Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Travel Trailers: Best Roof Coating

Print | Close

Topic: Best Roof Coating

Posted By: TECMike on 03/07/21 08:42am

Trying to decide on a roof coating for our small twelve year old Sunnybrook. The following are highly rated:

Proguard, Heng's, Kool Seal, and Dicor. I would appreciate comments about any of these from experienced users in order to help make a decision.

Thanks so much!
Mike

Posted By: Lwiddis on 03/07/21 09:02am

I’m happy with Heng’s.

Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Posted By: Gdetrailer on 03/07/21 11:06am

Your gonna get a lot of opinions..

I tried Kool Seal, looked nice, lasted less than one yr and started to crack and look thin in places.. by yr two, it was pretty much worn off..

Yes, I cleaned, scrubbed, prepped and no it didn't last.

In my case, I applied over a worn fiberglass roof, applied several coats.

I will be very frank and honest about these liquid fixes in a can.. They are very temporary at best, and will require reapplication often.. They are as thin as paint, you simply cannot replace the thickness of the original roofing material..

If your roof has no rips, tears, cracks and it just doesn't look "pretty white" anymore, DON'T DO IT! Don't go there with liquid in the can fixes, you are just wasting your money and time.

Your roof DOES NOT "have to be blinding white" to still function and absolutely nothing you can slather on it from a can is going to preserve it or give longer life.

If your roof has some rips, tears, cracks, DON'T DO IT! The liquid fixes in a can will not have enough body to bridge and repair those issues and will fail.

In my case and NEW roof over top of the old fiberglass was the only real fix because of cracks in the fiberglass that just defied staying repaired and the high cost of automotive grade paints being out of this world in cost.

Posted By: gbopp on 03/07/21 12:06pm

Yes, you're going to get a lot of opinions.
My vote is for Heng's Rubber Roof Coating. It goes on easily and needs no primer. Just wash the roof well before applying. I used 2 1/2 gallons to cover 30' of roof with two light coats.
Heng's holds up well.
Use Eternabond and Dicor Self Leveling Caulk for any seams or tears in the roof.

Posted By: spoon059 on 03/07/21 01:25pm

What problem are you attempting to fix?

2015 Ram CTD
2015 Jayco 29QBS

Posted By: Gdetrailer on 03/07/21 04:45pm

gbopp wrote:

Define "HOLDS UP WELL".

1 yr??
2 yrs??
3 yrs??
5 yrs??
10 yrs??
15 yrs???

Is the "HOLDS UP WELL" just the "pretty blinding white" factor?

If so, blinding white does not equal "HOLDING UP WELL"...

It can look pretty and white but if in the end it cracks, wears thin or peels off or you have to reapply again, it failed to "HOLD UP WELL".

RVrs seem to be totally obsessed with having a "blinding white roof" and are willing to spend a lot of time and money on keeping it blinding white.

Slathering things on that roof also does not add real life to the roof, just prolongs the obvious issue a couple of yrs.. If you are really planning to hold on to the RV, fixing old cracked caulking is best plan than worrying about the color..

You don't see home owners painting sticks and bricks roofs, not sure why RVs get so obsessed with perfect white roofs.. They will get dirty, they will go grey to black as the roof wears and even if the roof goes 100% black as long as it sheds water it is 100% functional without slathering fixes in a can on it.

Posted By: Lwiddis on 03/07/21 05:11pm

I am not an RVer who needs a blinding white roof and the Heng’s on my roof now is a second coat. Neither the first or second has cracked, peeled etc. No horror story here.

Posted By: gbopp on 03/07/21 05:56pm

I've had the Heng's on my roof about 5 years. I only coated the roof because the original white coating wore off.
It was cheaper to clean and coat the roof than it was to replace it.
I wanted a light colored roof to reflect heat, the coating only comes in white.

Posted By: TurnThePage on 03/07/21 09:16pm

Gdetrailer wrote:

gbopp wrote:

I coated my roof with Hengs 3 years ago, and aside from currently being dirtier than when it was fresh, it's holding up great. And that blindingly white is an awesome feature. My RV cooled very noticeably literally the very day I coated it. If it peels or anything I'll have no problem slapping another coat on there, but it looks like it's going to hold up for a while yet.

2015 Ram 1500
2022 Grand Design Imagine XLS 22RBE

Posted By: TECMike on 03/08/21 07:52am

Thanks everyone for their posts. Heng's seem to have a good following. However it is interesting that no one has used Proguard, which has a five year warranty if applied properly.

