Fiberglass crack repair

[Milk_Man]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2016 2516G Rockwood tent trailer that's in one of those new tan color, and it's got about 15 cracks on the fiberglass roof from hail damage.

Is there any good (cosmetically) ways to patch it up?
Color matching would be ideal if possible.

Many Thanks!

[Splitshaft]

If this were a do-it-yourself project, I would likely color match by painting after the repair. If I were to make the repairs, I would first very carefully grind out most of the damage at each spot without going all the way through. And then go back with chopped glass fibers mixed with polyester resin and hardener. Once the resin had cured I would wet sand using wet/dry sand paper and water until smooth and even with the surrounding surface and then paint to match. The reason I would try to grind out the damage without going all the way through would be to try and halt any cracks that might propagate and travel back through or away from the damaged areas. The cracks might not travel, but there is no flush repair that can be made without removing some of the damaged fiberglass. Any flexing of the roof on the road could however cause some cracks to travel through the new repair if not done properly.

Alternately if the camper is insured, insurance should replace the roof minus any deductible as the best repair.

[russhd1997]

Do you have comprehensive insurance on it? The insurance company might buy you a new roof. You have a lot of holes to fix and it will never look right.

[Milk_Man]

Originally Posted by Splitshaft

If this were a do-it-yourself project, I would likely color match by painting after the repair. If I were to make the repairs, I would first very carefully grind out most of the damage at each spot without going all the way through. And then go back with chopped glass fibers mixed with polyester resin and hardener. Once the resin had cured I would wet sand using wet/dry sand paper and water until smooth and even with the surrounding surface and then paint to match. The reason I would try to grind out the damage without going all the way through would be to try and halt any cracks that might propagate and travel back through or away from the damaged areas. The cracks might not travel, but there is no flush repair that can be made without removing some of the damaged fiberglass. Any flexing of the roof on the road could however cause some cracks to travel through the new repair if not done properly.

Alternately if the camper is insured, insurance should replace the roof minus any deductible as the best repair.

That's pretty much the plan right now unless there's any good way to color match the gel coat (assuming that is the current finishing).

[Milk_Man]

Originally Posted by russhd1997

Do you have comprehensive insurance on it? The insurance company might buy you a new roof. You have a lot of holes to fix and it will never look right.

I do have insurance. Their method is to simply glue on another full sheet of fiberglass over the existing. I decided to try to DIY this and take the payout instead. It's on the roof anyway so it's not directly visible if it isn't perfect.

[GOTTOYS]

If it was mine I would glue them all shut with a fiberglass repair kit. then sand them sort of smooth, maybe put a little Bondo over them to get them nice. Next I would glue a sheet of rubber roof over it and trim around the edges with some metal edging. That would make it better than new.

[Heymirth]

My POP had hail damage and the insurance company Totaled it.

[mwdilday]

If I had to do the repair myself this is what I would do. It looks like there is some thickness to the roof. I would take the edges down at a slight angle but not so much that I would greatly enlarge the area at the surface. I would take it out to the end of the cracks. Then I would place fiberglass cloth layer by layer. You could use glass fibers on the last layer which may help match the texture. Then I would spot paint.

[Milk_Man]

thanks for all the inputs.
I'll probably be sanding it down and use some fiberglass repair kit.
Then spot paint to make the repairs less visible.

[wrvond]

Bondo will not stick to fiberglass properly.

I like Splitshaft's procedure except that I wouldn't paint - especially since it's the roof - I'd use color matched gel coat. You can get pretty close with that.