Roof Maintenance

[Kostyan]

I took the covers off today and noticed the entire roof on my 21" Trail Lite camper is covered in blackish spots.

What is that and how to get rid of those?

[udidwht]

Kostyan wrote:
Update. Tried washing off with mix of bleach/water, household mold remover, and vinegar. Nothing gets the stains off, but the vinegar makes them worse. So it is not really a mold/dirt but roof deterioration.

What your seeing is likely the actual rubber portion of the roof (black in color). Time to clean and re-coat the roof.

[Kostyan]

Update. Tried washing off with mix of bleach/water, household mold remover, and vinegar. Nothing gets the stains off, but the vinegar makes them worse. So it is not really a mold/dirt but roof deterioration.

[Bumpyroad]

westend wrote:

Mike_C wrote:
Try 30 Second cleaner, available at most building stores and Walmart. The stuff is amazing. It cleaned all the black mold spots off my roof (it was really bad) in literally minutes. Mix with water and use a soft scrub brush, then rinse. Does not damage the roof or leave streaks on side of trailer. I tried all kinds of cleaners and nothing else worked as well.

The MSDS for 30 second concentrate indicates it has bleach in the mix so should work well as a mildicide/mold remover.

basically it is bleach at a higher price.
bumpy

[westend]

Mike_C wrote:
Try 30 Second cleaner, available at most building stores and Walmart. The stuff is amazing. It cleaned all the black mold spots off my roof (it was really bad) in literally minutes. Mix with water and use a soft scrub brush, then rinse. Does not damage the roof or leave streaks on side of trailer. I tried all kinds of cleaners and nothing else worked as well.

The MSDS for 30 second concentrate indicates it has bleach in the mix so should work well as a mildicide/mold remover.

[Mike_C1]

Try 30 Second cleaner, available at most building stores and Walmart. The stuff is amazing. It cleaned all the black mold spots off my roof (it was really bad) in literally minutes. Mix with water and use a soft scrub brush, then rinse. Does not damage the roof or leave streaks on side of trailer. I tried all kinds of cleaners and nothing else worked as well.

[davemhughes]

I just washed mine tonight with a soft pole scrubber from Walmart and just Armorall car wash/wax mix. Just wet the roof, had a buck with soap mix, dipped the brush in and lightly scrubbed.....15 minutes and I was done.

Most all of the black spots came off....dirt and grime.

[Gjac]

Kostyan wrote:

Gjac wrote:
If you have a EPDM roof and the black spots don't come off when you clean the roof the spots are probably the black EPDM under layer beginning to show and not mold. The white top layer will slough off over the years and multiple roof washings and eventually just leave the black under layer exposed. My friend has the same year MH as mine and his roof is entirely black. Another friend gave me some Cool Seal roof coating 10 years ago which he no longer needed when he bought a new MH with a FG roof. I had enough to apply a primer coat and one top coat. It lasted for about 5 years and is almost all worn off. The bottom line is the coating sloughed off instead of the roof material itself extending the life of the roof.

if this is a mold damage, will it spread to the rest of the trailer and make it dangerous to stay in?

What you are saying is painting over the mold to cover it up, it does not take care of the problem itself

What I am saying is if the black spots don't come off when scrubbed it is likely not mold at all, just the top layer of white wearing off. EPDM has a thin layer of white material on top and a black layer underneath when the white layers sloughs off it does not do it evenly and the spots show up as dark grey at first then splotchy ares of black. When you scrub these spots and they get darker then the OP has what I described, if they go away when scrubbed they are mold or imbedded dirt. I have seen older MH's with EPDM roofs where the roof is more back than white, and as I said in my first post my friends roof the same age as mine is entirely black. The coating has almost worn of my roof and I can see those same black spots that at first glance looks like mold.

[Kostyan]

Gjac wrote:
If you have a EPDM roof and the black spots don't come off when you clean the roof the spots are probably the black EPDM under layer beginning to show and not mold. The white top layer will slough off over the years and multiple roof washings and eventually just leave the black under layer exposed. My friend has the same year MH as mine and his roof is entirely black. Another friend gave me some Cool Seal roof coating 10 years ago which he no longer needed when he bought a new MH with a FG roof. I had enough to apply a primer coat and one top coat. It lasted for about 5 years and is almost all worn off. The bottom line is the coating sloughed off instead of the roof material itself extending the life of the roof.

if this is a mold damage, will it spread to the rest of the trailer and make it dangerous to stay in?

