RV Roof Armor

[Bill Borden]

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience with this company, I am looking for a better roof coating that is maintenance free.  My impression is the cost is high.  They claim allot.  Our roof is not leaking that I know of but the coating seems soft and is drooling down the sides.  I have read the thread about the Deck Coating, but there seems to be quite a few products out there and they all claim great things.

Here is what Roof Armor claims:

Convenient: Your Driveway. Your Campground. Wherever You Are.
Affordable: Generally 30 % - 50 % less than a tear off and replacement.
Permanent: Our Roof Membrane and System is the last roof your RV will need.
Guaranteed: Lifetime Material and Labor Warranty. Fully Transferable
Dealer Network: RV Roof Armor is installed by trained and certified dealers.

Used on: Motorhomes, 5th Wheels, Travel Trailers, Pop-ups, etc.
Our high-performance single-component polymer is applied as a liquid, then cures within four hours into a watertight, puncture and UV resistant roof membrane.
The RV Roof Armor System is a unique combination of durability, flexibility, and strength. Our reflective roofing system creates an attractive waterproof finish that stays adhered, offers energy savings, and unmatched performance.
RV Roof Armor is an extremely durable material and carries all relevant ratings and code approvals for use in the commercial roofing industry. In other words, not only will your RV Roof be attractive, it will also be able to withstand sun, wind, rain, snow, road conditions, and even hail with equal ease. Once cured, your RV Roof will be unaffected by temperature, even in extreme conditions.
 Click Here to Ask your local Certified RV Roof Armor Dealer about the "Lifetime" 100% no leak, fully transferable, Material and Labor Warranty. Your new RV Roof is now completely maintenance free.
"The Final RV Roof System"... RV Roof Armor.
http://www.rv-armor.com/index.html

So what solution is the best?  I am interested in hearing your opinion.

Thank you,

Bill

[Edward Buker]

Bill,

Your fiberglass gelcoated roof is a durable material in itself that has been used in boats for years. It has one flaw in my opinion and that is that the sun will oxidize the surface and it slowly sheds small particles. As it ages, it sheds them more rapidly and you see the results as streaks on the painted side surfaces as they stream down with water flow. If that is the only problem you are trying to solve then two coats of quality marine deck paint cures that problem. If you have more serious cracks, very porous depleted gel coat, leaking seams or some such more significant issue then a thicker type cured membrane system may be better for those issues. The only thing about the thick cured membrane films is if you have a problem it would likely be a real nightmare to deal with. Those films were born out of the building trades trying to solve leaky roof issues by filling gaps with heavy viscous films. I'm not sure how strippable those films are. For most of our situations they are overkill for the problem at hand.

Deck paint can be scuffed and recoated readily if you had an issue. Deck paint adhesion to the gel coat is tenacious given it was designed just for that  surface. There is no best answer here for all, just what is the most suitable cure for my particular roof condition. If I can I like to keep it simple. I think it boils down to what problem am I trying to solve and how much do I want to spend to solve that problem. Given the nature of gel coat I think most owners should have at least deck paint put down to protect the gel coat and fiberglass roof quality for years to come.

Later Ed

[Joel Weiss]

We had Dicor's fiberglass roof treatment applied over a year ago and I am very pleased with the results.  It has completely eliminated all the chalking we were getting which streaked on the sides of the MH.  It wasn't much more expensive than paint.

[Bill Borden]

Thank you for your comments.

Ed I have been on the fence about Deck paint, that's why when I read about Roof Armor in a recent FMCA magazine I considered using a stronger product.  But wasn't sure about which one.  Joel I will check out Dicor, thanks for the recommendation.

There is a concern that is probably driving me to consider a roof coating that I have not mentioned yet.  When we first purchased our Beaver the section in front of the Bedroom slide out had a minor skin separation.  This forum helped me understand what could be happening, so we check for leaks, finding none.  We were successful in a repair of the side, looks great now.  

After that I re-caulked the roof, along with cleaning and applying a roof treatment.  Since then I haven't been happy with it.  It was my first time applying a roof treatment, I now think that I just didn't do it properly or at the wrong time of the year, or the Moon was in Aquarius.

Anyway we are researching for a better way.  

Bill

[Gerald Farris]

Bill,
RV Roof Armor is designed for repairing the "rubber roofs" that are used on trailers and many gas motorhomes, not the fiberglass roof that you have. The "rubber roofs" that are used on these RVs is actually a synthetic rubber membrane that is stretched over a wooden roof structure.

Your coach only needs the roof painted if you have no leak issues. The white area of your roof was never painted, so a good paint will cure the white streak problem and protect the roof for many years.

If you are having a leak issue from a porous roof, then the roof should be coated with a thicker material like the Rhino Bed Liner that was designed to coat the bed in pickup trucks. This material will last as good as a good paint and cure the rare problem of a porous roof if you have one. However, if you have a problem with a stress crack on the roof, you need to have the fiberglass repaired first, and then painted. Stress cracks are rare, and they only occur on coaches that have the front cap and roof panel fiberglassed together like many Marquises.

Gerald          

[Terry Melot]

"Stress cracks are rare, and they only occur on coaches that have the front cap and roof panel fiberglassed together like many Marquises."

Gerald, I have exactly this crack on my Marquis. So I need to have the fiberglass repaired?  Not just paint over it?

[Gerald Farris]

Terry,
Yes, if the roof has a stress crack it should be repaired. If you just paint over it, the crack will almost certainly continue to grow and flex, so the paint will be of no benefit to the cracked area. Since a repair on the roof does not need to be finished for appearance purposes like one on a wall, it is usually not as expensive because you are only interested in the structural strength of the repair. After the repair, you can paint the entire white portion of the roof as well as the repair area, if it can not be seen from the ground with something like marine deck paint.

