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dwmcg · 05-15-2013, 12:42 PM

Does it never end? In Memphis last Thursday night and it came a flood. Our front air conditioner leaked. Called a mobile guy out and he resealed the air conditioner this morning and told us the wood in the roof was rotten and the roof will have to be rebuilt. I am surprised a Dutch Star even has wood up there but can anybody tell me what is involved. Can the skin be peeled back and re-used. Does the entire roof get replaced? My DW was there and didn't know what questions to ask so I am looking for answers.

Thanks all

Skip426 · 05-15-2013, 01:05 PM

Ouch. I'm not even sure what's in our roofs as far as truss material , I'll have to check . But for sure the deck would be wood, under the rubber, and peeling back a 13 year old rubber roof and trying to re-use it , isn't an option : JMHO: First thing to do is get a de-humidifyer going in the coach, drop the vent trims so the attic air circulates and dries out too. After drying ; couple of weeks; get a second and third opinion on the condition of the roof material. I'll check my Newmar material to see if they state , aluminum truss , but that info may be on the VHS tape and I don't have a player for those any more.

Mr_D · 05-15-2013, 01:12 PM

I don't think there is any wood other than the decking in a DSDP roof. It's all aluminum stringers although I did add a piece of wood to hold a ceiling fan in ours, but the structure was all aluminum.

Here's the link to the 2000 DSDP brochure:
http://www.newmarcorp.com/uploads/br...20Brochure.pdf

It says: "Aluminum sidewalls & roof construction on 16" centers"

GaryKD · 05-15-2013, 01:39 PM

Hi dwmcg,
What to do depends on several items that you may not now know.
1. How much of the deck is suspect. My guess is if any of the deck needs repair it is only near the A/C unit.
2. How is the rest of the roof? It is a rubber roof and 13 years old. That could be good or no good depending on how the coach has been kept.
3. How are the roof seals? Are they in need of repair anyway?

Consider taking a look at your decision at the macro level of the entire roof. If all other questions are good, then a repair is in order. The trusses are aluminum. Whatever is cut out for the repair can be sealed with EternaBond.

If the other questions are not so good, then maybe it is time for a new roof. FYI, all seams on the roof can be re-sealed with EternaBond.

dwmcg · 05-15-2013, 02:01 PM

From just behind the front ac forward the roof has sagged. Looking at it from the top everything looks good. Nothing else is suspect. My insurance agent says it may be a claimable occurence. Don't know how that will work out. Don't know what the criteria is for it to be an insurance claim.

Gocoffeer · 05-15-2013, 02:14 PM

Replacing a roof is rather a bigger project... there are some great You tube videos out there detailing all the work involved. Here is an example:

Motor Home RV Roof Replacement How-to at Leale's RV Service RV Repair in Gilroy, CA - YouTube

One of the well exampled sites took 3 days with 2-4 persons working on the project to replace rubber roof membrane and all rotting wood (not all the wood needed to be replaced) The wood used was thin Oak Luan plywood. Easy to cut easy to haul....easy to glue. Looked like it is placed on the RV roof in layers. All the roof hardware has to come off....vents, AC, skylights, yadda yadda....side trim had to be drilled (rivets) and removed as it held the roof membrane in place. Membrane in the video was replaced too.... Cost with all purchases was estimated as $900 for a 34' class A

Mr_D · 05-15-2013, 02:16 PM

Most insurance co's won't cover damage from a leak, they will usually cover roof damage due to a tree branch but you (the owner) must mitigate the damage so it doesn't get worse (like the roof rotting).

"007" · 05-15-2013, 06:58 PM

Most roofs now are the Brite-Tek and some owners have redone themselves.

The AC's have to have the proper seals and have to conform to this configuration with the seals to feed the cool air into duct system.

The age of coach roof warrants maintenance now even if you did not have a leak and all seam seals vertical and horizontal on coach need to be redone also.