In planning for a solar installation I did a more detailed inspection of the roof than I have done previously.
I have a number of fine cracks emerging from several of the fixtures on the roof. I searched the forum and found a few posts likely describing the same but there were no photos.
I would like to resolve this prior to installing solar panels semi-permanently. I know that several people have gone to FOT or Extreme to have the roof coated or painted. I'm in Southern California and still have a day job so driving to TX is not really an option right now, not to mention likely double the cost of the job with travel expenses.
Do these look like something that has to be patched in the fiberglass or will one of the roof coatings bridge these fine cracks? I don't think covering the spider web of cracks with Dicor lap sealant is a good approach. If there's a DIY approach I'm open to that as well.
That just doesn't look like gel coat. Is it possible that is a coating a po had done? 2004 coach, many much older coaches here have posted pics of the roof and they look nothing like that.
I have to agree with Craneman. The roof is made of a thin layer of gelcoat over a layer of Fiberglas and then bonded to wood. The total thickness is 0.400 inches. The cracks I have seen in coaches I have inspected are very visible and deeper. The spider cracks seen on yours may be in a top coat applied by the previous owner. Ours was sitting in the sun for a good deal of it's life but when I installed our solar panes, there were zero spider cracks.
I my opinion, Dicor is one of the worst products ever made. I spent weeks getting it off everything before I painted the roof. Burned and cut my hands everyday. It cracks over time, water gets in the cracks and runs underneath and down into the coach.
Pierce
I guess I'll have to get up there and get a better look. I have no history of the roof having been painted/coated but that doesn't mean it hasn't been done. Sanding that down would be quite a chore. I may have to arrange a trip to Mexico too.
Worst cracking I have ever seen on a Foretravel. No idea if there was water/structural damage and/or if a 400 pound break dancer was up there.
I would absolutely recommend you have some familiar with FG look at it and give you their observations.
Looking closer at the roof/cracks, the surface texture does not look anything like our OEM gelcoat. It does not look smooth. Can you contact the PO to see what they might have had done?
Pierce
I went and took a closer look. Here are some more pictures.
It appears to be the original surface. The body paint around the edges is definitely on top of the white roof surface. The textured appearance in the prior pictures was likely just the dirt.
It is concerning that there are some cracks in the middle of the surface not originating from any surface penetration. The one that I have provided the closeups of is raised and slightly open. One other seems to originate from some small impact (approx 1 in).
When we originally purchased and had a 3rd party inspection it was about 115 deg outside. The full roof picture is from the day of the inspection. This isn't a close up, but I can't see any cracks. I don't know if thermal expansion could have closed any cracks so tight to not show up. This was only in August of 2019. We live in Southern California so it's not exposed to freezing temperatures other than an over night or 2 in the high 20's on one trip.
Yes they are cracksin the gel coat for sure, and will cause lots of leaking issues if not fixed now.
As Brette suggested have a fglass person look at it and suggest a remedy. If it was me I would be sanding the roof down before rolling on another layer of ,glass. There are too many cracks to open each one up to pour in resin . See someone that does fibreglass decking or a marine boat guy.
Fix it right first time and fast
JohnH
Take it to a boat repair place. OR Scuff it up well . clean it with degreaser, clean it again. coat it with epoxy. Paint it white over the epoxy.
Xtreme will grind out the cracks to accept fiberglass cloth and resin, then paint with a sand additive.
Looks pretty bad in the latest photos. Lots of people in SoCal or Mexico that can do an excellent job. It was the hot spot for boat building back in the seventies. Still a ton of boat shops there.
Pierce
Is it soft when you step on it?
If solid then one of the resurface methods mentioned above but if soft you should open it up to look at the wood in there.
I had a crack along a rib. It was soft. Had to remove the fiberglass over an area from the bathroom sky light to the roof rail on the other side to replace the plywood.
Was that crack on the side the reason for the soft wood?
