Author Topic: Roof Leaks  (Read 10426 times)

Steve Albert

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Roof Leaks
« on: December 13, 2014, 06:41:31 AM »
I have a 1996 Beaver Patriot, it is starting to get some leaks on the roof. What would be a good product to recoat the roof  :)

 

Joel Ashley

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2014, 07:49:10 AM »
A few years back Ed did the roof of his coach with Rustoleum Marine paint, and so far the results are reportedly very good.  A lot of the success is no doubt due to technique as well as product.  You can reference one of the Forum threads he posted about it here:

http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,637.msg3609.html#msg3609

Joel
Joel and Lee Rae Ashley
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LaMonte Monnell

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2014, 04:50:00 PM »
I used Dicor on my Contessa roof 2 years ago and it still looks great!

I removed the A/c and Ref vent covers then washed the roof the best I could on Day 1.

The 2nd Day after it was good and dry I used a medium grit sandpaper and sanded the whole roof lightly. Then I swept the roof to get all the powder off.

I started at the front and worked my way back using the Dicor and applied it with a roller with an extension handle so it wouldn't kill my back!

I let that coat dry for a day, then started a second coat, I used about 1 1/2 gallons for 2 coats of Dicor.

The next day I reinstalled all the covers and was finished.

When I wash it now even the stains from leaves come right off and leaves the roof a shiny white gloss. I am very pleased with the results.
Lamonte & Patti Monnell
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Gerald Farris

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2014, 06:45:35 PM »
Steve,
To correctly answer your question, I would need to know what is causing your roof leaks. If the roof leak is from failed sealer (calking) at seams around the roof vents or skylight, you just need to reseal those areas, and possible paint the roof with something like the Rust-Oleum paint mentioned above to stop chalking and white streaks down the side of the coach. The same thing goes for leaking seals around the A/C units, just replace the seals.

However, if you are getting leaks from a porous section in the fiberglass roof, you need to coat the roof with an elastomer coating like the Rhino bed liner that is used to coat pick-up truck beds. There are several brands of elastomer coatings that all do pretty much the same thing, and the price can vary widely depending on how extensively the job is done. If you remove the A/C units and all roof vents and solar panels, you are looking at a lot of labor to apply the coating. But if you do don't think that the leaks are in those areas, you can just apply the sealer in the exposed roof areas for much less of a labor bill.

Gerald   

Steve Albert

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2014, 08:55:49 AM »
Thanks everyone for the info  :)

Gary Wolfer

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2014, 03:42:44 AM »
Steve I do not know how much money you can afford to spend nor do I know if you are able to do your own work or have any help  I see you are in southern California. If you have a few days of no rain in a row with no dew in the mornings you can do what I have done. I have a 98 Beaver Patriot and the roof holds water near the air conditioners(puddles up) I know of no way to fix the puddling except to rebuild the roof. My roof also had thousands of microcracks in the surface. I live on the Oregon Coast with over 100 inches of annual rainfall. Last summer my son and I washed the roof off and took the air conditioners off and the vent covers. We installed new foam gaskets under the air conditioners and used a product called DiCor it is an elastomeric coating that is white. It is sold several places including Amazon and Camping World. They make two versions one is for a rubber roof and the other is for fiberglass like ours. After taking the air conditioners and vent covers off we taped the edges of the roof and etched the surface with a vibrator sander and 80 grit paper. Then we wiped it off with soap and water and dried with towels then sun dried DiCor makes a tape similar to a tape others use to seal the screws in the end caps however this tape is 4" wide and has a scrim on top similar to cheese cloth. I taped around all the 14" holes for the vents and air conditioners then we used Dicor self leveling sealant on all the toilet vents and under the referigerator vent and solar panels. (one of the panels a small square one that charges the chassis batteries is screwed directly into the roof and cannot be resealed without removing the panel. It is a potential leak) After we sealed the sewer vents and rear ladder and antenna connections we painted the coating on with two coats the first day and finished early so it had a chance to dry before night in case there was dew in the morning. I had to redo a small area because of dew that is why I mentioned it. The second day I applied a 3rd coat. It took two gallons of dicor and they are about 80 dollars a gallon. The tape was one roll about 50 dollars. paint brushes and a roller and trays and blue painters tape were the only other costs except the air conditioner gaskets that were about 25 bucks each.  Installing the air conditioners was the hardest part as after we lowered them down into the hole my son stayed on top and I went inside and lifted and turned the air conditioners until I could feel the gaskets evenly around the 14" hole. Then tightened them down evenly but do not over tighten. It cost me about 200 dollars and I have done two motorhomes the same way and I have had no leaks in the main roof. I put the tape around the shower skylight.(between the shower skylight and the rear air conditioner is where one of my puddles were and are. I have no leaks on either coach and I have had as much rain as California had last week. There are other options like the fiberglass sealer mentioned and the bed liner but this works for me and can be recoated without removing the vents next time. I recoated my first Safari Coach after a couple of years but it was still not leaking. Good Luck Molon Labe.

Steve Albert

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2014, 11:36:43 AM »
Thanks allot Gary that was very helpful I think I need to do the same thing you did and reseal everything and get gaskets for the  AC's  I asked one place how much to recoat the roof and they wanted 4,500.00  :)

Gary Wolfer

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2014, 02:15:42 AM »
Steve you could even hire a couple guys to help you at 10 bucks an hour per helper. you could hire as many people as you needed. Way cheaper than 4500. Two of us did it in two days. Only takes 4 long bolts to take the air conditioner off after you take the filter cover off inside. Then just lift them off lay them on cardboard on their sides and install new gaskets the gaskets are already sticky just peel the paper off the sticky side and stick them to the bottom of the air conditioners. OH yeah you have to take the 3 wire comex power wire loose just unscrew the wire nuts. Air conditioner is the hardest part other than light sanding the roof surface with a palm sander. I live on Social Security I have to do most maintenence by myself that is why I am here on this site. I was on Safari Friends forum for many years and learned a lot. I had to wait 15 years to be able to afford my dream coach. Now I am living my dream. I am a Patriot living in a Patriot. and an OSU Beaver living in a Beaver.  Molon Labe. Go
Beavs.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2014, 02:24:17 AM by Gary Wolfer »
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Steve Albert

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Re: Roof Leaks
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2014, 06:02:14 PM »
That is great Gary thanks for all your help  :)