What you are saying is painting over the mold to cover it up, it does not take care of the problem itself

[Kostyan]

SoundGuy wrote:

Kostyan wrote:
My trailer has ac on the rooftop so have myself a cleaning project

You might want to correct your SIG from ...

2007 Trail Lite by R-Design C21RBH HTT

... to

2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH by RVision

... just as was my own 2007 C21RBH TrailCruiser. Some units were offered with a factory installed rear wall ladder, some were not ... I intentionally chose one without. The roof membrane is EPDM, those black spots are mold & mildew trapped in dirt, most of which can be cleaned with any commercially available EPDM roof cleaner. I found Thetford Rubber Roof Cleaner worked well. A small amount of bleach in a bucket of hot water along with this roof cleaner or products such as Spic 'n Span, Dawn, etc (any products that doesn't contain petroleum distillates) will help clear the material of mold, though you'll never get rid of all of it.

Thank you SoundGuy. So nice to find someone that also knows this trailer.


I just tried scrubbing with a regular water/bleach solution and did not see any results at all, but those spots look exactly like mold. Will try using some of the recommended cleaners. Are there any impacts of not being able to get these spots off the roof?

[udidwht]

wa8yxm wrote:
First, unless there is an overriding enviormental concern DO NOT COVER the RV, covering it traps moisture which encourages mold and mildew.

Second. I mop my roof spring and fall with Spic and Span if I can find it, or any good floor cleaner if I can not, I use a Soft Bristle (Van Wash) brush instead of a mop but otherwise thing Kitchen floor. Normally I Was taught to mop with cleaner then again with clear water.. I use a garden hose and sprayer for that pass.

But unless there is an overwhelming enviormental concern Like Salt water spray DO NOT COVER.

That will depend on the cover type used. My cover has a Tyvek top with material sides designed to breathe. It has greatly helped in keeping the roof clean.

When I pull it out of the storage lot for a wash I also rinse the roof then commence to cleaning the RV.

[Gjac]

If you have a EPDM roof and the black spots don't come off when you clean the roof the spots are probably the black EPDM under layer beginning to show and not mold. The white top layer will slough off over the years and multiple roof washings and eventually just leave the black under layer exposed. My friend has the same year MH as mine and his roof is entirely black. Another friend gave me some Cool Seal roof coating 10 years ago which he no longer needed when he bought a new MH with a FG roof. I had enough to apply a primer coat and one top coat. It lasted for about 5 years and is almost all worn off. The bottom line is the coating sloughed off instead of the roof material itself extending the life of the roof.

[wa8yxm]

First, unless there is an overriding enviormental concern DO NOT COVER the RV, covering it traps moisture which encourages mold and mildew.

Second. I mop my roof spring and fall with Spic and Span if I can find it, or any good floor cleaner if I can not, I use a Soft Bristle (Van Wash) brush instead of a mop but otherwise thing Kitchen floor. Normally I Was taught to mop with cleaner then again with clear water.. I use a garden hose and sprayer for that pass.

But unless there is an overwhelming enviormental concern Like Salt water spray DO NOT COVER.

[DownTheAvenue]

SoundGuy wrote:

Dave H M wrote:
What is wrong with just leaving the roof alone.

EPDM naturally chalks and when it does it carries dirt off the roof which appear as black streaks on the side of the trailer, the longer those streaks remain the more they become embedded in the side wall material and the tougher it is to get rid of them. Using spout extensions helps, cleaning the roof a couple times each season also helps, as does sealing the EPDM surface with a conditioner. It's your trailer you can do what you want with it but many of us prefer to wash the roof occasionally to help minimize this streaking.

And remove that chalk exposes a fresh layer of material to again chalk, thus expediting the deterioration and shortening the life of the roof.

EPDM was engineered for the commercial building trade and hijacked by the RV industry. Commercial buildings never wash their roofs and they last for decades!

[SoundGuy]

Dave H M wrote:
What is wrong with just leaving the roof alone.

EPDM naturally chalks and when it does it carries dirt off the roof which appear as black streaks on the side of the trailer, the longer those streaks remain the more they become embedded in the side wall material and the tougher it is to get rid of them. Using spout extensions helps, cleaning the roof a couple times each season also helps, as does sealing the EPDM surface with a conditioner. It's your trailer you can do what you want with it but many of us prefer to wash the roof occasionally to help minimize this streaking.