No, that crack was from the shop over cutting
The leak started at the skylight.
Well it does look like a crack. Certainly didn't see anything like that before they worked on it.
Ouch John....
The cracks at first looked like gel coat stress cracks, as if someone hit the top hard on something. But since the AC units would have taken the hit first, maybe something else, like hail?
I would take the gelcoat off with a grinder, put multiple coats of epoxy resin and biaxial cloth down then paint with a good epoxy paint. Once the gel is off, you could then see if the cracks go down into the existing glass. A moisture meter will tell you if the foam below is wet or not. There would also be telltale signs below in the coach if that were so.
Sounds like a visit to Mexico is in order soon. Price would be so much cheaper there.
Or you could just paint the top with something like bilge coat, a think epoxy paint used for boat bilges. After filling in the cracks with epoxy.
Jamestown distributors (https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=119)
Either way, Jamestown distributors is the place to get it from. Great prices. Good company.
Has anyone sprayed or rolled truck bedliner on their roof? It may come in white now.
I visited an RV paint and body shop, and a marine and fiberglass shop today.
The RV shop wouldn't touch it and said the only likely complete solution would be to install a membrane roof. He said if it were his he would just caulk all the cracks and live with it. He felt that the gel coat was too thin to really remedy with individual crack grind and patch.
The fiberglass shop said they likely could grind it out, glass patch, glass the entire roof and redo entire roof gel coat but it would be horribly expensive. He also said the gel coat seemed really thin and that the roof was probably made in a large mold and not actually gel coated on the coach. I don't know how they were built. He said if it were his he would do a membrane roof.
Lastly I spoke to Xtreme Paint and sent them pictures. I spoke to Greg. He said I should likely patch anything that looks like it could be significant enough to leak and not to worry about what material I did it with. Lap sealant, silicone, epoxy. All would be removed as part of fix and prep and that preventing water damage was of greater concern than worrying about removing the patching. They will look at the pictures and get back to me on their thoughts.
John has shown that you can replace large sections of the roof in a worst case.
Not a happy day...
If it were my coach have Xtreme do the repair
Check and see if your insurance will cover it.
My guess is 20k at Xtreme vs 3k doing it yourself vs 6k in Mexico.
But that's a WAG. (Wild ass guess).
Don't know why a membrane roof would be a good idea. Cheap yes, but IMO would decrease the value.
First need to find out ASAP if the cracks go thru or are just in the gelcoat.
Just depends on your budget and ability to work on your coach.
I wouldn't hesitate to do it myself. But you might not be able to.
A decent fiberglass guy in Mexico could do it. It's not rocket science.
For now get a half inch belt sander on Amazon. They're cheap. They have air driven ones or electric ones. Get up there with a 60 grit and cut into the gel coat slowly go down until either you find the end of the crack or come to the foam core. If you have to go all the way down to the foam core, then you know you have a problem cuz water is getting into it. Check the foam for wetness. Either mix up some epoxy or there's epoxy in a cartridge. Thixo at Jamestown. Fill the crack with it to prevent moisture from getting in. If you do that to a couple of cracks you will get a idea of how bad it is. Might not be a big problem at all. Might just be cosmetic. In that case paint will fix it after the cracks are sealed.
As I recall the shop had to search for the correct thickness plywood. Think what he found was metric.
My repair was about $4000.
He put all the pieces back and when done you couldn't tell it had been open.
Kensington Yacht & Ship Brokers (Monte Sereno, CA) (https://www.yachtworld.com/kensington/kensington_10.html)
The gel coat passes some water . I ( and everyone else in contention) went through a lot of trouble keeping my race catamaran gel coat dry and the glass dry. The boats got heavier with immersion over time . The same thing happens to a naked gell coated roof. Paint it .
In the case of these cracks. Scuff it enough to accept new epoxy, level it, cure it and paint it white after it has hardened .