My 2000 Marquis developed a stress crack where the front cap meets the roof panel when it was four years old. Beaver Coach Sales repaired the crack at that time and I have had no problem with it in the 9+ years since the repair.

Gerald

[Joel Ashley]

Our Monterey had evidence of the problem when it was new and in the shop being prepped for delivery.  I had no clue, but the body and paint team at BCS at the time had a keen eye.  Apparently the factory had skimped on the layers of glass their engineers had prescribed over the roof to rear cap;  I think there was only four where there was supposed to be seven?  Can't recall for sure.  But they tore up the area and laid more glass down and repainted.  No issues since, and when the coach is in BCS for other service, I always ask that they survey the roof for me - as careful as I try to be, they know better what to look for.

Joel

[Dennis Crawford]

I have some minor stress cracks where the cap and roof meet and I will fix those myself.  As mentioned, this does not have to look pretty.  The thing I started using on my roof, vent covers, etc is Aerospace 303.  This was recommended to me by my good friend Bob Beretta at Fantastic Fans.  It works great and provides very good protection from the sun.

Dennis

[Bill Borden]

I have an update on our roof issue. I am not sure if I should start a new topic regarding a leaking shower skylight or not so I will begin here.

We have just return from a 3 week road trip, trying to get away from the cold snap and snow at home so we headed to South and the cold followed. That is why I haven't updated this post.

So here is the update, while inspecting the roof prior to our trip and touching up the caulking, I discovered the shower skylight has a cracking issue in the corners of the mounting flange.  I am sure it is leaking or was I have caulked it temporarily.  I plan on replacing it.

So what is my best course of action to replace the skylight, I am sure the area under the skylight could have some damage, I can see water damage to the frame inside that should be addressed.

I have been told that this could be a common ailment of skylights.

Has anyone had to replaced their skylight, any suggestions or comments.  At the same time a good deck paint will be applied to the white surface of the roof. On inspection of the roof I did not see any stress cracking only a few minor spider cracks toward the back or the roof.

Where should I have all this done?  I am located in the Sacramento area.  If you have referral or suggestion I would appreciate it, thank you.

Bill    

[Bill Borden]

I searched the forum and have read all the posts referring to the skylight replacement.  I can see allot of activity on this subject.

So I will contact Bend next week and see if they have a skylight in stock.


Bill

[Orman Claxton]

Here is the contact # for a company I highly recommend for the Lifetime Roof  ECO-Coat by Rhino Linings!
John and Susie are Good people, or else I would never recommend them
Arizona Rv Specialist, aka APR
Mesa AZ
Office: (480) 962-1661
Fax: (480) 984-5474

[Gary Wolfer]

I would like to add my 2 cents worth as I have a little experience with the Dicor. I had a 94 Safari Sahara with a fiberglass roof that has leaked off and on ever since I had it. Finally I took the air conditioners and vents completely out, I cleaned the surface with TSP. The fiberglass on the Safari's were more like a fiberglass mat with gel coat finish. The sun took its toll on the roof and slivers of fiberglass mat were showing in places. It was a rough surface unlike the surface on my Beaver. I sealed the end caps with a 4" wide tape like many others have been using but Dicor has a one sided product that has a scrim coating unlike the shiny coating on the other product Better because the dicor coating after brushing it on heavy filled the scrim nicely. My mistake on that first application was I did not rough up the surface nor did I take off the Solar panels. It did stop all of my leaks except for under the small solar panel for charging the chassis batterys. It unlike the other solar panel was  attached with a screw in each corner and wouldn't you know it that is where the leak was after the second winter. I pulled the panel off this last summer and I filled the holes and threw the panel away as it was in bad shape anyway. The only other problem I had was I coated both end caps as well and did not light sand them The peeled after the first winter. Last summer I light sanded them and recoated them and they did not crack or peel again. My suggestion to anyone coating a beaver would be to use tsp and scrub the roof then light sand the entire roof to etch it before applying dicor. I reapplied a whole gallon over the Safari Roof when I fixed the leak last summer and none has peeled and the cracks that were there disappeared. It is a good product  Now I need to figure out how to get the stains out of the monkey fur ceiling in the Safari that now belongs to my son. There was stained luan 1/4" plywood under the monkey fur that stained it and I have not been able to find a cure for the brown ceiling stains.

[Carol Moffett]

Gary,
   Try a product called Folex.  Richard Tracy expounded on it's many virtues on a previous thread and I must admit that he was pretty "spot-on", pardon the pun!  You can find large bottles of it at HD, in the cleaning isle by the paint etc.,  for less than 6.00!  A great deal!  When I found it in our local store the clerk said that they had just got this new shipment in as they couldn't keep it on the shelves, it is that popular.
   I have used it, with great results, on many of the different stains that we acquired w/our new-to-us Marquis.  Just spray it on, scrub a little w/ fingers or tooth brush, blot w/ a clean rag, wait a bit and voila!  Of course if it is a real nasty stain such as food or worse you'll want to use something different but for liquid etc., give this a try, for 6 bucks what the heck, right?  Hope this helps!
Good luck!
Carol

[neil omalley]

Hi Carol(wife of Keith)   Did his Folex do anything to the surrounding area,ie lighhten or darken the area?Did you use it on carpeting? Did the stains recur?  I've got a couple of stains on my carpeting both in the coach and in my house that seem to go away with cleaning and recur when any traffic goes across them.  Maybe this Folex? Thanks