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golfpgb · 08-21-2016, 05:24 PM

Looking to reseal my Alpha Rubber Roof on the Bounder. Curious what others have used and what are their results. Any and all input is appreciated.

FIRE UP · 08-21-2016, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfpgb

Looking to reseal my Alpha Rubber Roof on the Bounder. Curious what others have used and what are their results. Any and all input is appreciated.

Just curious, what's an "Alpha" roof? You have a Bounder so, it doesn't me Alpha coach. You have a '99 version Fleetwood Bounder so, it's an EDPM version of rubber roof so, just curious. Anyway, long story short, we had a coach almost exactly like yours before the one we have now. It was a '99 Fleetwood Bounder 34V. It had the 275 HP V-10 with the F-53 Chassis. Nice coach.

Our roof at that that time, (about 8 years ago or so) was just over 10 years old and, was showing signs of sever deterioration, in terms of color and texture. Almost all the White was gone which, made the roof almost all BLACK. Well, you know what a BLACK roof does to the inside temps!

So, I did all the research and came up with only one real product to use on it. That was the Dicor 2 part system. It consists of a prep/primer and, the coating. Long story short, it was a long, hard day (95 degrees to put it bluntly) but, we did it all in one day.
We started the process at about 07:00 in the morning with a good wash with a good brush and soap and water. A thorough rinse and let dry. Then, we taped off the whole coach, just under the drip rails with visqueen.

Then, we filled a garden sprayer with the prep/primer and, sprayed that entire roof with it and, then either let it sit or, washed it off, can't remember what the instructions were. I do know that it calls for a PRESSURE WASH to get it off.

Then, let it sit and dry for a short bit.

Now, the first coact of the roof coating. Let it dry for an hour to two. Then, a second coat. DONE! We finished about 4:00 in the afternoon. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy bettter than it was. We sold that coach a couple of years later and that roof looked as good when we sold it as it did when we did the re-coat.
Scott

Waiter21 · 08-22-2016, 04:09 AM

I did a lot of research on this in the spring time and decided to use EPDM Coatings product called Liquid RV Roof.

I'm happy with the product and price. Here is a writeup I did on it on my blog site:

Re-coating EPDM roof | 2001 Coachmen Mirada 300QB

..

golfpgb · 08-22-2016, 06:44 PM

Thanks for the replies. I have been researching these products. Hengs seems to be the cheapest. Not sure how it will hold up over time.

FIRE UP - Sorry I was not clear. The Alpha Rubber Roof is the type of roofing material used by Fleetwood in 1999, Requires the primer applied before applying sealer.

Waiter21- I have followed your thread. It was very informative. When you applied the primer could you walk on it without any issues before applying the sealer?

FIRE UP · 08-23-2016, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfpgb

Thanks for the replies. I have been researching these products. Hengs seems to be the cheapest. Not sure how it will hold up over time.

FIRE UP - Sorry I was not clear. The Alpha Rubber Roof is the type of roofing material used by Fleetwood in 1999, Requires the primer applied before applying sealer.

Waiter21- I have followed your thread. It was very informative. When you applied the primer could you walk on it without any issues before applying the sealer?

Hey Sir,
Thank you for answering me on that. I'd never heard any rubber roof referred to as an "Alpha" roof. Learn something every day. Now, what was it I learned yesterday??

Scott

tim.kyfl · 08-23-2016, 04:11 PM

Talk to Fleetwood. They can tell you which roof you have. My roof was Alpha. I talked to Alpha and they of course recommended their coating. Sold by Camping World as Super Flex. On sale now. I'm sure Dicor will be fine with primer. Some things you may not want to skimp on.

golfpgb · 08-23-2016, 05:24 PM

When I called Fleetwood about the roof material they never mentioned superflex.

It looks as if it may be the best deal. One gallon covers 200 sqft.

On sale for only 99.00 per gallon.