Posted By: Gjac on 03/08/21 11:00am

TECMike wrote:

Thanks everyone for their posts. Heng's seem to have a good following. However it is interesting that no one has used Proguard, which has a five year warranty if applied properly.

. People have used Proguard but it is much more expensive than the acrylic coatings. The proguard or liquid rubber is liquid EPDM and is suppose to last longer. The EPDM roofs have an outer white layer that will slough off in time exposing a black rubber substrate. Once the black is exposed the black rubber will absorb the suns rays and heat up the RV. My roof started showing the black at about 12 years of age, my friends MH is the same year as mine and his roof is entirely black now and hot inside because he never coated it. I coated mine with one coat of Cool Seal because a friend gave me a can when he bought a new MH with a FG roof. It looked great for 3-4 years then it started to wear of. My roof is 25 years old now and has never leaked . It looks about the same as it did at 12 years of age, so I figured the coating extended the roof’s life by 12 years.

Posted By: Marcela on 03/09/21 05:59am

I would seriously look at henrys tropicool 100% silicone roof coating.

Posted By: TECMike on 03/11/21 11:53am

Does Proguard Liquid RV Roof coating need their primer applied to Eternabond areas prior to application of the coating?

Posted By: AlmostAnOldGuy on 03/14/21 08:37am

TECMike,

I have used Proguard. From what I have read Hengs is easier to apply, but I do not have first hand experience with it.

In 2015 I applied Proguard for the first time. Due to weather conditions I ended up rushing the job and it made for a long day (clean, dry, mask, cut, roll). I also ended up with some spots a little too thick (the higher humidity and finishing late in the day did not help).

Anyway, after 5 years it was getting thin and I went with Proguard again because I was familiar with using it. So last August I split the job into 3 days and that made it easy. This is for a trailer where the roof is 26' long & about 8' wide.

Day 1 - Cleaned it well and took care of masking.
Day 2 - Opened a 1 gallon can and took care of the edges which extend down side of trailer 1/2 inch. Cut around all vents, skylights, AC and then used remaining to cover front couple of feet of trailer. Did not cut in around ladder where I get on and off.
Day 3 - Rolled the rest of the trailer. Had it marked in 45' sections and would apply 1 gallon per 45 sq ft.

This was done on 80 degree days when working with material I would start at around 9:30am and finish by around 11:00am before it really got too warm. No issues with pot life.

By splitting into three days it made it easy, no rush, and felt like it did a nice job covering and expect minimum 5 years out of this and perhaps more because I think I spread it more evenly. Once this is on it really does appear to be quality material.

Hope this is of some help.

Take it easy,
Stu

2012 F150 HD/Max Payload (8200 GVWR, 2176 payload) SuperCrew EcoBoost
2008 Komfort Trailblazer T254S

Posted By: JBarca on 03/15/21 08:54am

Marcela wrote:

I would seriously look at henrys tropicool 100% silicone roof coating.

I'll add to this,

Hi TECMike,

How many years do you want to get from your roof coating before you stop using the camper? The cost of the product and time to apply, changes with how many years you want to get.

I have done some in-depth looking and testing into roof coatings as my 16 year roof is getting thinner and I have no intention of selling the camper anytime soon. I have not yet, done a total coating install, but will in time. I have narrowed down the coating to the two below.

There is a need to understand the difference between acrylic coatings and then, silicone coatings and how each react to ponding water. Ponding water can breakdown acrylic coatings in some cases as they not made to handle that environment. Some campers have walk on roofs, others do not. Water sheds different from those two types of roofs.

Next up, are you using the coating to restore the shedding white layer of your old roof, or do you want to deal with all the seams and known leaks points which is wherever caulking was used and the infamous gutter rail area leaks?

There are 2 products that fall into the high solids silicone treatment for roofing. There may be more, but these 2 are the I found so far.

Here is the Henrys Tropical Cool. This system shows a lifetime warranty.
https://henry.com/retail/white-roof-coat........opi-cool-100-silicone-white-roof-coating

Here is the other, Crazy Seal. This system has a 50 year warranty.
https://crazyseal.com/?msclkid=9dec2a474820129b03794a082dcb511f

Both of them have 3 different viscosities of the product to work on different needs. You use the thicker viscosities over sound older caulk, there is a pump tube for joints if needed and then a open area thinner coating.

Both of these products have to be applied to a very clean surface. Both do work with 1 coat ~ 22 mils thick, but it is better with 2 coats, ~ 40 mill thick.