I had my roof done at extreme and temp coat added. They ground out the cracks in two days the sanded it and applied the temp coat and baked it in the booth. It was not that expensive. A few coach bucks if I remember. It was nowhere near the 20 I saw quoted above.
I would use Marine-Clean in Nacogdoches for any fiberglass repairs. He does not paint but repairs boats and motorhomes (repairs fiberglass exteriors & re-gel coats). Talk to owner Jason Hawthrone 936-564-2640. He can remove & re-fiberglass the entire roof with lifetime warranty (He and his dad did this work on foretravels at Foretravel shop before the layoffs). I will try and upload a photo of what he is doing for me. I pick it up next week. (https://www.foreforums.com/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2FExterior.jpeg&hash=d1ebe7da46dee1fd7d8376bc6f3d0a51" rel="cached" data-hash="d1ebe7da46dee1fd7d8376bc6f3d0a51" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://Exterior.jpeg). He also buffs and waxes the fiberglass. One of the hidden jewels.
I believe there are a few utube videos with his gell coat work on a heavily damaged boat rebuild.
I would appreciate the links you found. I could not find any.
John 2 things. 1... Your repair is not the same as re fiberglassing the entire roof.
And 2nd, I did say it was a WAG.. 🤑
May not 20k, but since that is what they charge to paint a coach, I bet it would be close.
My last sailboat was known to have issues with the aluminum fuel tank located in the bilge. One way to fix it was to cut a hole in the hull, remove the tank, and reglass. It was very expensive fix.
But there are always a way . I was able to get the tank out another way and spent only the cost of the tank to repair it.
Reglassing the roof could get quite expensive if you did the entire roof.
Just as in painting, the cost is in the labor, not the materials. But epoxy and glass cost bucks.
But as I said, there are other ways to fix it.
I would take all fittings off the roof then sand it completely with a belt sander carefully, clean it up and use a fine mesh glass matting and then roll a couple of layers of resin mixture all over. Of course tape and prep so no runs go down the sides etc. 2 layers should be fine then lightly sand and use a good paint for glass. That will fix any issue and not too much time to do, maybe 2 days work. Put back all equipment and you are done.
Really is simple . I would not bother if the finish is not factory smooth as no one will see it anyway.
JohnH
This is a company I'm planning on ordering from soon.
Fiberglass , Epoxy , Composites, Carbon Fiber - U.S. Composites, Inc. (http://www.uscomposites.com/)
I'm in favor of John Haygarth's suggestion to add another layer of fiberglass to the roof.
What is that sticky sealant that Foretravel used?
The Siata is down to a Carelo turn signal housing, the M4 tap is on order, and a horn. So I'm laying out my projects on our U225, and high on the list is my fuel bay door.
John,
Good advise and I agree with just about everything you mention but if there is much Dicor on the roof fitting, vents, skylight, and the rails, it takes forever to remove it just to get at the screws. It took me several days with a heat gun, knife to get most of the Dicor off plus all the screws are Phillips head so you have to heat each screw, tap the driver down in the recess making dead sure you don't round the corners off. Then, it's a 2 day job with a belt sander. Start with an initial epoxy resin coat, followed by the glass cloth, and repeated several times until there is at least 1/16" of material, better 1/8". Use a plastic squeegee to get the bubbles out and excess epoxy resin between coats. I like epoxy as it's pretty odorless, easy to get off your hands and only costs a little more. It's stronger, does not shrink like polyester, etc. Buy in gallons off ebay. Laminating resin, not table top resin! gallon epoxy laminating resin | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=gallon+epoxy+laminating+resin&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=gallon+epoxy+resin)
$1000 should buy all the materials.
Please read the West System before deciding polyester vs epoxy resin at: WEST SYSTEM Epoxy vs. Polyester for Fiberglass Boat Repair - Epoxyworks (https://www.epoxyworks.com/index.php/west-system-epoxy-vs-polyester-for-fiberglass-boat-repair/)
I would suggest letting it cure for several days before painting.
