Rubber roof

[Greg Barrick]

Does anyone know if an RV "rubber roof" wold work over 1/8 vineer TT/TD roof? It is "patchable." Will it stay down? Will it last?

[grant whipp]

I've never used it, myself, Greg, but I know a couple of guys who have ... one that I know has been on the road since the early '90s and is holding up well enough, though is suffering in the looks department. I think there have been a couple of builders on this Forum who have as well.

Good luck, and as always ...

CHEERS!

[Bogo]

If the glue down job is good and the edges are held down well, then it will stay down.

Yes rubber roofs can be patched.

I'd recommend using EDPM rubber roofing material made for houses and buildings over the stuff made for RVs, as it is much thicker and thus has a much longer life expectancy. We're talking about 20mils vs 45 or 60 mils. At an UV light induced oxidization rate of 1 to 2 mils a year, you can see how long they would last. It is possible to paint rubber roofing which will protect it some against oxidation. Special paints and a through chemical cleaning of the surface are needed.

[bonnie]

Bogo,

Do you have any experience with the liquid rubber roof product? I had wondered if the entire TD or TTT in my case could be painted with it.

[bobhenry]

EPDM is a great roofing material except for one thing it will rip if you try and pull it over a sharp wooden edge. Most applications go over some sort of padding. An old heavy quilt comforter or such works great on small areas like a 5 wide teardrop. On the Caboose I added a 1" foam underpadding and let the edges protrude about 3/4" beyond the 1/2 plywood roof sheathing. Just pulled it tight and trapped the edges with temporary wood strips. It was getting very cool when I finally got the roof membrane on so I will wait till a nice hot summer day to do the final stretch and add the dental moulding that will be the final attachment. No glue no fuss just trapped under the wood trim. For full time travel at highway speeds you might apply 2 strips of ice dam membrane and stretch and glue the EPDM to it.

I am curious about the new spray rubber in a can. Perhaps some brave soul will use it for a roof treatment and see what happens. After all if you can put a screen door in your boat it should keep the rain off your head

[Shadow Catcher]

One comment I have seen is to use residential EPDM not RV as it is lighter gauge.

[DrCrash]

The good and bad of it.
I used Rv edpm and can tell you two things about it.
1. It is thin.
2. It is heavy. I can only imagine the weight of residential edpm.

It is easy to install and forgiving but will show defects in the underlayment. So you have to have a clean smooth surface.
It wraps around corners nicely and sharp edges also.
I have read that you can patch it if the need arises.

The bad of it is. It has a shelf life of about 5 to 8 years if you take care of it. The sun just raises hell with it.
I used it to cover a 7wide 16 long trailer. The price for the edpm, glue and aluminum trim was very reasonable like in the neighborhood of 100 bucks total. It went down easily and looks great.
No leaks so far.
I use a rv uv cleaner on it and it sits outside fully exposed to the sun and so far it looks good.
Would I use it again?
I think I would.

[Ptomaine]

Another hint about EPDM roofing. There are two types of glue available. Contact cement (once
the two surfaces touch, that is where they stay forever), and a latex based adhesive (you only put
it on one surface and it gives you time to move it a bit). I used the latex adhesive as i was putting it
on alone. After 3 seasons, it is holding up great.

[Greg Barrick]

Thanks EVERYONE for your input! Havn't totally decided on what material to use for the roof yet. It's good to know that the rubber roof would work, as I MAY be able to get it free / dirt cheap.
The wife and I loved to listen to the rain on the old cubby with a thin metal roof. Great for sleeping! Sometimes we'd even go out to the TD in the driveway during a rain, just to listen to it.

[Bogo]

Bogo,

Do you have any experience with the liquid rubber roof product? I had wondered if the entire TD or TTT in my case could be painted with it.

No. I've used sheet EDPM on a couple houses and sheds with flat and low slope roofs. I've also used it to line a wood foundation. The black stuff absorbs heat like crazy. Paint it some light color, or use white or tan EDPM. Note, the better EDPMs have a fabric embedded in them. It makes them much more resistant to tears, etc..

Yes, use the latex based adhesive. Much easier to work with.

On edges, it depends on how tight you pull on it if it will rip. The EDPM I used from Menards is very tough, and I'm not sure you could rip it without trying very hard. On one shed all edges it went over were sharp cornered. I capped all edges with 1" x 1/8" aluminum angle. I ran a caulk line on the wood under the edge, then also ran a caulk line between the aluminum strip and the EDPM, and then screwed the strip down every 6". First I pilot drilled, then bevelled the hole edge, dab of caulk, then sank a flat head screw in. I wanted the screws flush so I used flat heads, but that isn't needed. Round or hex heads could be used and the bevelling skipped. You could also use rubber gasket washer instead of the dab of caulk. Use a non silicon caulk due to corrosion.

the other thing with sharp edges is you can round the wood edge. All it takes is a router round over bit with bearing.

[mechmagcn]

Being a RV tech and having some left over EPDM membrane laying around led to my decision to use it for my TD roof. It has held up well outdoors for 5 years now, but has many stains on it. Oil from the road and tree sap will stain it and it is difficult to clean. Really doesn't matter up on the roof of an RV, but it sorta makes the TD look dirty all the time.
Would I use it again? Depends, if I'm going for longivity, yes, for looks, no

[91kuhndog]

Ok folks, I'm going to jump in here because I found a topic I know a little about... EPDM rubber membrane roofing is a 20 year rated roof. The rubber roof I'm going to use is white so it'll reflect the Southern Summer heat from the trailer. You can use the industrial membrane material but lose the flexibility of contouring (albiet it's not real flexible around curvatures) Either way, it'll rip if your not careful.

I have replaced A few RV roofs (25-30) and completed as many RV roof repairs. While there's a lot of benefits, there are a lot of vulnerabilities for the roofs. The most common problem with EPDM is insufficient adhesive and the seperation of the membrane from the roof surface. Next, an issue with applying the roof is the luan or underlayment on your TD must be flush at the seams and secured to the framing good enough that you avoid high seams in the plywood or screw pops. Additionally, tree limbs and anything coming in contact with the membrane can easily tear it and unless you catch the damage, can cause water damage to your trailer. Having applied different types of RV roofing, I prefer EPDM due to cost, ease of cleaning (Spic & Span) and of course, ease of installation.

IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE...
Be sure on the installation to allow the material to cross the joint where the sides meet the top as to prevent any water from penetrating the walls. Second, The use of butyl tape and EPDM LAP sealant. I use two types of LAP sealants, self leveling and NON-self leveling sealant. After the membrane is down, you'll apply the fan using butyl tape between the flange and the roof. Once you get hte screws in, apply a liberal amount of self leveling sealant around the cracks and the screw heads...

On another question I saw ask... The Liquid Rubber and Roof products are great coatings and I highly recommend them to people building. I dont however recommend anyone using that product to coat the entire outside of their TD as it blisters and bubbles during the curing process, making things look a little,...ummm interesting. I'm planning to Kilz the bottom of my trailer (wood base) and apply a heavy coat of Liquid Roof to serve as a moisture barrier. Go to youtube, there are A LOT of good video's about EPDM liquid Roof and Liquid Rubber.