Both the Tropi Cool and the Crazy Seal have many similarities, the Crazy Seal is infused with fiber where the Tropi Cool is not. Both are rated for buildings and RV's. The Crazy Seal is targeted for the RV'er but rated for buildings. Tropi Cool is targeted for buildings but used on RV's. It is a marketing thing.

The Tropi Cool will most likely be a little cheaper. Both of these coatings will most likely be more expensive then the other RV coatings mentioned in this thread and take longer to install over all the leak prone areas. The end result can be better pending on what you are after.

The big thing I was after is the gutter rails and all the caulk on the roof. That is where the big issues are. As I stated, both products have 3 different viscosity's of the product to go over seams, sound caulking etc. The gutter rails, meaning dealing the the screw area down in the gutter, I had to create my own method to make it work. Over the winter I bought the Crazy Seal product and created test roof samples and applied the product to make sure I knew how it was going to react. The open areas and horizontal area worked flawless as the web site states over caulking and the large roof surface. At the gutter area I had to create a process to deal with them as it is a vertical surface. I have not tested the Tropi Cool product but from reviewing, I expect it to work very similar. If your roof has a large roof radius at the gutter rail that exposes a vertical section of roof, lets talk on how to deal with the vertical surface.

Both of these options create a maintenance free roof other then cleaning and inspection that is rated to last the life of the camper. And they deal with all the caulk issues of the original install.

Three things to note,

1. Any water damage to the roof system from a prior leak, should be repaired before the coating. This includes dealing with crumbling old dried up caulk.

2. Think about replacing all roof mounted plastic before the coating. Shower domes, tank vents, fridge vents etc. This is not a mandate, but dealing with them after the coating will be more difficult.

3. Crazy Seal will not create a long lasting bond to Eternabond. They will tell you that. I suspect Tropi Cool will not either and the same goes for the Dicro acrylic coatings as I have seen it lift on that product too. The top slick surface is the problem. There are ways to deal with this if you used Ebond, it just takes extra steps.

As Marcela stated, look into the high solids silicone coatings as you sort this out.

Hope this helps.

John

* This post was last edited 03/15/21 10:02am by JBarca *

John & Cindy

2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10
CC, SB, Lariat & FX4 package
21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR
Ford Tow Command
1,700# Reese HP hitch & HP Dual Cam
2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver

2004 Sunline Solaris T310SR
(I wish we were camping!)

Posted By: Cocky_Camper on 03/18/21 08:15am

I applied Heng's to my grandpaw's 1995 Pace Arrow roof 8 months ago. So far, it is holding up very well. I used eternabond and proflex around the seems first and coated everything.

2004 Sea Breeze by National RV - 8341

Former Coaches:
2006 Keystone Zeppeline 291 - TT
2000 Aerolite Cub F21 - Hybrid TT
1991 Coleman Pop Up

Formerly known as: hybrid_camper

Posted By: TurnThePage on 03/18/21 11:20am

JBarca is a smart guy and I wouldn't ever consider debating with him. But the Heng's acrylic latex coating I put on my EPDM roof, that by the way has lots of Eternabond tape, is holding up quite well. I don't know about water ponding as my roof is peaked so it all runs off. The only place I've ever seen any ponding is on the high side edge of the refrigerator vent, and that area is as intact as the rest of the roof. As it's easy to apply and is holding up well, I expect it'll be my go to product if recoating is ever again necessary. Maybe geography plays into it, I dunno. My trailer lives outside pretty far north in the inland northwest. Snowy winters and sunny summers with generally low humidity. Just reporting my experience.

Posted By: JBarca on 03/19/21 11:53am

TurnThePage wrote:

Hi Turnthepage,

Thanks for the good words. I know your screen name from over the years as a respected one. I am very open minded and the learning never stops. Lets compare notes and I will clarify some of my comments.

Let start with the coatings not sticking to Eternabond. When I bought my small batch of silicone coating from Crazy Seal, I quizzed them a lot about how the product works and if it will adhere to Eternabond. They told me it will not create a long term bond. They have seen it lift over time. There are work arounds for this, they just clarified their product will not bond long term to Ebond. In 2010 I Ebonded my entire camper and the roof is still pristine for 16 years, just the shed layer of the EPDM is thinning. The Ebond saved the seams of that camper which is why I needed to know if the silicone coating would adhere. I have a plan for this when I do the large open areas in the future, but the Ebond will remain on the camper, just not coated.

I camp with a group from the Sunline club, the brand camper I have and others I have restored. There are several of us that talk a lot and we see what each has done to the camper when we meet up.

