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Aluminum roof repair and help choosing a roof coating


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Hey all, I've spent the past couple nights reading through old threads and have started to gather an idea of the work that needs to be done for the task of resealing my roof. I have an 86 Travelmaster with which I have done more harm than good. While inspecting the roof I actually created a hole in the aluminum

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(first pic is the hole, second is my patch job using flex tape). Was wondering what people would advise for repairing it. It's a pretty sizable hole measuring around 10x14". I also have been scraping off the old sealant and uncovered some small pinholes IMG_2204.jpg

(third pic, penny for scale). Finally, I've uncovered what appear to be previous patch jobs (4th pic) and some cracking? (5th pic).

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Would I be fine coating over these patches/cracks with roof coating or should I take some other action before coating? Not quite sure what to do with the pinholes, maybe it would be fine to just put some eternabond tape over it?

 

As for the big hole, I was thinking of using an aluminum sheet from home depot and some 3M marine adhesive with eternabond tape over it and then going over with a roof coating... which leads to my next question: what roof coatings have folks used that they would recommend OR what roof coatings would you absolutely not recommend? I've seen Ames Maximum Stretch, Snow Seal, and Dyco 890 recommended and was looking at some sort of liquid EPDM like RV Roof Magic. Thanks for reading!

 

Edited by grandteton03079
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First off though, STOP SCRAPING THE ROOF!!!  You are doing much more damage than good.  Watch some videos on removing automotive sound deadening using dry ice.  A slightly modified approach like that would be MUCH safer.

 

There are a lot of different ways to approach this...  The best bet with that much damage, would be to reskin the whole roof.  

 

What is underneath the aluminum inside?  If the wood or whatever wa s there is gone (sorta looks that way) then attacking from the top might be easier.  

 

If the interior is gone anyways, then taking the roof off starts to make more sense.  If you have something sorta solid under that aluminum skin, then some patch panels could be used too.  

 

Small pinholes can be filled in with special aluminum welding/brazing rod.  This takes skill and familiarity with such things, and a VERY LARGE dose of common sense....  

 

There are so many variables to this, it is hard to give specific and tailored advice.  Maybe take some more pictures from a little further away so we can get a whole roof condition idea.  And get some of the inside.  

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Metal roofs are almost always skinned over plywood. You wouldn't have gone trough the metal like that unless the plywood was rotten. You can't fi the top unless you replace the rotten stuff so it does look like you need a new roof. Instead of trying to replace it with metal a rubber roof is cheaper and way easier to work with but new plywood comes first. Wouldn't hurt to add some cross beams for support while you have it stripped off

Linda S

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Here’s what it looks like underneath,  everything needs to be replaced… I agree Linda on adding crossbeam support, the only thing I have to attach to is a single metal frame/reinforcement by my rear dinette, you can see it in the first pic it sort of divides the white and brown walls in the bottom of the pic… curious how I can build out the crossbeam support from this single metal support?

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Crossbeams should go from side wall to side wall. Like you said everything needs to come out then you will have room to work. Edge trim on outside of roof should come off to get all the old plywood off too and give you access to the top of the walls. 

Linda S

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1 hour ago, linda s said:

Crossbeams should go from side wall to side wall. Like you said everything needs to come out then you will have room to work. Edge trim on outside of roof should come off to get all the old plywood off too and give you access to the top of the walls. 

Linda S

My edge trim is in rough shape seems like most of the screws are rusted, any tips on how to get the trim out? Also where could I buy some replacement trim?

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I think Scott just posted with a comment about using a vibrating saw with a putty attachment for silicone. There are quite a few different scraping attachments you can get and the saws are pretty cheap. My go to place is always Harbor freight. 

For the edge trim literally google RV roof edge trim and you will come up with hundreds of sources. 

Linda S

Correction It was Extech who posted the multi tool recommendation

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  • 3 weeks later...

Used Henrys durabrite white elastomeric on the roof - 3 coats of the 289 and 296 cloth elastotape on seams, known problem areas, and around vents, heres a pic after the first coat, will get a pic in the morning to show the pooling spots. Maybe self leveling lap sealant will level it out? I ordered some leveling blocks to create an incline when i park so as to drain

 

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