed the edge, unless you told me and I over looked it forgive me, i do that sometimes.

The same plastic between the two layers of bed liner should do it. Otherwise, good 4 inch duct tape (gorila) and coated with bed liner. It sound a little iffy, but the 4 inch gorila tape will stick to anything and you are just using it as a base for the coating. If you want to go fancier I would use butil tape or eterna bond, they are the best option.

[DieselFreak250]

Well I got half the roof tore of yesterday, so the camper is partly a convertable now. going ot get the plywood today. and finish tearing off the roof tonight.

agesilaus, I plan on going with 1/4 BC plywood, I figure it will probably be the best stuff to use. I have used 5mm luan, i reskined my 240 gallon aquarium stand with it, I would not trust it to walk on. its way to thin and I'm way to heavy. as far as budget for the plywood its going to cost a $150-160. roughly. and that isn't even comming out of the roof budget. I will need 7 sheets so I'm not to concerned about that. What type of bondo where you going to do?

Map40, How did you do the edge of yours did you use tape? I find on mine that When i was pulling up the old plywood I didn't have to remove the trim full of screws I had started to. but there was no need other then to pull the rubber out from behind it. So just curious how you water proofed the edge, unless you told me and I over looked it forgive me, i do that sometimes.

[map40]

agesilaus wrote:

map40 wrote:
I did one of my roofs with Gator Grip (a bedliner) and it worked OK for 4 years. Re-did it with another one sealant.
In your case, I would just put plywood on top of what you have, seal the seams, put bedliner, cover it with vizquine while still fresh, and another coat of bedliner. You should be able to walk, jump or dance on that roof.
As far ad the inside damage, just start peeling off and replacing with new wood and insulation. Avoid mold.
Good luck.

Why use bedliner when a number of people recommend a product that is actually designed for this application. And that product will not be more expensive than bedliner?

Good question. I did it because I wanted a more durable roof, specially dealing with trees and things like that. This is one of my rental units, and 1 year after I did it somebody drove under a low Oak branch and flattened the two AC units. Everytime this has happened the rubber would be detroyed. In this unit, not one cut. So, to answer directly, the stuff designed for an application is not necesairly the best option, sometimes there is something better, they just don't want you to use it because it would mean less money.

[agesilaus]

OK what type of plywood are you planning on getting? I just went thru a reflooring project in my house and I went looking for luann plywood, and could not find it in either Homedepot or Lowes. They do carry something new to me--popular 1/4 inch underlayment. It looks to my eye to be better quality than the old luann stuff and almost seems to be impregnated with resin. Here is the spec sheet: 5mm plywood

No mention of resin so I guess that is just the appearance of this material. Slightly less than 1/4 which would be 6 mm. It's $14 a sheet.
1/2 CD grade plywood was running somewhere around $25-30. You probably need around 7 sheets if you do the whole roof so your $500 is more than enough. Probably $250 will do. As for the waterproofing that material is only $56/gal and 2 gallons will more than double coat that area. If you use eternabond that stuff is pricey but $100 should cover that. I'm going the bondo route myself.

[John_Joey]

One more idea to think about. You can buy a box of two part spray foam for about $200. Lay a good sheet of that on top. If it will support you go over it with some sort of white Koolseal. Anoth $50-60. Never done it or would unless forced into it, but just brainstorming with ya.

[DieselFreak250]

Westend, from what my caculations are, its going to take 6.5 sheets to do the roof, I had planed on redoing the entire roof, or at least adding some luan to the good decking, but i'm in the process now of undoing the trim and pulling up the membrane, the stuff is so old it is brittle, and you can see who ever had it before and tried to patch or paint over it, use a roll on liquid rubber, but he didn't do the whole roof just around anything attached like the railing, ladder and ac. it looks crappy and it doesn't stick to well. the actual rubber membrane is brittle and is just ripping apart.

As far as budget is concerned I have enough right now to cover the cost of plywood. that not an issue. the $500. will be for just the water proofer. so that is where i am at. i can't take this thing anywhere as it don't have tags, and don't plan on tagging it unless absolutely necessary, I figured last night i decided that I wasn't going to be hauling it around it will basicly become a man cave and hangout section for where it is at, with a garden around it and pond and all. if i ever decide to get rid of it I'll salvage what i can and tear it down and use the frame for some thing else. I'll eventually redo the side wall maybe adding T111 paneling eventually or something but thats way down the road.

our habitat for humanity places around here suck, its all clothing and furniture, nothing hardware. we been to them before for supplies for other people. But I actually have kiltz primer Like i said I am always building something and have a ton of supplies.

What would you suggest for filling in the viods and joints of the plywood, regular wood filler? or should i seam it with tape?

As far as the Ac and vents, I was thinking of pulling them up and doing the roof with what ever I decide. and then putting it all back in place and using some gaskit for the ac or some lap silicone or something to water proof it all back up, what would you suggest, ( also the strips to cover the seam screws broke on me they were so brittle and dry rotted, So what do you suggest for covering up the seem screws, do they make those strips for the metal seams? or can i just use lap culk.