Last summer we camped with a friend who used the Dicro acrylic coating to restore his 21 year old camper EPDM roof 3 years ago. He had Ebonded all the seams prior and he coated over them. During year 3, he started to see the coating lifting off the Ebond. That for sure peaked my interest. I went up on the roof from the side to see what he was talking about. Here are the pictures.

The gutter rail area with Ebond under the coating.
[image]

A close up so you can see better
[image]

A second area
[image]

Close up

It took 3 years for this lifting to start. The rest of the camper does not show this yet, but it will be watched as the years go on.

This adds some context to what I was saying. There is something about the slickness of top layer of Ebond that coatings have a hard time adhering to it long term. This may not be an immediate no stick thing. Pending the coating, it may not even be a problem if the coating lift stops at the edge of the Ebond. The point being, it may not adhere long term.

How long ago did you coat your roof? The camper in the pics lives in NW Ohio with mid west humidity, snow and freezing temps. He does put his camper in storage for the winter months. It lives outside the rest of the time. Please report back as the years go on yours if you see it lifting. It may be Heng's has something different or it just takes longer for the effect to show up.

To the ponding water comments, some non walk on camper roofs have the roof support system to allow the membrane to sag slightly, and water ponding can occur in those areas. A seasonal camper what never travels, would be large issues as the pond will never drain until it all evaporates.

See this pic from a 2005 camper roof I was doing some repair on for a friend who just bought it from a dealer. The caulk failed on the front seam, a leak started, then someone went up and put more caulk on. Look at the blackened molded area stain on the rubber roof. You can see where the water was ponding. The EPDM rubber was under water. It EPDM survived well, the front seam with bad caulk leaked.
[image]

If a camper has a roof structure that allows ponding like that to happen, it should be realized as it may be a coating problem. The coating has to handle being under water for periods of time that may take days to evaporate off. This is especially a concern on a seasonal site where the camper never moves or a camper stored between camping trips.

Some acrylic coatings have a characteristics of breaking down, again over time, due to being submerged under water a long time. A camper that sheds water all the time or one that is towed a lot, may not have an issue other then when it is stored and it rains. The ponding issue it something to confirm with the coating manufacture their coating is not affected by it to make sure you are OK. I have no data to report what a long time is.

Hope this puts the comments in context.

Thanks

John

Posted By: TurnThePage on 03/19/21 02:52pm

Great feedback, John. I'll try to climb on mine this weekend and get some pics. It's just coming up on 3 years since I coated it. The trailer is 17 years old with original roofing material. The Eternabond is probably about that old too.
No leaks that I'm aware of. It's not a walk on roof, and I've put that to the test multiple times without falling through yet. [emoticon]

Posted By: TECMike on 03/22/21 05:24pm

I have great respect for John's wisdom also.

I go back twelve years when we bought our trailer. At that time when it was only a month old, I spent a lot of time putting Eternabond on all of the seams and every penetration on the roof.

Lots of Eternabond on our roof. I have become a big fan of Eternabond. It shoows no sign of failing what-so-ever.

Over 75K plus miles and twelve years, we have been blessed by never having a leak.

So perhaps I should consider only coating the portion of the roof that does not have EBond.

Again, thanks to everyone who has kindly offered their opinions and help on this topic.

Posted By: JBarca on 03/22/21 07:05pm

Hi TECMike,

Thanks for the good words.

I too have a lot of eternabond up there. Every Dicor'ed anything that was a primary water seal was Ebonded over starting back in 2010.

Here is my roof after being washed 2 summers ago. This is a 16 year camper. I washed it 4 times a year when it lived outside all the time until 2013 when the new barn came. Now 2 times a year being stored inside. And I put 303 UV protectent on everything up there after washing it. The 303 for sure helped.

[image]

To your question about only coating the areas that are not eternabonded, when mine comes time to be coated, I was looking heavily into the high solids silicone treatment. The Henry's or the Crazy Seal. They will cost more then the other coatings, but this all comes down to how much longer does one want to keep the camper? Do you need a 50 year warranty?

In my case, it could be another 16 years or more. I may get a new one sometime or a different one, but I do not think I will ever get rid of this one. Like yours, everything in it is dry and in top maintained shape. I sealed every siding joint too. Trust me I spent $$$ maintaining it.

When I installed the Ebond, I put a light coat of non sag Dicor caulk on the exposed sealant edge of the E bond. This flowed over about 1/8" to 1/4" onto the Ebond. I did this to not have dirt stick the exposed E bond layer. I'm not sure what you did.

