Curious, how do you maintain the roof if you cant walk on it?

[ronheater70]

This is just kind of a curiosity question more than anything, but My Cougar fifthwheel has a roof I can walk on, which is good cause I spend a good bit of time on it lving in the woods checking for falling stick damage etc.. But I also am kinda prudent to check the seals around vents, cap , skylights etc while im up there and every now and then I find an area that could use a little dicor..

Leads me to wonder for folks that dont have a walk on roof, how do you maintain it? Or do you even worry about checking the seals around the openings in the roof? Just asking for curiosities sake!

[flybouy]

Can't answer for everyone as I have arms like an ape (37" sleeve in a dress shirt). Wiyh a stepladder I can acess the majority of the roof. The perimiter is easy, the 2 roof vents are covered with Maxair covers and are not on the centerline but about 2' from the passanger side, holding tank vents are the same. The airconditioner is more of a challenge and If I need to take the cover off I lay down a moving blanket and a 2' X 3' peice of 1/2" plywood to stand on.

[Javi]

At 300 lbs, 72 years of age, two bad knees and a stroke survivor... I don't..

I take it to an independent RV technician that I've used for years and he has one of his young, thin, fit mechanics crawl up there and inspect/repair it every 6 months or if I think I might have hit something.. Only charges me for it if he has to actually do work..

[Camping family]

Originally Posted by Javi

At 300 lbs, 72 years of age, two bad knees and a stroke survivor... I don't..

I take it to an independent RV technician that I've used for years and he has one of his young, thin, fit mechanics crawl up there and inspect/repair it every 6 months or if I think I might have hit something.. Only charges me for it if he has to actually do work..

You got a good man for sure.

[dutchmensport]

My current camper has a walkable roof, which is great! My previous camper had a walkable roof. But the two before that did not have walkable roofs. I still got on top of them and did my checking, but mostly because I covered them in the winter. I had to get up there.

Granted, I weighed a bit less back then, but I could still get up there. But I crawled on all 4's, never stood. That distributed weight to 4 points instead of just 2. And I also figured out exactly where the roof trusses were and there's where I'd put the weight of my body. I learned real fast, the distance between the trusses were pretty wide, and the material used to cover the roof was pretty thin. Between the trusses, things were soft and spongy, At the trusses, things were pretty solid. That's where I always attempted to put my weight (4 points). And I never had any issues doing it this way.

I did work from a ladder too. But there's only so much you can do, and reach from a ladder. If need be, get on the roof laying on your belly and skoot around. This distributes your weight even wider. Doing it this way, you can get up there just fine.

[Sarge2]

I've used small plywood sections but mostly I've low crawled on then kneeled... Only problem is my knees are shot and kneeling I can say it isn't pretty watching me moving around up there... lol

I use an extension ladder at home to get up and down but to clean off the slide I carry a 12' collapsible extension ladder in the TT.. very light and could use it if necessary to get onto the roof as well...

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

My current camper has a walkable roof, which is great! My previous camper had a walkable roof. But the two before that did not have walkable roofs. I still got on top of them and did my checking, but mostly because I covered them in the winter. I had to get up there.

Granted, I weighed a bit less back then, but I could still get up there. But I crawled on all 4's, never stood. That distributed weight to 4 points instead of just 2. And I also figured out exactly where the roof trusses were and there's where I'd put the weight of my body. I learned real fast, the distance between the trusses were pretty wide, and the material used to cover the roof was pretty thin. Between the trusses, things were soft and spongy, At the trusses, things were pretty solid. That's where I always attempted to put my weight (4 points). And I never had any issues doing it this way.

I did work from a ladder too. But there's only so much you can do, and reach from a ladder. If need be, get on the roof laying on your belly and skoot around. This distributes your weight even wider. Doing it this way, you can get up there just fine.

Not that I disagree with your comments on how you accessed your roof, it's how I'd do it too. That said, when I read the part in red, I thought "immediately" about a guy that lives down the road from me. His belly is so "rotund" that if he tried to crawl on the roof "on his belly" it'd look like a HUGE walrus on the roof and if he tried to get back up on his legs, it would be "sort of like a beachball trying to stand up".... OK, back to our "regularly scheduled programming" the "Jacques Cousteau lesson in marine wildlife is over".....

[Javi]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Not that I disagree with your comments on how you accessed your roof, it's how I'd do it too. That said, when I read the part in red, I thought "immediately" about a guy that lives down the road from me. His belly is so "rotund" that if he tried to crawl on the roof "on his belly" it'd look like a HUGE walrus on the roof and if he tried to get back up on his legs, it would be "sort of like a beachball trying to stand up".... OK, back to our "regularly scheduled programming" the "Jacques Cousteau lesson in marine wildlife is over".....

I didn't know that you've moved to Waco...

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Javi

I didn't know that you've moved to Waco...

Nope, still "anchored where the DW took me when I retired"... But the guy I was talking about might have lived in Waco before he moved up here.....