Henry Tropi-Cool VS EPDM Roof Coatings

[TenOC]

EPDM Liquid RV Roof VS Henry Tropi-Cool

I need to recoat my 7-year-old 5th wheels roof. About 5 years ago I used EPDM RV liquid roof coating on a travel trailer. But after a number of years it started peeling up. I am thinking about using Henry's silicon roof coat this time.

I am looking for some real-life experience on the 2 products. Other product suggestions are welcome.

[edatlanta]

beemerphile1 wrote:
I wonder why you need to coat an EPDM roof membrane. They last 30+ years on a building without doing anything to them.

The RV EPDM membrane itself is typically warrantied against failure for 12 years. What would be the effect on the warranty if you slather on some other product?

My 12 year warranty EPDM roof membrane failed (yes the membrane) at 5 years service. The total amount the membrane manufacturer would offer me was $225.00 and only then if I used their material. I had https://rvroof.com/ installed instead. Virtually no difference in price. 5 years later the FlexArmor roof looks just like it did 5 years ago and zero caulking to have to replace, check, or caulk.

[victoriamorgon0]

a) Most fifth wheel trailers are open to exposer to dirt, moisture and UV rays. This leads to leaks and damages. Regular maintenance of your 5th wheel trailer can keep these things from happening. Liquid RV Roof is the ultimate maintenance tool which protects your trailer form UV rays and harsh weather conditions.
b) Liquid RV Roof is great for RV repairs of any kind. The application of the Liquid Roof literally saves you thousands of dollars when compared to a new roof. One coat, one time and years and years of worry free maintenance with your RV. The versatility of Liquid Roof is endless from existing EPDM roofs to canvas, fiberglass to pvc. If you have already put a 3rd party coating over your roof or you just don't know what has been applied to your roof over the years there is no need to worry. You simply apply one coat of the ProFlex primer prior to the application of the Liquid Roof. This is part of the reason for its 26 year history in successfully recoating RV’s.

[TenOC]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
The problem with the "rubber" roof on RVs is the owner. They are obsessed with cleaning the roof annually, or usually more often. They wash away the protective layer thus exposing the roof to more UV rays and another protective layer develops until it, too, is washed away. Soon the entire protective layer is gone, exposing the black base, which requires roof replacement. Commercial applications on buildings last 30+ years because the building owner doesn't wash the building's roof all the time!

My rule Inspect but do not wash

[DownTheAvenue]

The problem with the "rubber" roof on RVs is the owner. They are obsessed with cleaning the roof annually, or usually more often. They wash away the protective layer thus exposing the roof to more UV rays and another protective layer develops until it, too, is washed away. Soon the entire protective layer is gone, exposing the black base, which requires roof replacement. Commercial applications on buildings last 30+ years because the building owner doesn't wash the building's roof all the time!

[FlatBroke]

I used Henry’s, the one with life time warranty. It covers very well. I saw no way to put on the amount they said with out building a dam around the roof. Didn’t clean the roller pan and it’s so stuck on I see no way it can peel off. Very satisfied

[minnow]

These costings are just a temporary bandaid that needs to be replaced again and again. Fine if you are getting rid of the rig in 2-3 years. Bite the bullet and get the RV Armour roof. One and done. Throw out the caulk gun, dicor, paint pans and rollers. Another benefit, it keeps us old guys off the roof and out of intensive care.

[Elk_traveler]

I put the Henry Tropicool on my 2017 Motorhome back in May. It is excellent. It goes on very well and I used two coats. It binds firmly to roof membrane. I was surprised at how well it looked afterwards. I have in years past used the acrylic coatings on other RVs but the silicon is superior to those. Very good price at home depot as well. Don't think you will be disappointed after using it and now is a good time to get it done.

[TurnThePage]

TenOC wrote:

TurnThePage what did you use? Are you happy?

I used the Hengs product. It's only been a little over 2 years so I can't make any grand claims, but so far I'm very happy with it.

My roof is only about 18' long. It took about a gallon and a half to get three coats on it. Application was simple. It was a hot day when I did it, so it was almost drying too fast, and was starting to skin over in the tray. Two partial days to clean and prep, and one day to apply the three coats.

[TenOC]

TurnThePage wrote:
One really good reason is that even if the EPDM roof is still in reasonable condition, after a few years it's mostly black and gets super hot in the sun. When I recoated mine, the entire RV stayed much cooler.

TurnThePage what did you use? Are you happy?

[TurnThePage]

beemerphile1 wrote:
I wonder why you need to coat an EPDM roof membrane. They last 30+ years on a building without doing anything to them.

The RV EPDM membrane itself is typically warrantied against failure for 12 years. What would be the effect on the warranty if you slather on some other product?

One really good reason is that even if the EPDM roof is still in reasonable condition, after a few years it's mostly black and gets super hot in the sun. When I recoated mine, the entire RV stayed much cooler.

[cavie]

Why did you recoat a 2 year old roof???????? warrantied for 12 years????? it peeled because of improper preparation. No new coating is gonna stay down without removing all the old first. I recoated 2 roofs. First was 16 years old. 2nd was 9.

[theoldwizard1]

IMHO, you are quickly approaching the time to peel it off an recover. Forget EPDM. Maximum life of about 10 years. PVC or TPO, commercial grade.

[beemerphile1]

I wonder why you need to coat an EPDM roof membrane. They last 30+ years on a building without doing anything to them.

The RV EPDM membrane itself is typically warrantied against failure for 12 years. What would be the effect on the warranty if you slather on some other product?

[BFL13]

Good question. When we bought the sig Class C it had been splashed crudely all over the roof (and here and there on roof things) with some kind of white (ish) stuff. It started to peel off the first winter rains. Big pieces of rubbery skin, exposing the old rubber roof (in bad shape)

RV guy says that is from poor application. They do it right indoors with controlled high temps and are fussy about it all.

So it may not be the different products at issue, but how they are applied. Still, I am hoping to learn more about this too. I have used Eternabond a lot to fight the small leaks here and there as they have showed up in the three years since. Hasn't been that bad, but annoying when it happens.

It looks like one of those cartoons where a guy cut himself lots of places shaving and stuck bits of Kleenex on each cut! 🙂 The RV guy said he would not bother with an overall coating doing it myself or the same peeling thing would happen, even doing it in the summer when it is warm and dry for enough days in a row. So I just keep buying more Eternabond. 🙂

Still, I would like to cover it all so it looks nice and stays waterproof for a few years. Getting those roof guys in to do it costs more than I paid for the whole MH it seems like. Phooey on that