When I coat the roof, I will coat over that Dicor and stop there just past the Dicor. That is due to the coatings I am looking at. Since I 303 the Ebond, there is no notable degradation on the white layer of the Ebond. Since I still need to treat all the roof plastic up there, this would not be an extra step, just do it when I treat the rest of the plastic.

The folks with the Heng's, for me that is an unknown. I have no data to prove it is a problem other then the issues I have found on other brands of acrylic coatings. If the coating did lift off the Ebond, as long as it did not tear into the main roof coating, it may not be an issue. If it would make a clean break and stick solid at the end of the Ebond and not cross it, well you can see it and then figure out what to to.

You could also coat up to the Ebond from the start and not go onto it. If your Ebond has no signs of top layer degradation, that at least helps give you part of an answer. From what I know, if the top of Ebond is UV treated frequently, at least 2 times a year, more is better, the Ebond may last as long as the camper will.

Hope this helps.

John

* This post was edited 03/22/21 09:49pm by JBarca *

Posted By: TECMike on 03/23/21 07:58pm

Thanks, John, for your insight regarding possibly coating Eternabond on my trailer. I deeply appreciate all the great help you have given to this forum's members throughout the years, John.

I had even considered and thought about spraying some paint primer on the Eternabond plastic to making coatings stick better and longer. The jury is still out for me as to what I am going to do. I am leaning, as mentioned, not even coating over the Eternabond. I feel it is a remarkable product is used correctly.

You have me beat on care of your roof, John. Yours looks great. Much better than mine. And I also should have used 303 Protectant on mine through the years. Your roof is a testimony to that product.

I also am a big fan on 303 protectant, and have used it regularly on my 2002 Ford F250 7.3 Powerstroke dash and interior for about eighteen years. I am proud to say my dash and interior still looks nice for an old truck with close to 250K miles, most of which has been pulling our camper.

We sometimes travel to the Rocky mountains in North New Mexico and Southern Colorado at 8500 feet, which does a real number that high with UV deterioration on vehicles and camper roofs unless there is protection on the dash and interior. Same goes for camper roofs.

Later during the first year of ownership of our twelve year old camper, I replaced about eighty percent of all the exterior screws with stainless screws. I also used a small piece of doublestick Eternabond on each screw prior to sinking it, thus making a seal around each screw head.

Yes, this took a very long time and stainless screws were not cheap.

Also removed each marker light and tail light and made gaskets of doublestick Eternabond and replaced screws with stainless screws. All of this to prevent leaks.

My wife and I are now in our seventies. Like you, we do not plan on ever selling our camper. When the end of our camping days arrives, we plan on selling our camper at a very low price or perhaps giving it to a deserving young couple just starting out who will take care of it.

When that day arrives, I expect the Eternabond and stainless screws will still be holding up fine. I would hope that whatever roof coating I decide to use will also be holding up well.

Mike

Posted By: JBarca on 03/23/21 09:39pm

TECMike wrote:

And I also should have used 303 Protectant on mine through the years. Your roof is a testimony to that product.

Thanks Mike,

Yes, the 303 makes a big, big difference on the EPDM roof and caulk. Since I retired 5 years ago, I acquired a somewhat, extreme hobby. I restore water logged campers... Some guys do boats, cars, trucks, motorcycles, houses, well I do campers. [emoticon]

I am on my 13th camper rot repair. Some for friends, and some I own. I have 5 campers now in my barn, our big one we camp in all the time in my sig, then 4 other that are projects campers in stages of drying out and restoration.

These campers are the same brand, Sunline, that I have in my sig. Three of them are 2004 campers and one a 2007. These have the classic, the owner never took care of the roof, or the siding seals. They never knew they had to. As such, they all had seeper type drip leaks in them, leaking for years.

The key point of this, they never did much to the roof. The original Dicor caulk is literally toast. All dried up, split, heavy dirt imbedded. The white shed layer of the EPDM is cracked like lighting bolts everywhere. These campers are the same age as mine. I never knew how much the 303 really does for the good of the caulk and the rubber, by cleaning the roof correctly and using the 303, until I saw it with my own eyes, on the same age roofing system, that is not washed, and not cared for on the caulk. The UV kills the caulk and the shed layer on the rubber.

Not to mention the heavy flexing of the camper from towing in the 4 corners of the roof system. That splits the caulk big time, even if the caulk is in good shape. I saw that on my big one in 2010 and I was being anal about the caulk. The roof was spotless on the caulk in November, come March after a snowy winter, there was a big split in the corner from being stored outside on a 6 year old camper. That is when I said, even I could not keep up this caulk mess, it is not going to cut it. Thus the Eternabond was born and is the best thing I ever did for the roof sealants.

