Does Roof Need Replacing?

[Pulln]

although the roof is only 5yrs old it looks in rough shape to me. I am no pro at camper ownership by any measure so I have decided to just replace the roof. I am sure I could spot fix things but would prefer to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing I have a solid roof over my head.

I've got a quote of 100 dollars a foot for a TPO roof and am looking for a quote for the epdm roofing. Next order of business is to educate myself on the materials, not sure if this is just a battle of a new vs established material. I have a buddy that is an engineer that works for GAF and hoping he can shed some light on this.

I appreciate ya'll taking me under you wing on this.

[Festus2]

Pulln -
I'm not sure what you mean by "rough shape" but the EPDM rubber roof on a Keystone has a 10 year warranty. If there is something amiss with the material itself, it may be covered by the manufacturer. Might be worth a phone call or email to Keystone and talk to them about your roof and the warranty. While Keystone probably won't cover it, they might be able to steer you onto the right folks to talk to about it.

If the roof just "looks" bad, there may not be anything actually wrong with it in which case you wouldn't have any type of claim. Are we talking about black spots, ripples or bubbles, or some other "cosmetic-type" issues or are we talking about the rubber "disintegrating" or some other physical change to it??

I'm also not sure if it is a "warranty" or a "guarantee" with respect to the EPDM roof.

[JRTJH]

Pullin,

If I remember correctly, your RV is a "new to you" model built in 2009 and that you purchased last year. If that's accurate, then you don't have a "OEM warranty" on the roof. DICOR and Alpha Systems are the two providers of roofing material for the RV industry. DICOR produces EPDM and TPO membranes, Alpha Systems produces TPO membranes.

Both have a 12 year warranty "to the original purchaser of the RV" and that warranty is not transferrable to any subsequent owner.

Even if you did have a warranty, it is "pro-rated" after 2 years for TPO and 5 years for EPDM. The first part covers replacement material only with no labor. The pro-rated part substantially reduces the percentage of the replacement material cost and after 6 or 7 years, there really is no benefit to the owner to file a claim because the time/effort spent is quite often more than the reimbursement awarded.

Here is a link to a pretty good article covering the general description of both materials by an "outside supplier". The article isn't biased by DICOR or Alpha Systems and is fairly objective. The main point other than comparing the two types of roofing systems is the "owner maintenance responsibility" pointed out so well.

Pretty much what the article stresses is that unless the owner maintains his roof, cleans and reseals it (recommended at least a couple of times a year) the roofing system is going to deteriorate and fail earlier than if it were properly maintained.

Here's the link: http://rv-pro.com/articles/suppliers...ber-meets-roof

Hopefully it will give you some insight into some of the questions you probably have concerning the differences and similarities in the EPDM vs TPO choices.

[hankpage]

If the roof material is sound and only showing cosmetic damage from the Fl. sun, you might want to consider a quality rubber roof coating. After cleaning, sealing, primming and two finish coats the roof will look better and whiter than new. It takes time but the cost is a few hundred instead of thousands for replacement. Just something else to consider. I prefer Kool-Seal products.

[Pulln]

Originally Posted by Festus2

Pulln -
I'm not sure what you mean by "rough shape" but the EPDM rubber roof on a Keystone has a 10 year warranty. If there is something amiss with the material itself, it may be covered by the manufacturer. Might be worth a phone call or email to Keystone and talk to them about your roof and the warranty. While Keystone probably won't cover it, they might be able to steer you onto the right folks to talk to about it.

If the roof just "looks" bad, there may not be anything actually wrong with it in which case you wouldn't have any type of claim. Are we talking about black spots, ripples or bubbles, or some other "cosmetic-type" issues or are we talking about the rubber "disintegrating" or some other physical change to it??

I'm also not sure if it is a "warranty" or a "guarantee" with respect to the EPDM roof.

Well it hasn't deteriorated terribly but it looks very weathered and I know we are going to be using it a lot and not sure if outright replacement is necessary or if coating and sealing would do the job for us.

The white coating is chalking pretty badly, there are some ripples and it is either mildewy or the black layer is showing through in some spots.

I'll see if I can get some pix tomorrow for you all to see. I'd much rather give the roof money to opec for fuel to tow it to new and off the beaten path locations than give it to opec for rubber roofing

Thanks for opening a new thread for this.

