Planned to wash motorhome today in preparation for treating awnings with sealant (again). Of course washing always begins with the top. It has been several months since I last washed this thing. (Damn, I had forgotten how much work my little 36-footer is to clean!)
Found a new problem. For those of us with an attached ladder, we also have a square-foot area just forward of the ladder glued onto the roof just in front of the ladder at the top. This is black, sand-papery stuff to make the transition to and from the ladder a bit safer. A six-inch long crack in the fiberglass has appeared under this sand paper patch, with a slight bit of "lifting" along the crack. I suspect, the black color has attributed over-the-years to this roof failure, as it would hold/absorb more heat from the sun than the white roof. I patched it with black silicone and will be attaching another section of new stuff over this 21-year old sand paper stuff.
I searched the forum for roof leaks and did not find this area mentioned. Has anyone else had this trouble? andy1
That no-slip patch is a known problem area. Xtreme regularly removes it and replaces it with no-slip white paint. Silicone is not an adequate patch for fiberglass.
Yes...you are not alone.
When Foretravel put it on, it was probably one of those "...seemed like a good idea at the time..." things, that ultimately failed.
Removing the Black Non-Skid material from roof (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=20374.msg148050#msg148050)
More table space was needed (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=20399.msg148445#msg148445)
How about removing the black stuff and replacing it with the white no-slip stuff used in bathtubs?
I removed mine with a putty knife and a lot of elbow grease. I did it over several sessions. At first it seemed like a monumental task, but overall it was not so bad. After cleaning it up I just left it as the rest of the roof, no non-skid. I just have to be careful when I climb onto the roof.
And, if the crack is more than cosmetic, consider a "patch" over that area. Either aluminum painted non-skid white or FG.
Adhere with a good polysulfide such as 3M 4000.