No-walk roof?

[Euswily]

We have a 2019 330BHS. There is no ladder for roof access. The salesman assured us one could be added. This was just one of a long list of things we should have considered suspect. I called Keystone and was told “If it was OK to walk on the roof we would have provided a ladder.” I guess, being a light-weight construction I have what I’ve seen referred to as a no-walk roof.

If that is the case, and I’m OK with that, how does one do proper roof maintenance; e.g. inspection, sealing around things and re-coating??? Experienced advice is appreciated.

[chuckster57]

You can use 4ft by 4 ft squares of plywood to spread the load. It doesn’t need to be real thick.

[swanson]

I use pieces of 1" of the blue styrofoam insulation. Works well.

[busterbrown]

My solution was to buy a two inch thick 8'×4' polystyrene foam board and slice it up into four 2'×4' sections. Very light weight and very durable as they can be strategically placed on the 1/4" thick roof decking overlaping the trusses. Having four allows for easier movement during inspections and maintenance. After 4 seasons, the same foam board still work great for me.

[Euswily]

Thanks all. Thought it was something like that but didn’t know how thick or big.

[ronheater70]

This is interesting to me, as mine has a ladder. I have walked on the roofs of all my campers without seconds thought (about 220 lbs). I live in the woods, and anytime my slides are out for more than a day I have to get up there to get the leaves and pine needles off the top before bringing slides in. Is this a Keystone thing or just a lighter Unit think. My 369 BHS barely seems to flex when im on it.

[travelin texans]

This is interesting to me, as mine has a ladder. I have walked on the roofs of all my campers without seconds thought (about 220 lbs). I live in the woods, and anytime my slides are out for more than a day I have to get up there to get the leaves and pine needles off the top before bringing slides in. Is this a Keystone thing or just a lighter Unit think. My 369 BHS barely seems to flex when im on it.

The answer to your question is the ladder. If yours came with one it's probably walkable. No ladder usually means "keep off".

[ronheater70]

The answer to your question is the ladder. If yours came with one it's probably walkable. No ladder usually means "keep off".

But neither my 2017 Shasta or my 2018 Cheorkee had a ladder, and the roof was walkable. Just curious. Cant imagine the roof of a 10K plus Camper not being able to handle someone walking on them.

[sourdough]

But neither my 2017 Shasta or my 2018 Cheorkee had a ladder, and the roof was walkable. Just curious. Cant imagine the roof of a 10K plus Camper not being able to handle someone walking on them.

I think the guideline from Keystone is that if there is no ladder it should be considered "non walkable". What other manufacturers do I don't really know. Now, does that mean if you set foot on it that it will immediately fail? I doubt it. On the other hand, if they are giving that guideline out of an abundance of caution and one fails to adhere to it, I can only guess what that person would be thinking, as they sat on the floor inside the trailer looking up through the roof; "I can't imagine the roof of a 10k plus camper not being able to handle someone walking on them".....but they did give you fair warning whether it can be "imagined" or not.

[Sarge2]

My solution was to buy a two inch thick 8'×4' polystyrene foam board and slice it up into four 2'×4' sections. Very light weight and very durable as they can be strategically placed on the 1/4" thick roof decking overlaping the trusses. Having four allows for easier movement during inspections and maintenance. After 4 seasons, the same foam board still work great for me.

I was curious how others did their inspections and such... nice to know information... Thanks

[Wisconsin Traveler]

I've never walked on our now 16 month old Keystone. Our dealer requested warranty repair, based on their experience boards had loosened on the roof. Keystone denied the claim for repair, so we had no choice - at the time.

Here's what one section of the roof looked like. Based on the mateials used, I wouldn't walk on it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-MvzigQvmETIyNjMVg0aWeoPlLqY9ol5

[busterbrown]

I've never walked on our now 16 month old Keystone. Our dealer requested warranty repair, based on their experience boards had loosened on the roof. Keystone denied the claim for repair, so we had no choice - at the time.

Here's what one section of the roof looked like. Based on the mateials used, I wouldn't walk on it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-MvzigQvmETIyNjMVg0aWeoPlLqY9ol5

In the marketing brochure and from Keystone's website, Hideout's are equipped with a "full walk on roof". Most likely, the decking is 3/8" plywood and wasn't secured properly at the manufacturing site. 1/4" thick deck boards are the used on "non-walkable" coaches. Even then, with proper planning, the roofs can support the loads of an average human or the heavy snow found commonly in the midwest.

In all honesty, if an RV roof hasn't been walked on for inspection purposes in 16 months, it's 16 months overdue.