Using only caulk as your primary seal against water intrusion on a camper roof, is a leak waiting to happen if you plan on keeping a camper much past 5 to 8 years. Especially if the camper lives outside all the time.

Eternabond, 303 and taking care of the roof is the winner.

Let us know what you come up with on your roof.

Thanks

John

Posted By: Crabbypatty on 03/24/21 02:57am

My Sunnybrook had a EDPM Rubber roof, so I assume you have the same. I sued the Dicor two part system, primer and top coat. Easy to do and it came out like new.

We now have a 37' fiver and the roof, in good shape was tan. I used the same Dicor for the EPDM roof but this time used Cool Beads Dicor and painted it White. Reduced inside temp by 15 degrees. Great product along with dicor sealant that I used when mounting 6 solar panels.

John, Lisa & Tara">">">
2015 F250 4x4 6.2L 6 spd 3.73s, CC Short Bed, Pullrite Slide 2700, 648 Wts Solar, 4 T-125s, 2000 Watt Xantrax Inverter, Trimetric 2030 Meter, LED Lights, Hawkings Smart Repeater, Wilson Extreme Cellular Repeater, Beer, Ribs, Smoker

Posted By: qtla9111 on 03/24/21 06:30am

JBarca wrote:

TECMike wrote:

And I also should have used 303 Protectant on mine through the years. Your roof is a testimony to that product.

I never knew how much the 303 really does for the good of the caulk and the rubber, by cleaning the roof correctly and using the 303, until I saw it with my own eyes, on the same age roofing system, that is not washed, and not cared for on the caulk.

John

John,

Could you share your process for cleaning the roof correctly?

Thanks

2005 Dodge Durango Hemi
2008 Funfinder 230DS
Living and Boondocking Mexico Blog

Posted By: JBarca on 03/24/21 09:07am

qtla9111 wrote:

JBarca wrote:

TECMike wrote:

And I also should have used 303 Protectant on mine through the years. Your roof is a testimony to that product.

John,

Could you share your process for cleaning the roof correctly?

Thanks

Hi,

Here is the process I use on Dicor EPDM Brite Ply roofing. In my case I do not have a walk on roof so I do this from the side of the camper. I would do it from the side even if I had a walk on roof. The roof is too slippery when wet. The key for cleaning is, you want to remove the dirt but not over scrub to take off the white shed layer. Mold is cleaned differently and is not dirt, one needs to learn what is mold and what is dirt. If the detergent did not touch it, odds are high, it's mold.

1. Rinse roof with hose sprayer to rinse off loose dirt and fully wet the work area.

2. Using laundry detergent (I use Tide) water mixture and a "soft" car wash brush on a pole, wash the roof like you do your high end sports car. All this is trying to do it get the dirt as that is all the detergent will take off.

3. I clean the inside of the gutter rail with a tooth brush. The dirt/dust buildup can be bad in there and the dirt slows down water draining from the gutter.

4. Rinse the work area well. Move ladder down to the next work area and repeat. Rinse side of camper as you move from the stuff that flows off as you go. Do not let it dry on.

5. I can only reach a little past half way across the camper, so I need to go down both sides to do the total roof. The work area is about 4 1/2 ft across the 8 ft wide roof, and about 6 feet down the length of the camper for each ladder setting.

If you live in an area, the midwest or northeast, where mold grows, (in Ohio it grows fast) I do a mold clean on the roof every so often. This removes the black specs that can look like dirt. This is separate from the detergent washing.

Mold kill process. This is not done after every wash, only when needed. For Ohio and camper living outside, this may be once a year, maybe twice for heavy mold growing times.

6. After the detergent cleaning is over, and the conditions of day are right, I start the mold kill process. You want to avoid the high sun, high temperature and a high wind part of the day. Everything evaporates too fast in those conditions. The ideal condition is a cloudy day with low, to no wind, temps below 78 F ish. Early morning or later after dinner in the summer can work.

7. Hose wet the work area you are working on.

8. Using a non scented standard bleach and water solution in a 5 gallon bucket. (I use 2 gal water to 1/2 to 3/4 cup of fresh bleach to do a 32 ft camper) Spread the mixture on the roof with the car wash brush and you want it on wet. Do "not" scrub, scrubbing will not help, just brush it on, good and wet. And let it sit and soak for 10 to, most times no more then 15 minutes. Rewet it with solution if it starts drying during this time. You do not want it to dry onto the roof intentionally. The bleach needs time to work.

