temporary rubber roof repair ideas? 95 Fleetwood Elkhorn 11X

[RockBottomRacin]

The previous owner of my camper did a DIY roof repair on the front of the sleeper and over the bathroom. Unfortunately, he didn’t do a good job. On my way home with it the front roof board blew up in the air from the wind and was stuck vertical. I decided to check the bathroom repair and also not a complete job. That being said, the camper has been covered so the previous damage has been stopped and no new damage has occurred. The front roof board is an 8’ x 2’ piece of 1/4” OSB with thin luan board on top and the rubber roof, which is severely hammered and flaking off. I have previously replaced an EPDM roof on my old trailer, and it came out decent. I learned a lot from that experience. After pricing out what i’m going to need to replace the roof on my camper, I have decided to save that for the future. In the mean time, however, I would really like to make repairs to the damaged areas on my roof to get through the next year or so.

What i’m thinking is, i’m going to go over with a putty knife and peel off the old rubber roof. Take note of any damaged OSB/ply, kilz latex primer for the whole roof, butyl tape all seams and roof holes. Replace front roof sheet and rear roof sheet, Thompson water seal both sheets, kilz primer, and self leveling lap sealant for vents and joints.

I happen to have kilz primer in the garage, some 1/4” ply sheets and luan at work, and I have two tubes of lap sealant. Though, I am considering using some a/c duct sealant instead. I used it on my motor home and went 3 years of heavy use leak free before I sold it, and I have two gallons of it on the shelf, more than enough to seal the camper.

Now, for a top coat, I’m considering a white roll on bedliner. Other than that, I’m not sure what other readily and cheap alternatives there are that will keep me leak free for the next year. Would love some recommendations from those of you who had some good results!

[twodownzero]

gitpicker2009 wrote:
I used that Liquid Roof on my old Class C and it worked perfectly. In fact, the pictures I sent them are on their website. Very easy, just make sure you prep the roof well by washing, drying etc. Rolls on like honey and self leveling.
The 5 gallon bucket did my 30 foot roof.

That looks like a great quality product. I watched the video as well and the after video looks excellent!

[gitpicker2009]

I used that Liquid Roof on my old Class C and it worked perfectly. In fact, the pictures I sent them are on their website. Very easy, just make sure you prep the roof well by washing, drying etc. Rolls on like honey and self leveling.
The 5 gallon bucket did my 30 foot roof.

[AnEv942]

There are several products specifically designed for EPDM roofs on RVs.
Dicor makes a 2 part Acrylic Coating. Many others. I likely will do this summer, still researching.
I'm leaning towards EPDM Coatings Liquid Roof

[twodownzero]

I really am at a loss as to why there isn't a product that can be painted over a rubber roof in good condition to renew the surface. I can buy elastomeric coating for my roof and it is made to go over all kinds of different types of roofs, why is an RV different? There has to be some product out there. My current one is the only RV I've had with a rubber roof and it's in good condition, but I can certainly understand the sentiment of this thread.

[AnEv942]

I'm unsure of the extent of damage, whole OBS sheet coming loose? but if replacing sections of roof sheets with fresh wood, EPDM, 8-9.5' wide, can be purchased by the running foot @ about $10/11+. Adhesive ($40-50 gal) is meant to be applied to clean wood (forgo all the priming). Likely need sealing/edge tape for seams. Still under 150.

Of course other than the work required to replace entire roof, removing EVERYTHING, new luan, but roofing materials itself can be had in complete kits, Rubber sheet, glue, caulk etc. Depending on sq ft for under 300. Just cost of repairing verse replacing...

Outlined patching? Top coating wood with bedliner unsure- only thing on the Thompsons is packaging states DO NOT use water base product on it, only oil based and thats after 30 days min drying time. I still would expect it to fail regardless of your friends success.
Lastly the 1/4" sheet seems rather thin.

[gitpicker2009]

There's a company here in Houston that will actually replace the rubber roof with a new one made of the Spray on Bedliner stuff- VERY strong and permanent. The local pricing here is less than 2 grand for a 38 foot RV. Are there any people like that out where you live?

[notsobigjoe]

Rock-bottom, Here is my 2 cents. If you look you can find a good solid camper for a couple of grand. I look at them all the time on the web. the elk-horn's are beautiful but are well known for there build problems. I agree with Scott, cover it until you can fix it correctly or just ditch it and find something more reliable. Don't waste your money on the it worked for me stuff.

[burningman]

For a patch-it repair, Eternabond tape is great stuff.
I used it to seal things on my old camper and it never failed.
It’s a thick rubbery gooey tape with what seems like a vinyl layer on top. It’s white.

[RockBottomRacin]

Works been slow, our rent went up, wife is a full time student, and she’s been begging me to get it useable so we can go on little get a ways to the beach or to the lake. I know there’s only one way to do it right, but I can’t afford all the stuff to do it the way I would want. That being said, i’m not really so concerned with water tight, because I’m not planning on camping in the rain persay. I mainly just want my roof panel to be attached and somewhat sealed.

For what it’s worth, my friend built his own truck camper, 6 years ago, he did OSB, Thompson water seal, and roll on bed linered the entire thing, and his brother has been literally living in that camper for the past two years, no leaks. He said the a/c vent dripped so he pulled it up, lined the hole with butyl tape put it back in and went over it with lap sealent and no leaks.

I’m thinking I’m going to just reattach the panel and seal it with the duct sealant and save the effort and money so I can start gathering supplies to get it all handled after summer.

[d3500ram]

If you are considering the "band-aid" philosophy," I might recommend that a bituthene type material be considered at the corners- Grace Ice & Water Shield or similar. This does not hold up long term if exposed to UV, but is self sealing and virtually waterproof when installed properly.

It might be another material to consider at the corners and edges but will need to be covered up with a exterior material.

[kohldad]

There is an elastic paint, mainly used for basement walls. A guy built his own camper and used the paint as the exterior covering. Last word after a few trips was he was happy with it the only downside being it was a bit harder to clean. If you are interested and you can't find it, I can do some digging to try and find his post (may be on this site or the FB truck camper group).

But if it was me, I would just do the repair right the first time and be done with it.

[ScottG]

Hate to say it but there's only one way to do the job right and it sounds like you know what that is.
The Kilz wont do anything to stop water intrusion and that goes double for Thompsons (Worst product of it's type avail). By trying to make stop-gap repairs, your just wasting money on stuff you'll have to tear off later or worse, spending money on stuff that's going to allow severe damage to the rig.
If you can't fix it correctly now, cover it with a good tarp and keep it dry until you can.
Sorry I can't give you better news.

Scott

[Lwiddis]

“...and cheap alternatives there are that will keep me leak free for the next year.”

Do it once. Do it right. Do it now.