[Pulln]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Pullin,

If I remember correctly, your RV is a "new to you" model built in 2009 and that you purchased last year. If that's accurate, then you don't have a "OEM warranty" on the roof. DICOR and Alpha Systems are the two providers of roofing material for the RV industry. DICOR produces EPDM and TPO membranes, Alpha Systems produces TPO membranes.

Both have a 12 year warranty "to the original purchaser of the RV" and that warranty is not transferrable to any subsequent owner.

Even if you did have a warranty, it is "pro-rated" after 2 years for TPO and 5 years for EPDM. The first part covers replacement material only with no labor. The pro-rated part substantially reduces the percentage of the replacement material cost and after 6 or 7 years, there really is no benefit to the owner to file a claim because the time/effort spent is quite often more than the reimbursement awarded.

Here is a link to a pretty good article covering the general description of both materials by an "outside supplier". The article isn't biased by DICOR or Alpha Systems and is fairly objective. The main point other than comparing the two types of roofing systems is the "owner maintenance responsibility" pointed out so well.

Pretty much what the article stresses is that unless the owner maintains his roof, cleans and reseals it (recommended at least a couple of times a year) the roofing system is going to deteriorate and fail earlier than if it were properly maintained.

Here's the link: http://rv-pro.com/articles/suppliers...ber-meets-roof

Hopefully it will give you some insight into some of the questions you probably have concerning the differences and similarities in the EPDM vs TPO choices.

Thank you for the article I have been trying to find some good unbiased info but all I have found so far is marketing fluff.

The 5er is new to me and really do want to make sure we do our due diligence in taking care of it but don't want to break the bank while doing it if we don't have to. we would prefer to do our part for the economy by going out to visit new places.

[Pulln]

Originally Posted by hankpage

If the roof material is sound and only showing cosmetic damage from the Fl. sun, you might want to consider a quality rubber roof coating. After cleaning, sealing, primming and two finish coats the roof will look better and whiter than new. It takes time but the cost is a few hundred instead of thousands for replacement. Just something else to consider. I prefer Kool-Seal products.

Thanks for the tips. We are definitely motivated enough to do things on our own. Most of my work so far has been electrical because that is where my comfort zone is. I know my wife is on board with doing whatever it takes I just need to get spun up on the parts and procedures so I can lead the work effort.

On of the things that worries me a bit is whether or not there is any roof rot and short of removing the membrane I am not sure how to proper to verify this. I'd had to cover something like only to have the roof go in to further disrepair.

[abneynormal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL5qJ...pYfR6z&index=8

http://youtu.be/XU1kxa18Sis

note there is a variety of how to videos on you tube. dicor and Rudy's rv plus others.

[Pulln]

Well after much research and consideration my wife and I decided to install a new roof. We dropped it off today to get a Firestone UltraPly TPO roof installed. It is going to cost us 100 per foot.

[Ken / Claudia]

Good idea, it costs more now but, new with a warrenty and now you can be sure it is maintianed.

[abneynormal]

put it under a building or cover it when not in use. my roof is over 3 years old and looks like new except for a few stains. a rv like a boat is aged rapidly by the suns rays.

[Pulln]

Originally Posted by abneynormal

put it under a building or cover it when not in use. my roof is over 3 years old and looks like new except for a few stains. a rv like a boat is aged rapidly by the suns rays.

I am definitely looking for a cover once this is done. I can't imagine how or where to get something that large.

[Pulln]

We got our camper back from having the new roof put on. We went with a firestone TPO material. Granted the weather was nice yesterday but I could tell a big difference in the inside temperature right away.

This stuff is very hearty but lays down nicely every where with the exception being the sloped nose. Down on the nose there are a few wrinkles but we don't hang out top side and even if we did we would be out on the sloped side of it.

Fortunately there was no wood rot so what ever had been going on with that leak in the garage hadn't been going on long enough to cause any damage.

Thanks again for all the help and info as my wife and I tried to come to terms with which course of action to take.

[Festus2]

Thank you for posting this update and glad to hear that everything worked out to your satisfaction. Did they say why wrinkles were left on the roof covering the sloped/curved section?