9. Before leaving that work area to go to the next, rinse the sides of the camper well for any bleach solution that runs down the side of the camper.

10. Move to the next work area and repeat the above. Ideally you can get the whole camper at once before it starts drying. But if you can't, then just do the left and right side and half the camper at once or what ever length you can do. You just do not want to rinse off the treated area until it has had time to do the mold kill work.

11. After the mold kill time is up, rinse the area well and the sides of the camper again. If there are some areas still not killed, repeat those areas. The roof will come back white.

12. Treat roof with 303 after it has dried after every cleaning/mold kill.

Notes:

Do not over scrub, that is what can take off excess white shed layer on the EPDM.

If the camper lives outside, 3 to 4 cleanings a year helps keep the dirt in check and build up bonded to the roof. The dirt comes off a lot easier, especially with the 303 on the roof. If the camper is stored inside, then about 2 cleanings per year.

If you have not done a cleaning in a few years, you most likely need to do 2 detergent washes, sometimes 3. You may even need to use a different cleaner if 2 washes with Tide do not remove the bonded on dirt buildup. On my project camper that have not been cleaned in many years, (some 10 years), 2 to 3 detergent washes plus a different detergent is really needed before the mold kill is common to bring the roof back to life. I have pics of that if wanted.

I really did not invent this process, maybe embellished it. Below is what came in my owners manual from Dicor in 2003. They state full strength bleach is OK, but I would never do that due to the decals on the camper.

A few pics from the process.
[image]

Directions that came in my manual.
[image]

This does take time. The bigger the camper, the longer the time.

Hope this helps

John

* This post was edited 03/24/21 11:16am by JBarca *

Posted By: qtla9111 on 03/24/21 12:54pm

Great write up John. Truly appreciated. I am wanting to use the Eternabond on the edges and other areas as you show in the picture.

On the roof accessories, is it necessary to use Dicor first and then later follow up with Eternabond or can I just put the Eternabond over the cleaned area?

Thanks again.

Posted By: JBarca on 03/24/21 01:20pm

qtla9111 wrote:

Your welcome and glad it helped.

A heads up on using Eternabond and Dicor under the eternabond (Ebond). Dicor gases off as it cures, and that gassing off period can be 2 to 3 weeks pending drying conditions. If you apply Ebond over uncured Dicor, the gassing off will create bubbles in the Ebond.

I wait 3 to 4 weeks for the gassing off and then Ebond. Longer is OK, just not shorter.

I'm note sure what context you are asking about

Quote:

On the roof accessories, is it necessary to use Dicor first and then later follow up with Eternabond

I do not know the condition of your existing Dicor, or how old it has been on. Pictures really help in these cases. If Dicor is heavily cracked and crumbled, in my mind it shot. In that case, I would use a heat gun and all edges dulled putty knife and clean off the bad Dicor down to clean Dicor or none left, put new Dicor on, let it gas off, then Ebond. This gives you double sealing.

Also about cleaning, Ebond or even more Dicor, will not properly adhere to dirt filled old Dicor or roofing. If you have sound, old and dirt imbedded caulk, or the roof, it has to be totally cleaned before applying new Dicor or Ebond. Most times, soap and water will not clean heavy dirted up Dicor. For EPDM roofing, you need to use mineral spirts on a rag, clean with it, wipe it off as soon as it is clean, then follow with a high evaporating off cleaner wiped on a rag to take the oily reside left over by the mineral spirits. Do not let the mineral sprits soak on the caulk on rubber. I use Naphtha as my high evaporating off cleaner. Etneraclean works and some use denatured alcohol as the high evaporative cleaner. Technically denatured alcohol is not rated as a cleaner, it is stove fuel, but they still use it.

If that does not answer your question, explain more what your mean.

Hope this helps.

John

Posted By: qtla9111 on 03/24/21 06:06pm

Ok. I removed some Dicor last year from across the front seam. The new seal looks great and good thing I took off the old.

I don't have a lot on my roof but I will remove the old Dicor that is around the antenna and apply new.

Thanks again for the information. I'd go up on the roof and take some pics but its covered with ash from the forest fires we are having. If it clears up I will do it.

Posted By: BarneyS on 06/23/21 11:58am

I used the ProGuard product quite a few years ago on my Sunnybrook trailer and again a few years back. At first I was quite happy with it but it has rapidly deteriorated and I am now in the process of scheduling a complete tear off and replacement of the roof covering.
You can see my post from 2012, with pictures, here.
I am afraid I can no longer recommend the use of this product.
Barney

2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine

Posted By: ekim17mr on 08/21/21 05:49am

Im going to use eternabond on my camper do you completely cover the rubber trim which covers the screws on the side walls or just to the centre of it?