When all suggestions failed on a cracked black water tank, I repaired the tank with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. Perfect repair that lasted until I junked the SOB.
Pierce
I sent off pictures to Extreme and to Jason at Marine Clean and will talk to both again early next week.
James and his father both worked at Foretravel in the past. Evidently his father was the supervisor of all exterior work for many years. Jason said he worked on fiberglass for several years and for 3 years specifically did roof repairs at FOT so he knows the inside and out of how they are built. He eased my concerns a bit saying that all gel coat will age out over time with UV exposure. Cracking like this is not unheard of and should be limited to the gel coat on top and likely not a problem with the underlying fiberglass.
I've worked with West 105 epoxy before and have some in the garage. I will dig into the one open crack today and check the status below and then glass epoxy patch. I will also tap survey the entire roof to check for any delamination. As has been recommended, I think a new layer of fiberglass will be required as I expect the cracks that are visible now are only the start. It's repairable and can be made stronger than new. I'll evaluate whether I do it my self based on what I hear back. 6 days of driving, fuel for 3200 miles, do I need to leave it and fly back and forth, etc.
At Xtreme you can stay in coach or their free apartment on site depending on Repairs needed
Tim Fiedler
Gen-Pro.biz
630 240-9139
I would go with a name brand epoxy over a no named eBay any day. West systems, total boat, Mas epoxy, would be at the top of my list. You'll pay more for those versus a no-name brand but you get what you pay for. Also you'll pay a lot more for epoxy versus polyester resin but the epoxy is a much better product.
I'm in the process of taking out one of the fans to replace it and notice that the fiberglass coating on the roof is very thin. I didn't measure it with the calipers yet but it's probably just several millimeters at best. Has been said a couple layers of glass would do it, if that's what you indeed would have to do.
We have many fine cracks emanating from any roof penetration as well. The cracks have increased since we began fulltiming two years ago. Extreme looked at it last year and said it was from heat and cooling stress. Repair cost estimated to be between five and six thousand. Rance suggested I cover each crack with Dicor until I am ready to do a more permanent repair.
I tend to like John Haygarths idea regarding mesh and resin over the entire roof.
I have heard this problem of fine cracks is most common on 2002 and newer coaches.
I am still uncertain as to what is most reasonable for me to do. As with many of us, money is not unlimited.
West does make an excellent product. I've used it several times. They are more expensive but I expect a lot is the advertising they do. I bought a two part gallon from a chemical supply house and have been using it on the rear quarter work. It seems much like the West epoxy I have with the same smell, cleanup, etc. It seems to cure about the same. The cost is about the same as polyester resin. Granted, I'm not an expert and I can't give a long term report but I'm pleased so far.
This is like the resin I purchased: Epoxy Kit, Fast Curing, Thin, Laminating, 40 oz Kit + Free 4-1 Pumps | eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Epoxy-Kit-Fast-Curing-Thin-Laminating-40-oz-Kit-Free-4-1-Pumps-/351161945545) I bought the medium fast variety but with the roof, probably the slow variety would give time to wet the area,lay the cloth out, wet it again and squeegee it out before it goes off. They get good reviews. The no name epoxy resin I used on our ABS black water tank years was still suck like glue years later on. Nothing else would stick for long. I just cleaned and sanded the surface, brushed a coat of resin on then added the cloth and more resin and cloth over about a 10 inch area on the corner where the big crack was.
I do have a nice Ohaus Triple Beam scale so I zero out the scale with a cup on it, follow the mix ratio exactly and then stir for a minute or so.
Laminating epoxy resin is not clear. Table top epoxy resin is.
I can't see driving the coach any distance for a repair as this is not rocket science or anything close. A good surf board guy could do an outstanding job. If you did want to take a short trip from SoCal, Peñasco is not far away and you could take advantage of inexpensive labor plus have a vacation.
