Help 2nd roof failure

HappyGuy · 09-24-2018, 06:45 PM

Before the fires get lit let me start by saying that this roof failure is my fault. The fam hit on hard times and I had to ignore our rig for the last year and a half. I thought I was keeping up with things but Hurricane Florence proved me wrong. I found water in the rear compartment and traced it to a leak in the top rear corner of the roof. Unfortunately a two foot square of the fiberglass part of the roof has come loose in that corner. It's not flapping in the wind but I can press on it and feel it's free. I sealed things up and am in the process of drying things out but since I found water in the rear compartment and some wicking on the cedar in the closet I have a hunch that the rear of the coach is seriously compromised. I do not have the facilities to fix this kind of damage. The fellow I normally use for the stuff I can't handle wouldn't touch this repair. I have been turned away from two shops he recommended based solely on my description of the problem. They didn't even look at the rig.

HELP

I need to find a shop with a good track record that is willing to take on this repair. I don't care if they take insurance or not. I'm willing to pay out of pocket at this point. I would prefer a shop in North Carolina but at this point I would be willing to drive back to Indiana if the shop next to the factory would be willing to take me.

HappyGuy · 09-25-2018, 08:52 AM

Well I found a shop willing to look at it and provide an estimate. The good news, this was caught soon enough that there isn't anything within the internal structure that can't be dried out. The bad news, the fiberglass on the roof has cracks in it at both rear corners and in the front where the prior repair was done. This will require complete replacement of the fiberglass sheet along with what ever roof sections have been compromised. That along with the replacement of the interior trim that was water damaged. I guess I can thank the torrential down pours from the hurricane for bringing the issue to light.

Looks like I'll be calling my insurance in on this one. Estimated labor hours will be between 45 and 55 hours with a going labor rate around here of ~140 to 150 an hour that is going to hurt. Makes me wish I lived somewhere with a lower cost of living...

I am still looking for any recommended shops. At least one additional estimate would be nice to turn in to insurance.

**Iwritecode** · 09-25-2018, 09:05 AM

Just an FYI, your insurance may not cover the repairs. They might consider this a maintenance issue. Unless you can convince them that the hurricane caused the damage.

Either way, I wish you luck.

HappyGuy · 09-25-2018, 09:13 AM

The shop seemed to think that since the fiberglass itself cracked that it was a failure in material and not a failure in maintenance. Here's hoping but my assumption matched yours initially. I guess I'll update the thread when I know more.

1FastSS · 09-25-2018, 09:29 AM

If I were you, I would be looking at alternative fixes. I would roll on some bed-liner or similar product....and don't walk on it any more than you have to. There is also a company that has a spray on roof...maybe check that route...

Decon Blue · 09-25-2018, 09:33 AM

You might get lucky and Ins will total it out.

emoney · 09-25-2018, 10:19 AM

Dang, that’s gonna be a big bill. Hopefully you can find a shop and the insurance covers it. Btw, if they do, they will probably even recommend a shop

hillsdaletc · 09-25-2018, 01:30 PM

There needs to be proof of impact damage. The adjuster will also note how long the damage has been there by how far along the water has caused damage.

JLeising · 09-25-2018, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1FastSS

If I were you, I would be looking at alternative fixes. I would roll on some bed-liner or similar product....and don't walk on it any more than you have to. There is also a company that has a spray on roof...maybe check that route...

These guys show up a lot on a google search:
https://rv-armor.com/index.html

No experience or knowledge about them. Several others also show up on a google search for RV roof repair.

HappyGuy · 09-25-2018, 04:58 PM

Well replacing the old roof back to original has been quoted out at 8 - 9k plus any interior repairs. With interior work I figure we could break 10k fairly easily. The rv-armor folks came back with a 5k estimate with a 6 week wait time. I would be left to fix the interior but I have some trim carpentry tools and the skills to use them so that doesn't really scare me. I guess it's time to do some due diligence on this company and see what surfaces. Here is a pic of the primary culprit but after further inspection I'm seeing cracks at all four corners. You can see the cracks if you take a pic and zoom in. I have a hard time seeing them with just my eye. The pic is before I resealed. Now it's all brand new dicor white.

Scrapper · 09-25-2018, 07:48 PM

Once you get it repaired/replaced you would do good placing Eterabond covering the seams. Place it right over the caulking/sealant.

AbdRahim · 10-02-2018, 07:32 PM

My sealant looked perfect to dealer (inspected twice a year), yet I still had multiple leaks. Got RV Armor in June. No more sealant to play with. Lifetime warranty. It takes a knife to get through the coating. Repaired a few bubbles, so this is no exaggeration. I had the roof and ceiling replaced then put RV Armor over the new roof. Hopefully, I will never again have to worry about roof leaks every time it rains or snows.

Oaklevel · 10-02-2018, 08:10 PM

No guaranty that they would do it or at what cost but Econo RV in Bassett VA is a fair place to try, their labor rate is about 1/2 of what you quoted.

Good Luck.

cavie · 10-02-2018, 10:35 PM

had my 5er done last summer with Ulitmate Rv roof. Same as RV ARmor. No more caulking. $1500 for a 27 5er. Very pleased with the results.

Delco Bobby · 10-03-2018, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyGuy

Well I found a shop willing to look at it and provide an estimate. The good news, this was caught soon enough that there isn't anything within the internal structure that can't be dried out. The bad news, the fiberglass on the roof has cracks in it at both rear corners and in the front where the prior repair was done. This will require complete replacement of the fiberglass sheet along with what ever roof sections have been compromised. That along with the replacement of the interior trim that was water damaged. I guess I can thank the torrential down pours from the hurricane for bringing the issue to light.

