BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Tom and Pam Brown on February 19, 2012, 04:01:07 PM
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Well after 2 days of buffing i have decided to try Dicor roof coating. Not much success with the buffer and elbow grease. I will post my progress and if I can remember I will photograph the process for those interested. It seems to be a fairly straight forward process that will consume less time for better results. I have ordered the product, and hope to accomplish by mid March.
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Tom,
Which of there products will you be using? What is the condition of your roof and is your intention to seal leaks or improve the roof appearance?
J
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Hi Tom
Have you considered Bus-Kote?
Brad Burgess
06 Monterey
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Guys,
I am using Dicor Fiberglass roof coating. It is self leveling and fairly simple to apply.
I have no leaks but the oxidation on the roof is constantly running down the sides and windsheild when moisture builds on the roof. I looked at Bus Kote and marine type paints and i am sure they are fine products but i decided on the Dicor because of the ease of installation. It is also designed for exactly my problem. It has only been on the market a year and it will last in excess of 5 years so i am told.
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By the way the cost of the product and cleaner is about $250 total. That will give me enough for 2 coats.
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We applied 2 coats of Dicor Elastomeric RV Roof coating to solve the oxidization on the roof in January 2011. It has held up very well and I have NO more white streaks down the coach sides.
After scrubbing and taping off the roof we applied the paint with a roller. 3 gallons was more than enough for 2 good coats. We have 1/2 gallon left over.
It has increased the heat reflective qualities of the roof . Next month ,back in the US ,we will extend the painted area right to the front and rear flat roof areas. It has a life of 10 years and is very easy to remove and reapply.
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Thank Jeremy I feel like I made the right decision I know my knees and elbows think so haha
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We applied 2 coats of Dicor Elastomeric RV Roof coating to solve the oxidization on the roof in January 2011. It has held up very well and I have NO more white streaks down the coach sides.
After scrubbing and taping off the roof we applied the paint with a roller. 3 gallons was more than enough for 2 good coats. We have 1/2 gallon left over.
It has increased the heat reflective qualities of the roof . Next month ,back in the US ,we will extend the painted area right to the front and rear flat roof areas. It has a life of 10 years and is very easy to remove and reapply.
Jeremy, could you clarify - next month you will extend right to the front and rear- so you just did a test patch in January?
Thanks
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Seeing we are back on the subject of roof coating..... I just wanted to pass along that after two years and several seasons of travel through the deserts of NM, at times in excess of 105 degrees, and into the rains and cool of the Pacific NW, a summer in VT, and winters in coastal AL the paint coating has held up. The Rustoleum Marine Fiberglass Deck paint is still glossy with no sign of deterioration or adhesion loss. This is after several pressure washings. If there is an area with mold on it I will linger with the pressure washer to clean it which is a pretty severe test.
This finish is made to stand up to the sun in a marine environment and I cannot come up with anything that I dislike about it in regard to cost, durability, and ease of application. The oxidation streaks no longer exist and the painted surface is smooth enough to shed most dirt in the rain. Just thought I would pass this experience along with the other alternatives.
Later Ed
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Hi Jim,
we painted the whole white gelcoated area that was oxidizing. This area finishes about 3 feet from the front and rear radius edge. These areas are painted the same colour as the radius and have peeled severely .I am going to sand them down to feather the peeled clearcoat ,tape off and apply paint 2 coats of the Dicor Elastomeric roof paint.
The main white area was painted January 2011 . We have been to Baja the last 2 winters,to Canada, and right across the US last Fall . The coach has been outdoors all this time.
It has been scrubbed and washed several times and still looks great. I use a soft scrubber with lots of suds and wash off with the hose.
I also note that if I linger too long with the pressure washer I begin to lift the paint.........a useful thought if I ever decide to have the whole roof repainted professionally.
I will see if I can find a photo for you.
I bought this paint on EBay . 3 gallons cost under $100.
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Here is a pic of the BGB (Big Green Bus ,my Grandson's name for the Beaver) taken February 27th 2011 near Ensenada ,Baja California. You can see the area at front where the clearcoat is peeling. The rear is the same I am going to extend the Dicor Paint right to the front edge of the radius.It will still be invisible from the road.
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Thanks for the info and the pictures. The Mop n Glo I put on last fall started to give white streaks after about 9 months, so I guess it's time to get serious this summer.
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Jim
If Mop n glow lasted 9 months, why get more serious than that?
I used Mop n Glow on my boat to keep the yellow mustache at bay. It worked fairly well, but the residual MnG buildup was terribly hard to get off. Fortunately, That was about 10 years later, when the mustache had returned and I was using toilet bowl cleaner to bleach it out, about twice a year. Then I found some cleaner - Collinite 920- that I used to get thru all of the built up stuff on the FG. It worked very well. I tried it on the Beaver, and on the roof it brought up a shine that I don't think had been seen for a few years. Then a coat of Collinite wax 925. I did that all in early Nov, in California. the Beaver hasn't been north yet, and now, looks like it was done yesterday. I have washed it, and in some other places I have touched up the wax with Collinite for RVs. I think the boat stuff is way better than the RV stuff, which combines cleaner and wax in one bottle.