2002 F-350 v-10 supercab 2001 90FWS Adventurer camper
Ride-rite air bags Rancho 9000x

Posted By: Thermoguy on 08/21/21 09:53am

Check out YouTube - there is a great video of a guy using eternabond for the top edge of the sidewall to the roof.

Posted By: Gdetrailer on 08/21/21 10:50am

BarneyS wrote:

BarneyS, your experience echos my experience with liquid repairs in a can. They look great for a short time and then deteriorate/peal/wear off in a matter of a few yrs after application.

I used a different brand with similar results, looked great for two-three yrs, then it started to wear thin in spots to the point the old roof started showing through. What didn't wear thin started to peal off.

It isn't an issue with the brand of the product or how well you clean/prep the roof. It is more of the fact that with liquid applications the liquid must be thin enough to brush/roll/spray on to the roof. Those layers will never be as thick as the original surface layer the roof had from factory and will require multiple applications to build up multiple thin layers.

It just will not last as long as replacing the roof with a new membrane.

Liquid repairs are fine if you are planning to hide defects of the roof for selling to the next unsuspecting buyer , but if you are planning to keep more than a few yrs replacing the roof is the better route.

Once you start painting the roof, you will have to paint it again and again as the paint wears out.

In hindsight, I should have taken some pix of my roof as the liquid repairs deteriorated to show the forum, it is disheartening to go through the expense, hard work and time just to realize it only gives you a few good years and then you have to do it all over again.

Posted By: Vintage465 on 08/26/21 07:49pm

I'll be coating my roof in a year or two. I will be looking real hard at Crazy Seal

https://crazyseal.com/advantages/?gclid=CjwKCAjw95yJBhAgEiwAmRrutJItNr3Oli1Y4r36rAp9R8jBgNBdvMEixobP5pW8I8rWMguKeYMKjxoCka4QAvD_BwE

V-465
2013 GMC 2500HD Duramax Denali. 2015 CreekSide 20fq w/450 watts solar and 465 amp/hour of batteries. Retired and living the dream!

Posted By: JIMNLIN on 08/27/21 06:56am

I wouldn't draw any conclusion based on one persons bad experience with any product. Too many variables and in some cases 1000 times more folks have no issues with that product.

Years ago before rubber roof material most rv trailers came with mill finish aluminum roof material like my '84 26' fifth wheel rv trailer. Those old mill finish roofs were hot in the sun. The material came in huge rolls and was oily. This was before white aluminum material became available.
Not much in roof coatings was available back then other than Cool Seal White elastomeric. I applied 3 coats per instructions over the mill finish roof. WE kept the trailer 7 more years and no issues with it. The trailer was much cooler with the white roof. There were no leaks on the roof ...I just wanted a cooler camper and got it.

The oils on the roof material needed special attention for complete removal. I cycled the prep instruction three times. Heavy oils were used in the rolling and crimping mfg process.

Painting a vehicle or applying a roof coating takes special knowledge and mostly experience with prepping the job. The part I always hated.

"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers

'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 two slides

Posted By: Gdetrailer on 08/27/21 07:13am

JIMNLIN wrote:

Cool Seal is one of several products I have tried, each product has failed in one way or another. I also tried the big rage of bedliner of a few yrs back, it too failed and sadly when it failed it damaged the roofing underneath it, causing a tear which then proceeded to leak all winter long ruining my ceiling panels.

As I see it, each product is of dissimilar and incompatible material which has an expansion and contraction ratio that is also not compatible.

In other words, original roof expands/contracts at one rate, the fix in a can expands/contracts at a different rate. The two different rates then will stretch/shrink enough to eventually lead to the weaker material to fail.

The only way to 100% avoid dissimilar expansion/contraction rate is to use 100% the same material as the base OEM material. Oh, you might get close and lucky to find one that is similar enough for a short time but it will eventually fail.

My roof gets 100F more temps in the summer and can get weeks on end at -20F or a bit lower, that is a huge temperature swing and anything that is not compatible with that type of temp swings will fail.

Posted By: Herryy on 09/19/22 03:10am

I used this roof coating from Heng to coat my 28 ft trailer roof. I cut in the edges and the pipes and vents before rolling on two coats. Very easy to use. It wasn't quite as thick as I thought it might be.

Print | Close