Pierce
Ok, I am going to be home in bc Canada after a short trip to Nova Scotia around the months of July and August so if you want to come there then I will help you do it and my labour is free.
This is not worth all the postings to repair and if it makes you feel any more confident I will charge you just $3000 Canadian
We gave full hook ups etc
JohnH
In the grand scheme of things it's not that big a deal. These roofs were laid up in a mold, they weren't glassed in place. What they do is, in a female mold, gel coat is first sprayed. Then your laminates are wet out with resin and placed in the mold. The tricky part here, is it's possible the gel coat was thin, improperly catalyzed, lots of judgment calls involved in doing this work back in the day when the coach was built. Nowadays, production fiberglass is a more mechanized, technical process in a factory.
To me it looks like the source of much of the cracking is from rusting screws expanding in skylights, metal patches. But at this point probably best to do as Xtreme says, use cheap caulk and stop water intrusion. That's a bigger problem.
Then do exactly as John Haygarth recommended. That's a recommendation for a premium, permanent fix. There would be probably less than $1K in materials involved, and you'll end up with a new roof. Can also be a new non skid roof.
How much is that in real money?
Do you mean Swiss Franc? :) 2,204.43 Swiss Franc
P
The cracking is definitely caused by water leaking through the screws holding the fixtures. I took out the sky light over the shower and there was clear evidence that water and dirt was penetrating past the butyl caulking and from the screws. I resealed it for now with new butyl tape. I will have to go through all the roof penetrations.
I also ground out 2 of the cracks that were partially opened. I wet them out with West 105 epoxy and filled with thickened epoxy paste. It had 15 hours to set prior to rain today.
So lesson learned. Inspect and replace caulking before it goes bad.
So my plan from here will be:
1. Lift and reseal all roof penetrations. Use penetrating epoxy on all screw holes.
2. Grind and epoxy all cracks
3. Sand and lay fiberglass on entire roof
4. Paint roof
If it were summer I would try to do it all in one step. For now I will try to do 1 & 2 ASAP and follow up with 3 & 4 in a few months. Unfortunately that means removing all roof fixtures twice but I think the most critical is stopping any further water damage. So far nothing has reached the interior.
John H, I really appreciate the offer of assistance up at your place. Hopefully I will have taken care of it by then. BC is definitely a place we would like to visit.
Sounds like a good plan. Update us please when it's done and your experiences with this.
Not a problem and glad you have started on the job.
As a side note, I have mentioned over the years numerous times that every owner should check out ALL screw holes periodically as these things work loose over time. That and the fact the roof is probably the main place to check on a regular basis due to it being so important for keeping the bones of a coach dry. Many owners have problems getting up on roof so should have someone do it for them, and that someone should know what they are looking for.
Any trim strips are also a known leaking point, and I go over every joint and screw a few times a year, hence our coach is sealed and dry and I know of any possible upcoming areas to take apart and fix before any damage is done.
While we are on this subject I feel some members are not being proactive to stop future problems inside bays. What I am alluding to is that many pictures posted to show what they have done or fixed etc also show an unkempt and dirty, oily, messy storage floor that if you have a leak or problem going on you would never know. Keeping those floors clean and dry is important as the framework etc below it is vital part of the construction of our coaches. Inspect, inspect every part on a regular basis and it will give back and save you many coach bucks.
JohnH
Yes. Expecting zero leaks from 20+ year old caulking is not reasonable.
In addition to "through roof openings", I removed all coach to front and rear cap screws, replaced with stainless steel and bedded in a good polysulfide. Critical for the front, good for the back. If a hole was wallowed out fill hole with marine-tex, redrill and new screw.
Bpal,
The skylight is where my problem began.
If the roof is solid then working on the cracks is ok.