Looks like I'll be calling my insurance in on this one. Estimated labor hours will be between 45 and 55 hours with a going labor rate around here of ~140 to 150 an hour that is going to hurt. Makes me wish I lived somewhere with a lower cost of living...

I am still looking for any recommended shops. At least one additional estimate would be nice to turn in to insurance.

That seems extremely expensive. I suspect they don’t want the job and are trying to scare you away.

It looks to me like you have rain water pooling on the roof, not draining off. From photo it looks to me like you have a Dicor dam. The water can sit in those depressions.

Cracks in all corners makes me think someone was jumping on the roof or stomping around. Maybe a bad factory roof. I didn’t notice the year of your RV but maybe try contacting the factory. It may not be your fault!

In future try having RV sit at a slight angle to help drain the water and or take it for a ride.

Check with boat yards, they should be able to fix it.

The spray on roof sounds like a good alternative.

HappyGuy · 10-04-2018, 09:00 AM

It has been back to the factory for the front roof failure. That was fixed under warranty. Normally I do park the rig facing uphill to drain. Now since the rear is leaking it's facing downhill even though I have a waterproof cover on it currently. The cracking is showing throughout the roof in different sections. It isn't showing where the roof was shaded. For example, the area under where my antenna was down was fine. This seems to point to sun damage. Talking to some of the same folks that looked at the repair and turned it down, they seem to agree without my input. The short of it is that I should have kept the rig covered when possible and resealed the fiberglass every two years. I looked up the work required to do a reseal. Masking off all the paint, cleaning with some caustic cleaners and then applying the sealant. I'll pass. That's another reason I'm going for RV Armor. Lifetime warranty, free repairs and no maintenance for as long as I own the rig and for as long as the next person owns the rig. Now I just need to find a source to replace the damaged interior panels. I'm thinking of doing a cedar accent wall in the back in place of the original panel. The panel doesn't show any external damage but I'm paranoid. I'll have to sell the wife on it though and figure out what that will do to my traveling weight.

HappyGuy · 10-31-2018, 05:58 PM

Well the work has started. When they cleaned the roof the fiberglass was in worse shape than I thought. You could see the fibers after the cleaning. Thankfully the leak points were caught soon enough that the plywood under the roof was intact so they were still able to leave the fiberglass intact. They did have to add a primer step though which added an extra day to the process. The primer is on and drying. Yup, it's green... I'll be replacing the AC gasket and that back roof vent before the next steps. Tomorrow the first application will be applied. It will have to sit for the day due to the cooler temps. If the rain stays away on Friday the final coat will be applied. If it rains then it will be applied Saturday.

Post install I'll have a lifetime warranty on the roof that stays with the rig if I sell it and no more dicor or eternabond applications. If the roof ever gets damaged they are going to give me a patch kit to get me down the road until they can come out and fix it (for free)

Delco Bobby · 11-01-2018, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyGuy

Well the work has started. When they cleaned the roof the fiberglass was in worse shape than I thought. You could see the fibers after the cleaning. Thankfully the leak points were caught soon enough that the plywood under the roof was intact so they were still able to leave the fiberglass intact. They did have to add a primer step though which added an extra day to the process. The primer is on and drying. Yup, it's green... I'll be replacing the AC gasket and that back roof vent before the next steps. Tomorrow the first application will be applied. It will have to sit for the day due to the cooler temps. If the rain stays away on Friday the final coat will be applied. If it rains then it will be applied Saturday.

Post install I'll have a lifetime warranty on the roof that stays with the rig if I sell it and no more dicor or eternabond applications. If the roof ever gets damaged they are going to give me a patch kit to get me down the road until they can come out and fix it (for free)

Nice !

AbdRahim · 11-02-2018, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyGuy

Well the work has started. When they cleaned the roof the fiberglass was in worse shape than I thought. You could see the fibers after the cleaning. Thankfully the leak points were caught soon enough that the plywood under the roof was intact so they were still able to leave the fiberglass intact. They did have to add a primer step though which added an extra day to the process. The primer is on and drying. Yup, it's green... I'll be replacing the AC gasket and that back roof vent before the next steps. Tomorrow the first application will be applied. It will have to sit for the day due to the cooler temps. If the rain stays away on Friday the final coat will be applied. If it rains then it will be applied Saturday.

Post install I'll have a lifetime warranty on the roof that stays with the rig if I sell it and no more dicor or eternabond applications. If the roof ever gets damaged they are going to give me a patch kit to get me down the road until they can come out and fix it (for free)

For small repairs, when you use the kit, you won't need them to come out. The kit contains the same two coats that they put on. I am very happy I did this. I cannot easily cover mine.

HappyGuy · 11-05-2018, 09:29 AM

The job is done. The entire roof is sealed and extremely hydrophobic. The water beads off and runs right off. There are some dams in the corners that will always hold some water. The moment you seal the corner you block things up. Leaving the area open to let the water drain exposes the fiberglass seam.

Post install it stinks and will continue to stink until it fully cures. Due to the lower temps that process will take a while. I can't walk on it for a few weeks so I'll have to wait on reinstalling my vent covers and covering for winter.

Rolling down the road the wind noise has been marginally decreased. Now the tires and cabin door noise are more noticeable than the wind when rolling down the road.

Most importantly the roof is fixed, resealed and under a lifetime warranty.

For those that want to know the cost. RV Armor charges by the linear foot of roof for installs. My 32 foot RV had about 27.5 feet of roof. Total cost including repairs and added prep for this repair was 4834.00 If a complete tear off of the fiberglass had been required the price would have doubled.

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