I went on the roof today to track down a small leak in the rear bedroom roof. I figured it was the screws from the rail running above the leaking area.
I did find some cracks but also found numerous hair line cracks (about 1/2") on top of the roof, they appear to be in the gelcoat.
What is a good repair for the gelcoat?
Is it as simple as painting a coat of gelcoat over the hairline cracks?
Would suggest a search here for "roof cracks". There is lots of information, a some from me. This is a very complicated issue.
Yes, you can do that or use a paint/primer or elastomeric paint.
JohnH
I had about 200 small cracks on my roof that reappeared after the PO had FOT redo (top coat) the entire roof. Some could be depressed and a small amount of water would come out.
I temporarily sealed all of them with lap sealant while waiting to keep an appointment with Xtreme out in Coach Buck City. Once at Xtreme Rance ground them all out, re-glassed them and painted the entire roof. The cost was a bit more than double what FOT charged the PO two years ago, but they're properly fixed now.
In the past I have had great, long lasting results using white Marine Tex to make roof repairs. You can buff it to a high shine that's
almost indiscernable on a white boat hull.
That is what I had done a couple years ago. Some were epoxied and the bigger ones glasses in. It looked like the bottom of a sail boat.
Do the cracks naturally occur with age?
James at Xtreme said mine was from outgassing. But it was 14 years old at the time.
Not necessarily - there must be other factors involved. Our '93 model roof has zero cracks. It IS badly powdered out and faded from continual exposure to TX sunshine, but no cracks.
Are you the original owners.......................meaning could it have been redone?
Ours was stripped-down and re-coated in 2013, I see nothing in the files to indicate any roof problems. living all her life in the SW, I'd say that's pretty good! ^.^d
My 20 year old 270 is near perfect, still glossy and no signs of cracks. Stored outside, Northwest coach tho... same for my older 280.
No, we're actually owners #5, but the roof is original - no doubt of that. I have service records and actual cash receipts for everything ever done to the coach, all the way back to day 1. One of the BIG reasons we bought it!
The roof in the photo looks great. Nice and shinny. What I don't understand is that it is "stored" under roof. Why would anyone buy a great coach then store it. Ours has been on the road and used full time since it's birth and, while needing updates and corrections because of that heavy use, it's still a great coach. Some of the factory shine has faded and needs attention but storage, never! Drive On!
Age does not help anything I know of. My 95 U-240 has been kept under roof for the last 10 yrs, before that I don't know. I had a crack about 2 foot long that gaped open between the bath skylite and the read roof a/c. The fiberglass was very thin in that area, I repaired it my self. lots of sanding and fiberglass, topped over with FT gelcoat. That was about 3-4 yrs ago. Last year I checked the repair and found many small surface cracks around the bath skylite. My repair was doing fine. So I took the skylite out and more sanding, fiberglass, new skylite and topped over with epoxy fiberglass paint. Just checked it the other day and all is well. My roof in that area is thin, why I don't know, but it is fine in other areas.
I come from the polymers/fiberglass industry. The cracks shown in your photos are "Craze Cracking" and of little consequence. It appears to be strictly on the surface of the gel coat and all fiberglass will eventually craze crack in area where there is surface stress.
We all have leaks from time to time and usually they are related to "Poke Throughs" any place something breaks the surface of the roof like the antennae, the air conditioner, the skylight, the roof rails. They all require re-caulking from time to time. Sometimes you will find a roof crack that goes from one of the "Poke Throughs" to another area and it will be all the way through the roof fiberglass. These can cause leaks but they are fairly easy to repair with a Dremel tool and some good urethane caulk. Take a small pocket knife and if you can stick the point down into the crack in needs to be addressed. Surface cracks, "Craze Cracks" can be ignored.
Due to the quality of the Foretravel full fiberglass roofs, seldom are leaks serious. Catch them early and "Plug the Hole". Just check the roof every place in the area of the leak on the fiberglass roof surface. You will probably find a void in the caulk around a "Poke Through" that can be easily cleaned and re-caulked.