Forum Discussion

dbmead99's avatar
dbmead99
Explorer
Jul 16, 2020

Help with Roof

All -

As always, appreciate in advance any help.

Going down the road the other day, my 2018 Heartland Trail Runner had the roof membrane peel back. It ripped back about 5 feet from the edge of the front cap, and tore off my antenna. Pulled all the screws out of where my cap screws into the roof.

I made it back home with some Gorilla tape and screws, and been in some contact with the manufacturer, which doesn't look to be going well. That is another story.

Best case scenario, looks like it will be more than a month before anyone can get to it. Problem is, I have promised my girls a summer vacation, leaving in about 2 weeks. We had to cancel our other plans twice due to Covid, so I am hell bent on making this one happen.

Here is my idea, tell me if its good or terrible.

1. Cut back the torn EPDM roof about 4 feet from the front edge.
2. Glue down that front edge
3. Add eternabond to that front edge.
4. Take a second piece of new EPDM - overlap the old piece by 6 inches or a foot. Attach that seam with Eternabond, then glue those two pieces together where they overlap using the same Dicor adhesive.
5. Roll the new piece forward to the front, gluing to the rook along the way with Dicor adhesive.
6. Attach to front and sides in normal fashion.

Here is a link to a pic where I am trying to describe what I intend.
A. Gray box is the roof,and would extend all the way to the tan rectangle.
B. Clear rectangle is existing EPDM roof
C. Blue would be new piece of EPDM
D. Tan is meant to show the frame under the roof material
C. Red outline is front cap.

Roof fix Pic
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Jul 16, 2020
    I saw another rig with this problem. He put a strap all the way around the coach to hold it down. Not pretty, but fast.
  • Joe417's avatar
    Joe417
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2020
    I repaired a damaged area, not nearly as big, similarly. It was about 2' x 3' after cutting the ragged edges away and about 3' back from the front cap.

    I didn't have any of the adhesive to glue it down so I covered it with Dicor and placed the new rubber on it, overlapping a couple of inches all the way around.

    I put about a 2" wide bead of Dicor all the way around the edge of the patch to seal it.

    My neighbor has never had an problem with it, probably 8 years now.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Jul 17, 2020
    I did some patching on our old fiver. I don't know why you are plan to cut the flap off. I would put that back down with dicor under it and then cover the whole torn area with new material as you describe. Eternabond or this new super strong 4 inch Gorilla tape around the edges.

    I used Hengs coating over the whole roof after that but that's optional.
  • dbmead99's avatar
    dbmead99
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2020
    agesilaus wrote:
    I did some patching on our old fiver. I don't know why you are plan to cut the flap off. I would put that back down with dicor under it and then cover the whole torn area with new material as you describe. Eternabond or this new super strong 4 inch Gorilla tape around the edges.

    I used Hengs coating over the whole roof after that but that's optional.


    Appreciate the response. I think I need to cut the old material off because I can't get it to lay flat otherwise. If I could get it lay flat, I would probably just try and do a small patch along the front edge to get it to go back under the cap, then along the rip. I fought with it about 2 hours yesterday trying to smooth it out and wasn't successful.

    So, that is why I was just going to trim it back, then overlap with a new smooth piece up to and under the cap.

    I should add, I am going to try and take pics tomorrow for insurance purposes, so I may try and attach them in a future post.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Jul 17, 2020
    1. If you want Warranty help, you need to take a LOT of good Pics all around the ripped roof. I would also take the RV back to your dealer BEFORE you fix it, not to drop it off, but to show them the results and your pics. Have them document that you came in. DO NOT let them blow you off if they state they are too busy. ANY good dealer will let you drop by just to document what happened. Failure to do that and you then get it fixed by yourself, they will probably deny warranty coverage.
    2. I KNOW you think the rubber just came loose and peeled back. I have seen scores of your type problem over the years. Yes, some times it is inadequate glue by the OEM, but you would be amazed to learn that once I get on top and look at the front cap and left over rubber, I find where the Customer hit a tree limb or some such object and either pulled the rubber slightly loose from under the front Cap edge and the resulting wind at 60 mph then bubbled up and pulled it loose more. I also can then point to the areas on the rubber and the cap and even the Roof AC covers and vent covers and the rear untouched area of the existing roof showing the telltale scrape marks from the tree limbs that scraped the roof. Even the scrape marks on the Patio awning. So, if you have these type marks on your roof, rethink trying to warranty and inform your insurance company. Doug

