Forum Discussion

willdennis's avatar
willdennis
Explorer
Jul 01, 2016

Question about roof replacement costs

Well, my roof patching job (see my prior post) worked for a while, but now I am experiencing more water infiltration in the rear (thankfully, coming in around the bathtub skylight and falling into the bathtub) during heavy rains (don't see it yet on lighter rains.) Except for the older patches that I see up there, I'm assuming that most of the caulking on the roof (as well as the rubber roof itself) is 11 years old (it's a 2005 TT.) From the prior leak, ~1ft+ of the rearmost plywood is now soft, and (although it doesn't look bad) I see some bubbling in the interior rearmost ceiling, as well as some water in the rear tool compartment on the floor. So, I'm wondering if it's worth me doing a roof replacement (either partial or total) before eventually selling the TT (thinking either this year or next) and getting a newer one.

My questions are:
1) About how much should I budget for a roof replacement from a RV repair place (do not have the time/talent to do myself)
2) Is a partial roof replacement (let's say the back 1/3) an option? (I'd have the repair folks redo all the remaining caulk on the rest of the roof as part of this - do not have any evidence of water coming in elsewhere at this point, and no soft spots on the rest of the roof that I can find)
3) Should I just forget about fixing it, and sell "AS-IS" with full disclosure, or trade-in (my preference is to buy a newer used TT from a private seller, and then sell my old TT)

Thanks for your advice on this!

Will
  • HaulinBass02's avatar
    HaulinBass02
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2016
    edatlanta wrote:
    I had a failing rubber roof membrane after 5 1/2 years service. It was going to require complete replacement. Now do I replace the roof with another rubber one and start the caulking check a couple of times a year just waiting for a leak to occur which certainly will happen or do something else for not much more money? I like the 5'er and full time and This is what I did.

    No more rubber roof. No more caulking EVER.

    I saw no sense in putting on another low quality rubber roof. And in my opinion they are ALL low quality regardless of manufacturer.


    I'm digging this stuff here. Sounds like a Line-X type stuff for the roof. I may be doing this to our next RV right off the bat.
  • edatlanta's avatar
    edatlanta
    Explorer
    Jul 03, 2016
    rpegram wrote:
    Edatlanta, do they do they do the roof of the slides as well? We have a TT we plan on keeping many years and would like to protect it as much as possible.


    They don't do the slides, but I wish they did. I have awnings over my slides and they are protected much more than just being open. But I don't have any roof concerns now about that leak just developed that I won't know about until part of my RV falls off.
  • edatlanta's avatar
    edatlanta
    Explorer
    Jul 03, 2016
    Airstreamer67 wrote:
    edatlanta, I sure wish they offered that roof from the factory on new trailers.


    The owner of the installer I used said he made a presentation to a high end manufacturer about offering a roof upgrade. The manufacturer said they were in the business of selling RV's and not lifetime roofs.

    Enuf said.
  • rpegram's avatar
    rpegram
    Explorer
    Jul 02, 2016
    Edatlanta, do they do they do the roof of the slides as well? We have a TT we plan on keeping many years and would like to protect it as much as possible.
  • edatlanta's avatar
    edatlanta
    Explorer
    Jul 02, 2016
    I had a failing rubber roof membrane after 5 1/2 years service. It was going to require complete replacement. Now do I replace the roof with another rubber one and start the caulking check a couple of times a year just waiting for a leak to occur which certainly will happen or do something else for not much more money? I like the 5'er and full time and This is what I did.

    No more rubber roof. No more caulking EVER.

    I saw no sense in putting on another low quality rubber roof. And in my opinion they are ALL low quality regardless of manufacturer.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    Jul 01, 2016
    I'd suggest to fix it, especially if you still have leaks. It won't be getting better.
  • HaulinBass02's avatar
    HaulinBass02
    Explorer
    Jul 01, 2016
    IIRC my dad paid $1500 for a full replacement on his 36' 5er. I'm not sure that anyone would do a partial replacement...
    If you like your camper why sell it? If you are thinking about it then obviously this is swaying your thinking. Now with that said, I hope you fully expect to take a large hit on the resale value with a leaky roof. IF someone agrees to buy it they will want to get quotes on replacement and probably have you knock that off the price. I wouldn't even consider trading it in, they wouldn't give you anything for it.

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