[Wisconsin Traveler]

Yes, I agree that mine was not properly secured. But based on the condition, and that photo is only one of the areas, I would not trust it to be a walk on roof. And Keystone would not stand behind it, even though one of their dealers identified the issue during an inspection.

[itat]

Why would any manufacturer build an RV without a walk-on roof? They all want you to inspect and touch-up the caulking regularly. Are you supposed to stretch from a ladder at the side of the trailer to do that? I suppose it might be easier with a 7' wide trailer than an 8' wide trailer but still. If it truly is not able to support the weight of a 250-300# person, that's absolutely ridiculous. Our first hybrid trailer (a Forest River brand, not a Keystone) didn't have a ladder but there was no problem walking on the roof.

[AUPANNER]

In the marketing brochure and from Keystone's website, Hideout's are equipped with a "full walk on roof". Most likely, the decking is 3/8" plywood and wasn't secured properly at the manufacturing site. 1/4" thick deck boards are the used on "non-walkable" coaches. Even then, with proper planning, the roofs can support the loads of an average human or the heavy snow found commonly in the midwest.

In all honesty, if an RV roof hasn't been walked on for inspection purposes in 16 months, it's 16 months overdue.

Never really thought about this until I read the "roof walk" post -- we have a pull behind 2017 Keystone 17' Hideout - no ladder attached - decided to seal it for the first time- gingerly walked and sealed and no evidence of cracking or braking - so I guess we just lucked out.

[Sarge2]

I was told the same thing from General RV.. No ladder no walk on roof...General Rv said that plywood could be used to distribute the load but only recommended crawling or lying on it.... so I checked with Keystone to be sure... again, no ladder no walk on.... they did say that plywood sheet or "boards" could be put down to allow you to "crawl" around to do inspections
so that the weight was distributed over a larger area... So I would guess that Styrofoam sheet would work as well... Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it... around the spring time... :( Can see me trying to kneel on the roof with my bad knees... lol... that could be a youtube video... lol

[AUPANNER]

I was told the same thing from General RV.. No ladder no walk on roof...General Rv said that plywood could be used to distribute the load but only recommended crawling or lying on it.... so I checked with Keystone to be sure... again, no ladder no walk on.... they did say that plywood sheet or "boards" could be put down to allow you to "crawl" around to do inspections
so that the weight was distributed over a larger area... So I would guess that Styrofoam sheet would work as well... Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it... around the spring time... :( Can see me trying to kneel on the roof with my bad knees... lol... that could be a youtube video... lol

I don't know about this ladder thingy- but our 2017 Keystone Hideout 17' tow behind has no ladder. We installed a fan cover over the bathroom vent which required climbing on the roof - both wife and I for a combined weight of around 290lbs. we were up there for about 1.5 hours attaching bolts and nuts. No problem what so ever. two weeks ago we both went up again to clean roof and look for cracked seals. Both walked around from front to back with no problem.Granted we were no jumping up and down.
When they "slap" these coached together at the factory they probably use whatever materials they have laying around the shop. Or even they forgot to install plywood on the roof because they were between shifts.:angel::whistling:
Who knows what goes on in the factory - but the interior work is sub-par, and poorly designed. My $0.02

[travelin texans]

I don't know about this ladder thingy- but our 2017 Keystone Hideout 17' tow behind has no ladder. We installed a fan cover over the bathroom vent which required climbing on the roof - both wife and I for a combined weight of around 290lbs. we were up there for about 1.5 hours attaching bolts and nuts. No problem what so ever. two weeks ago we both went up again to clean roof and look for cracked seals. Both walked around from front to back with no problem.Granted we were no jumping up and down.
When they "slap" these coached together at the factory they probably use whatever materials they have laying around the shop. Or even they forgot to install plywood on the roof because they were between shifts.:angel::whistling:
Who knows what goes on in the factory - but the interior work is sub-par, and poorly designed. My $0.02

The combined weight of you both is only 15-20 lbs more than me, myself & I on a good day.
Neither of you are putting much pressure in a single spot, a much different scenario than most of us.

[24vctd]

We had a 15 cougar 298 re with no ladder and were told it was because of liability that they didn’t put them on ��

[travelin texans]

We had a 15 cougar 298 re with no ladder and were told it was because of liability that they didn’t put them on ��

Yes! The liability of you falling through the roof!!

[shermris]

If there is no ladder it's quite possible that your roof was not designed to be walked on, (mine is not). When I need to go topside I use a 1/4" sheet of plywood in either a 2'x4' or 4'x4' size to distribute weight. If ladders were a liability issue there would be no ladders on any RV. I would advise that you not install a ladder until you do some research into your roof construction.