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)

[westend]

I don't know where material costs fit in this budget nor the number of sheets on the roof but I'd suggest to seriously consider replacing all the sheets on the roof with 1/4" CDX plywood. You will get better adhesion for any product you use and can be comfortable that it is all new up there.

If I wished to avoid using the typical membrane roofing products, this is what I'd do: Install new plywood sheets, fill all voids and joints with a patching product, prime with a latex primer, paint with a quality latex/acrylic paint, paint with one of the acrylic roofing top coats like Hengs or other. I would also cover the roof with a plastic sheet or quality tarp both before the pergola is built and after. Some members have topcoated with bedliner or even had the roof recoated with purpose supplied roofing material. The stuff is not cheap and results can be mixed, depending on material and professional installation.

One way to stretch your restoration budget is to use a Habitat for Humanity store or get paint through a neighborhood recycling center. I have a recycling center close to me that stocks hundreds of gallons of leftover paint, varnish, and various cleaning supplies. I haven't bought any of that (for my own use) in years.

[agesilaus]

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?

[DieselFreak250]

John&joey: back when I use to Drive truck, you wouldn't belive some of the **** I hauled on a flat bed, I swore would never get to where it was going. lol. The county building inspector has a power trip. he wants things done his way and even if it isn't in the book. and if you buck him it just makes it harder. so I want to avoid anything to get him to come out here. or to say I can't do this or that.

Map40 I had looked at gator grip, but i have to order it in, and I already started tearing the roof apart. but You got me wondering though if I did Iron Armor bedliner, it can be painted. I was thinking of maybe painting it White or hiting it with liquid rubber to give it a double barrier, but not sure how they would mix, but its An idea. i have already started replacing wall joints and all, i figured where the insulation is bad, or not there I will just go over with foam board, and where the other insulation is just doing foam board over top it as extra, filing it in with spray foam to give it gap free insulation.

Allen8106, thanks I wish I could, wish i had more to spend on the roof. its been rough being on fixed income.

[allen8106]

valhalla360 wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:

If it were me, and I were remodeling for a permanent parked camper, I'd build a pitched roof on it and then just shingle it, like a house.

I would do this and not bother to open up the roof.

Just build the roof a couple feet higher so there is room and ventilation for the air/con and other penetrations and call it good.

A full rebuild won't add any value. At least with a separate roof, if you give up on this trailer, you can pull it out and bring another trailer in and still use the same roof.

He can't afford a complete pitched roof over it. He only has $500 to work with.

[map40]

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.

[John_Joey]

FWIW, given what you said.... Most of the ones that I've seen in that state simply build a slightly peaked roof over the old one, connect it securely, and then use roll roofing or shingles. An HGTV $70,000 tiny home in essence. 🙂 :S

Joking aside, I even helped a trailer mover move one of those about 50 miles. Kept it under 50mph, blew one tire, but it made it to it's final resting place.

I doubt the county can say anything, unless they have an axe to grind.

[DieselFreak250]

I wish i could build a roof to sit over top this thing, but that is more money then what i can do, plus the county would want me to have a building permit, because it consider a car port, anyway if the county can get money they will. so I am leaning on doing bedliner or liquid rubber and I worry that with the liquid rubber it will crack and all after a while, but if i did the bedliner, I worry it won't be waterproof enough, even though i probably do 3 or 4 coats, I can get Hengs from my local Home depot, they carry it in stock, and i can get herculiner from autozone down the road. or Iron armor from harbor frieght, those are my local choices i can pick up with out waiting a week and paying shipping. its just I can't make up my mind..

If i do the Heng's if i tape all the seams with Butyl tape, it will stick to the tape? or does the tape go over it. same question for if i did the bedliner, can i use the tape over or under the liner? or do i need it at all?

I know it might be a stupid question but i never used any of this before.

[valhalla360]

DutchmenSport wrote:

If it were me, and I were remodeling for a permanent parked camper, I'd build a pitched roof on it and then just shingle it, like a house.

I would do this and not bother to open up the roof.

Just build the roof a couple feet higher so there is room and ventilation for the air/con and other penetrations and call it good.

A full rebuild won't add any value. At least with a separate roof, if you give up on this trailer, you can pull it out and bring another trailer in and still use the same roof.

[gbopp]

NMDriver wrote:
Paint over the whole roof with 1 Gallon of Heng's Rubber Roof Coating (on Amazon for $55/gal)

X2 on the Heng's Rubber Roof Coating. It's a great product.

[Lwiddis]

Time consuming..as in working.

[DieselFreak250]

thanks DutchmenSport, I plan on putting a pergola covered in vines and all over it to help block some of the sun and UV. ( i have used drylock to water proof plywood aquariums. works great. lol becomes like concrete. but thats another subject) basically I just need to make it cheap as possible and last as long as possible eventually it will either become part of a pollbarn structure or will become a larger structure.

NMDriver, from what i can see it isn't chip board but 1/4 inch ply sheathing) thats what is on both ends for the roof. who ever tried to repair it once before used MDF for a small section. that rotted out. thats why i need to replace lol but it isn't a lot of work, just time consuming is all. and Thanks for the tip on the insulation.

[NMDriver]

Just replace the rafter and use 1/8 or 1/4 ply instead of the chip board/luan that likely came on the unit. Hengs will stick to the ply also and the bondo will allow you to fill in any gaps between the new ply and the old roof material. You will need to insulate the roof anyway and that double sided reflective coating really helps to keep in the heat in winter, the heat out in summer and the white roof will reflect the sun in summer.

[Lwiddis]

All while you are disabled? As in unable to work.

[DutchmenSport]

Really, if the camper is never going to move, you can use any kind of roofing material on it, same as a house. You could go with a corrugated tin roof, or a standard metal roof that might be put on someone house, or fiberglass shingles, or rubber, or actually, anything.

A poured rubber might be OK for a while, but I think exposure to the sun over time would cause it to dry out and crack. FYI, I tried using the As-Seen-On-TV rubber spray stuff and it just peeled off once it dried. The material you put that liquid rubber on must be absolutely pristine clean in order for it to stick, otherwise you've just wasted your money.

If it were me, and I were remodeling for a permanent parked camper, I'd build a pitched roof on it and then just shingle it, like a house.

[DieselFreak250]

NMDriver. Thanks UNfortinatly I have to puul the rubber back i have to replace a rafter and part of the header that was all rotted out. but I had been looking at hengs rubber roof. but wasn't sure if it would be ok on bare ply... oh and as far as insulation i was going to do foam board. for the walls