    PS, If the dealer refuses to see you, Call Heartland, document who you talk too and state you want their E mail address to send the Pics you took. That way they have a record for later warranty help.
  • joelc's avatar
    joelc
    Explorer III
    Jul 17, 2020
    I used Gorilla tape on my tonneau cover in an area with bad stitching. It held really well until the weather got hot. In hot weather the glue melted and the tape was flapping in the wind as we went down the road. I had to use WD-40 to get the glue off my truck where the tape hit. Only use the Gorilla tape in an emergency otherwise stick to the eternabond tape and dicor. I have a strip of eternabond and dicor around it now for several years on the roof where a branch penetrated.
  • Bumpyroad's avatar
    Bumpyroad
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2020
    dbmead99 wrote:


    Appreciate the response. I think I need to cut the old material off because I can't get it to lay flat otherwise. If I could get it lay flat, I would probably just try and do a small patch along the front edge to get it to go back under the cap, then along the rip. I fought with it about 2 hours yesterday trying to smooth it out and wasn't successful.

    So, that is why I was just going to trim it back, then overlap with a new smooth piece up to and under the cap.

    I should add, I am going to try and take pics tomorrow for insurance purposes, so I may try and attach them in a future post.


    if you can't get the old material to lie flat, why do you think the new stuff would work?
    bumpy
  • dbmead99's avatar
    dbmead99
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2020
    Bumpyroad wrote:
    dbmead99 wrote:


    Appreciate the response. I think I need to cut the old material off because I can't get it to lay flat otherwise. If I could get it lay flat, I would probably just try and do a small patch along the front edge to get it to go back under the cap, then along the rip. I fought with it about 2 hours yesterday trying to smooth it out and wasn't successful.

    So, that is why I was just going to trim it back, then overlap with a new smooth piece up to and under the cap.

    I should add, I am going to try and take pics tomorrow for insurance purposes, so I may try and attach them in a future post.


    if you can't get the old material to lie flat, why do you think the new stuff would work?
    bumpy


    Well, that is a good question that made me think a bit, and not sure I can answer but will try.

    The old material clearly got torn, and whipped around in the wind. In the process it seems to have gotten stretch in different directions that are creating wrinkles going different ways. My best comparison is kind of like when you pull saran wrap off the roll, and one it comes off and starts wrinkling it is darn near impossible to smooth out. I know these aren't the same material, just making the comparison.

    Compared to the new material, which I assume will either be folder, or better yet in a roll. If it is a roll, it should be easy enough to apply a bit of adhesive, roll forward, apply more, repeat.

    There isn't anything wrong with the wafer board roof substrate that would cause bumps or wrinkles. The only there is that it is still somewhat tacky from the prior glue.
  • dbmead99's avatar
    dbmead99
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2020
    dougrainer wrote:

    2. I KNOW you think the rubber just came loose and peeled back. I have seen scores of your type problem over the years. Yes, some times it is inadequate glue by the OEM, but you would be amazed to learn that once I get on top and look at the front cap and left over rubber, I find where the Customer hit a tree limb or some such object and either pulled the rubber slightly loose from under the front Cap edge and the resulting wind at 60 mph then bubbled up and pulled it loose more. I also can then point to the areas on the rubber and the cap and even the Roof AC covers and vent covers and the rear untouched area of the existing roof showing the telltale scrape marks from the tree limbs that scraped the roof. Even the scrape marks on the Patio awning. So, if you have these type marks on your roof, rethink trying to warranty and inform your insurance company. Doug

    PS, If the dealer refuses to see you, Call Heartland, document who you talk too and state you want their E mail address to send the Pics you took. That way they have a record for later warranty help.


    This is a good point. When I talked with the local Heartland dealer, they expressed real doubt that Heartland would consider this a manufacturing error.

    The dealer did suggest, like you, that this was more of an insurance claim type situation. Where I was driving, it was extremely windy that day. The dealer seemed to suggest that this could easily have happened due to high way, especially if there was any prior unnoticed damage.

    So, I may pursue the insurance route.
  • dbmead99's avatar
    dbmead99
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2020
    As a general update -- I did not call Heartland back yesterday, but did talk with Dicor. Apparently my roof is a Diflex ii TPO roof. I thought it was EPDM.

    Long and short, Dicor pretty much told me that they did not see this as a roof warranty issue, but rather an install or an insurance issue. As they said it "the rook didn't fail, the installation failed." For the most part, I tend to agree with that.

    They did spend a lot of time on the phone with me discussing my emergency fix. The one piece that I didn't really have calculated was how to splice the two pieces of roof together, and Dicor does make a specific Splicing Adhesive, which is on its way. So, I kind of feel good that there is an actual product designed to do what I need, which means my idea isn't completely crazy.

    So, I have some TPO roofing material, some splicing adhesive and some water based roof to substrate adhesive all on the way to me now.

    I still need to get up and take pics for either warranty or insurance purposes. It was just way to hot yesterday.

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