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Interesting, Keith.. West Marine?
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Best price I found for Collinite 920 was $7.99 on Amazon.com. Bass Pro and West Marine do not appear to carry it.
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My first purchase was at Harbour Chandler, in Nanaimo. Then I and a friend went together on $150 worth, to get a deeper discount at eshine.ca. I now have a few year's worth.
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Thanks
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Ed, Did you apply your Rustoleum with a roller, and how many coats??
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George,
Yes I used two coats and the paint appiies well with a roller. I had a smaller roller with a handle that gave me about a 2.5 ft reach. The roller had a relatively short nap and was about 1 inch in diameter. The size allowed me to get under the solar panels for several inches and around the air conditioner bases. I had a small brush available to paint under edges that the roller could not reach.....below is from an earlier post on this subject.
As long as there are no major gel coat issues I found the roof painting to be a relatively easy job. This is a repost of what it took to get it done. Water did not bead on my roof after the cleaning with Simple Green. I had not waxed the roof before so there may be prep variations that one might need to create depending on how the gel coat had been treated and how the surface looked from a water beading point of view after cleaning.
The prep consisted of pressure washing the roof with a Simple Green solution. Once dry I scrubbed the roof surface with a Red Scotchbrite automotive prep pad. I did this by hand but it could be done with an orbital tool with a Scotchbrite pad. Basically a quick light scuffing. The roof being aged and oxidized means it is already roughened microscopically. I then washed the surface with an automotive wax and grease cleaning solvent by 3M. The prep took about 3 to 4 hours. I taped the perimeter and roof structures like the air conditioner bases with two inch Scotch Blue Painters Tape (approx 1.5hrs) and then used a 1 inch by 6 inch roller to roll on two coats of deck paint. (less than 2 hours per coat and 3 quarts of paint total) This job can be completed for about $100 in about 8hrs spread over several days. I rollered paint over the roof sealant along the edges of the vent hatches and the like, thinking it would protect the sealant some and they havebeen fine with no peeling.
Being an oil base paint it will need some drying time. I put down one coat per day over the several days.
To me this is a whole lot less work than waxing the roof over and over and cleaning streaks from the coach surfaces.
Later Ed
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Seeing we are back on the subject of roof coating..... I just wanted to pass along that after two years and several seasons of travel through the deserts of NM, at times in excess of 105 degrees, and into the rains and cool of the Pacific NW, a summer in VT, and winters in coastal AL the paint coating has held up. The Rustoleum Marine Fiberglass Deck paint is still glossy with no sign of deterioration or adhesion loss. This is after several pressure washings. If there is an area with mold on it I will linger with the pressure washer to clean it which is a pretty severe test.
This finish is made to stand up to the sun in a marine environment and I cannot come up with anything that I dislike about it in regard to cost, durability, and ease of application. The oxidation streaks no longer exist and the painted surface is smooth enough to shed most dirt in the rain. Just thought I would pass this experience along with the other alternatives.
Later Ed
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Ed,
Well, I screwed up doing that quote of 4 words that I wanted.. Rustoleum Marine Fiberglass Deck paint is what I was after. Is that also known as their Marine Topside paint? Your way seems the best to me. I would think that would give the UV protection for quite an extended length of time with doing nothing more than a good washing when possible. It is time I need to do something as I don't like the work of waxing. Tough on the knees. Thanks, Don
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Don,
It is the Marine Topside paint and it was available at Lowes in a gloss white. There is also a fine grit additive available in a can but I did not use it nor see the need for it in our application. Link below.
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=4
Simple Green wash first. Many of the car wash soaps have wax in them now so steer clear of those for the roof prep. I ceratinly did not overdo the scuff and solvent wash. Just a red scotchbrite pad passed a couple of times back and forth to lightly scuff the surface to take off anything loose and then a quick solvent wipe on a rag (which I did change often) of the surface.
This is an excellent wax and grease remover that does not evaporate too quickly, it does the job very well. Friends of mine in the autobody business swear by it. PPG DX330 Wax and Grease Remover. It leaves no residue and evaporates cleanly. Any automotive paint supplier that handles PPG will have it.
http://www.welleauto.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=893&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=57
Tape off and roller away. You have to keep moving to keep a wet edge. On the first coat it will not look completly even with full coverage, second coat it will look just fine. This job looked bigger than it was, it only took about 8 hours over several days to get it done.
I think the good thing about marine deck paint is that it should stay adhered very well. If it fades with time or needs to be recoated, it is a light scuff, a quick solvent wipe and roller on another coat. I'm not sure when and if I will ever need to do that.
I'm a little wary of how one might deal with the thicker more flexible coatings if it starts to fail....just not sure how that is handled. They may be just fine. It will be good to have some photos and reports on ease of application and how these other coatings are holding up over time.
Later Ed
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Ed, you mentioned solvent and a PPG Wax and Grease Remover .......can you clarify so I can do exactly what you did?
Thanks
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Jim,
The solvent is the PPG DX330 wax and grease remover. It is a standard surface cleaner for automotive painting that works very well here.
Later Ed
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tHanks, Ed