I need to investigate into it more before purchasing.

tim.kyfl · 08-24-2016, 07:36 AM

It was Alpha that told me about the "Super Flex" at Camping World. Was on sale for $56 or $59

user293 · 08-30-2016, 02:56 AM

Alpha Roof Systems use a Superflex Roof membrane.

Alpha Roof Systems: Alpha Systems, LLC - Products for the RV, Cargo Trailer, Marine and Modular & Manufactured Housing Industries

Superflex Roof membrane: Detail - Alpha Systems, LLC

SUPERFLEX Roofing Membrane is an Olefin-based single-ply membrane that is approximately half the weight of EPDM. Is known to have better UV resistance than EPDM.

Superflex Rubber Roof Coating is a roof coating similar to Liquid Rubber and Dicor that is used to re-coat rubber roofs and extend their life.

I'm not certain of the differences between EPDM rubber roof membranes and Superflex Olefin-based single-ply membrane. For the liquid rubber coating products there may be differences in how the coating is applied, some may require or recommend a primer, etc.

Superfex Rubber Roof Coating

The second step in the 2-step Super Flex EPDM roof protection system!
Water-based, OEM-grade, acrylic rubber roof coating is the best choice for protecting and maintaining the roof surfaces found on most of today’s RVs. Super Flex Rubber Roof Coating is formulated for low odor and toxicity, ensuring safe, easy application. The resulting bright white roof surface helps reflect heat and light while maintaining the roof surface to protect against leaks. Used in combination with Super Flex Adhesive & Primer, the 2-step treatment:

Extends life of rubber roof
Ensures superior durability
Fights chalking & streaking
Improves low temperature flexibility
Enhances UV resistance Following application of Super Flex Adhesive & Primer, Super Flex Rubber Roof Coating is suitable for use on a wide variety of roof materials, including:

EPDM rubber
Low and high density polyurethane
Aluminum
Fiberglass
Galvanized steel
Cured concrete One gallon covers approximately 200 sq. ft.

Gary RVRoamer · 08-30-2016, 10:38 AM

Superflex is their current Alpha Systems product, but was it in use back in 1999? I think they sold either what they call "traditional EPDM" or Alpha-Ply (also EPDM) back then.

In any case, the Alpha roof products need a primer unless the coating product is specifically compatible with Alpha roof products. Most roof coating are made to be compatible with the Dicor product (it has a much larger market share) rather than Alpha.

user293 · 08-30-2016, 01:08 PM

I'm uncertain of their product timelines. I did see from the Alpha System site that their older Traditional EPDM and Alpha-Ply have been discontinued. Your factory installed rubber roof should be a Traditional EPDM membrane, which has differences from their newer product used with Alpha Systems, SUPERFLEX Roofing Membrane.

Superflex has few details on their website: http://www.all-rite.com/superflex-roofing-p-821.html

The Superflex product appears to be similar to TPO? One description has "The new SuperFlex single-ply membrane won’t chalk and leave black streaks on your RV like EPDM rubber roofs." Which leads me to believe it's a thermoplastic (TPO) membrane.

EPDM (ethylene propylene diene terpolymer) is a rubber type membrane. Primary ingredients, ethylene and propylene, derived from oil and natural gas

Alpha-Ply membrane is harder, the same or very similar to a Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) single-ply roofing membrane.

Most Liquid EPDM coating products should work ok on any rubber roof. A good cleaning and preparation of the roof is usually necessary.

TPO roofs being harder and smoother are more difficult to coat. A liquid rubber product might not stick well enough or require a more specialized primer.

Some manufactures recommend performing a peel test and/or first coating with a primer before applying their roof coating product to any recommended surface.

Which liquid epdm product is better? I don't know. You can try to compare specifications if available. To perform a peel test you clean a part of the roof and then apply a small amount of a roof coating allowing it to dry, then try to peel it off to determine how well it sticks.

I've never really have used or applied any of the liquid roof coating products. Instead of coating my aged rubber roof I installed a new EPDM rubber membrane. I do have a gallon of Liquid Rubber in storage I was thinking of using to better seal seams, etc.