What type of roof do I have?

[ebprod]

Is there a quick way to tell what kind of roof our 1994 Kountry Aire has? The previous owner has coated it with some material that is off-white and was painted on. The roof material feels stiff, and is slightly away from the decking. The roof cap is fiberglass, but the previous owner piled so much caulk on it that I can't see the transition.

Otherwise, the roof looks in good condition and no leaks. My first thought was that it was rubber, but it is so stiff I am wondering if it is fiberglass instead.

-Joe

[Theberrys]

Take off the Air Conditioning cover inside the coach and look on the sides of the hole. If you have a rubber roof you'll see the rubber wrapped around the opening coming down into the sides. The rubber will be white on the outside and black on the inside.

Dick

[ebprod]

I can't do that- the air conditioner is ducted and not open to the inside of the coach.

-Joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theberrys Take off the Air Conditioning cover inside the coach and look on the sides of the hole. If you have a rubber roof you'll see the rubber wrapped around the opening coming down into the sides. The rubber will be white on the outside and black on the inside. Dick

[4Knights]

Can you take one of the vents? Maybe in the bathroom? If it's a fantastic or magic vent hood then you should be able to see it there.
Ron

[ebprod]

I'll see if I can look behind the roof vents from the inside. I was hoping there was an obvious difference in the construction of the roof that would give me a clue. Are the roof caps the same on the older Newmar rubber and Fiberglass roofs?

-Joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Knights Can you take one of the vents? Maybe in the bathroom? If it's a fantastic or magic vent hood then you should be able to see it there. Ron

[ebprod]

I looked up by the roof vent, and still didn't get any clues. There wasn't anything overlapping into the opening.

The roofing material is very thin, but it has a texture to it. It doesn't seem firmly attached to the underlayment- I don't know if that is a problem.

The previous owner had used piles of caulk. He might have used silicone- the coating he put on the roof isn't sticking to it. I would like to use Eternabond, but I want to find out exactly what I have before I proceed.

-Joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Knights Can you take one of the vents? Maybe in the bathroom? If it's a fantastic or magic vent hood then you should be able to see it there. Ron

[4Knights]

I can think of a couple options here, it sounds like the previous owner used liquid roof or dicor roof sealer but failed to clean and prep properly and thats why it's peeling up.

Can you remove the A/C cover on the roof?( not inside) if so you may be able to tell or could you post some pictures of the roof and the areas that are peeling up?

Not an expert by any means, but from everything I've read here and other forums there are basically three types of roofs;
Rubber/EPDM membrane
Fiberglass
Aluminum/sheet metal

Rubber/EPDM comes in varying thickness based on where you get it, it will chalk and discolor with age and abuse(improper care) not very difficult to repair using eterna bond or other membrane sealers and coatings..

The cap at the front and back should be fiberglass, easy to tell by the look and feel. The Roof membrane is one piece that runs front to back and side to side, you will see trim strips over all four edges. Yours may be overly coated by the PO but you can use a PLASTIC (yelling for effect) scraper to remove the excess sealant over the trim to allow for cleaning and reseal.

Post some pictures and the folks here should to tell your type of material and provide more info.

Calling all forum embers that have done roof work, a little help.

Ron

["007"]

The brochure for that year does indicate fiberglass as a option. In a cabinet there maybe a sheet listing options placed during installation and you may also find a coach build number that you can use to call Newmar for information on what may have been placed. They need the build number to pull up the build sheets.
In the bottom picture of this link will show AC cover removed and evaporator cover removed, the hole cut out for your ducts should expose the roof edge within both cut outs where you can lift roof material for which ever it may be.



Picture of cutout of ducts.

[GaryKD]

Hi ebprod,
Go to Resource Center > Brochures Archive | Newmar RV. Scroll down to your coach. Read the brochure. Gut feel says you have a rubber roof.

[ebprod]

From looking under the AC cover, the roof appears textured. I didn't take the cover off, but I could see a small section of un-coated roof. It doesn't feel "rubbery", but I've never actually seen a rubber roof. Our previous motorhome had a metal roof.

Does a rubber roof normally have a texture? The material seems awful thin to be fiberglass- do anyone know how thick these old roofs were?

I've attached a picture showing the over-zealous use of caulk. The coating peals right off from the caulk, but is holding well to the actual roof. The caulk is pliable and not showing any signs of cracking. I'll need a warm day to give the roof a good cleaning before I decide about the Eternabond.

-Joe

["007"]

By now the rubber roof would be thin like paper from age, if the adhesive to roof has dried some material may even slide on roof decking, fiberglass even thin would be stiff with a leather like finish.

[raceguy549]

How about taking a coin and tapping on the front or rear fiberglass caps and then the roof adjacent to them. If it sounds the same, fiberglass, if different (dull thud) it's rubber. Just a thought.

Raceguy

[4Knights]

Joe,
Have to agree with the guys could be either but I'm leaning to a really old and unattended EPDM roof with tons of lap sealant as a band aid instead of just recovering it. Here is a link to a pic of the plastic scraper and lap sealant being removed. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...=1&FORM=IDFRIR

It's from another forum but this is my favorite forum!

You can redo your roof yourself with some help from DW or a friend. This is a link where he did this same job and I'm getting ready to do mine as well. http://www.outerland.com/RV/


I talked to a roofer friend and got my membrane from leftovers on a commercial roof job for a case of beer so just have to buy the glue and new covers.

Anyway, get a scraper-platic and peel some of that old lap sealant off that will tell you for sure what you have. If your not ready to redo the roof yet and the main roof isn't horrible. Just the edges then you could remove all lap sealant then clean real good with spic and span and run eternal bond tape down the edges.

Ron

[ebprod]

I called Newmar and gave them the serial number- the roof is rubber according to their records.

The roof has been coated with some type of material. The edges caulked (rather badly). The rubber seems to have lifted from the underlayment.

I assume this roof will need to be replaced at some point. However, it isn't leaking, so is this an immediate concern? Or do I need to do something right away?

-Joe