But if it's starting to feel soft ( any give when you step on it ) filling the cracks will not solve your problem in the future. It will just be a waste of time. Bad plywood under the fiberglass will only get worse ( softer ) when you walk on it more cracks will appear.
If a soft area isn't to big I would put a grease
fitting in the middle of it. Drill a few more holes around it out near the edge of the delamination and use a grease gun full of gorilla glue and pump until it starts to come out one of the holes. Install another fitting to block that hole and continue to pump glue in until it starts to flow out of the other drilled holes. When done the gorilla glue will expand and push up so you will need to use something( remove the fittings then thin plywood with a parting agent ) and a few two by fours over that with weight on each end to hold it down to the height on either side of the repair. Fill and touch up the holes.
Complete the job by sealing up where the water got in.
I did a delamination repair with a similar method below my refrigerator vent like this. Rock solid when done.
My roof delamination was to advanced to repair this way. Some wood had to be replaced.
Any place a hole has been drilled through the fiberglass for a screw the opportunity for a leak and delamination is there.
Has anybody heard about the RV Armor Roof System? Guaranteed for life and they come to you!
Excellent presentation video.
RV ARMOR – The last RV roof you will ever need. Guaranteed! (https://rvroofarmor.com/)
Yup, had them do ours (repairing what Crappy World damaged).. The sand grit is not noticeable until you are on the roof in the rain..
What happens if you have an antenna go bad and needs replacing? Or anything on your roof that might need to be replaced. Also, what about hail damage? How might they handle that?
The website says they offer a lifetime transferable warranty on materials and labor. They can handle wood replacement, vents and skylights.
Any subsequent damage would probably be a separate issue handled by your insurance company. I do like the fact that the transferable warranty on the roof would add some value to your coach if selling it. Here's an article from Trailer Life Magazine that explains what they do.
https://rvroofarmor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/RV-Armor-Tough-Skin-Brochure.pdf
Lifetime warranties are only good if the company offering them is still in business and they still have installation in your area.
I'm making good progress grinding out and epoxy filling the cracks. Here is a picture where I remove the old tv antenna area cover plate and patched the holes and radiating cracks. I cut Baltic birch plywood circles, coated them with epoxy and then glassed them in. In this picture I had just skimmed a second coat of filler epoxy. The entry point for the tv cable I am remaking out of a much thicker aluminum plate in place of the approx 18ga wavy aluminum that was there before. I haven't decided yet whether I will have to add a layer of fiberglass on the whole roof.
I'm still doing research on what paint to use.
Bruce. When you say fiberglass are you referring to the fiber glass cloth with polyester resin or using the cloth with the epoxy? The polyester resin is great for new parts but I would use the epoxy for repairs. Laying up a layer of cloth with the epoxy is very strong and there are many different types of fiberglass cloth all with different thickness and directional characteristics. You shouldn't need anything fancy. In boats with fiberglass repairs we always covered in gelcoat finish which is of the fiberglass polyester resin class. You would have to use a vapor barrier over it to keep it out of the air to promote proper catalyzed cure. After several days it can be sanded and polished like the original. Too much work for a roof in my opinion to use gelcoat. I'd lay up a layer of bidirectional mat with epoxy. Sand smooth and shoot it with a catalyzed polyurethane enamel. Were you using fiber in the west epoxy? If that's the west marine epoxy it's a great product. Looks good. I HATE doing glass repairs. Doing a over lay over the cracked area will really help stop the cracks from printing thru in the future. Again looks good.
Scott
I am using West System 105 with the 206 slow hardener. For most of the cracks I am adding fumed silica to the epoxy to thicken it. I used fiberglass chopped mat with epoxy to patch in the plywood for closing the larger holes. I used some spray foam to fill up the void under the antenna holes.
Between the skylight and the bath ceiling vent there was a small area of delamination. I was able to drill a few holes and inject epoxy and also inject into the layers at the vent opening. As the vent has solid metal framing on all 4 sides it made a nice clamping action and I could see that I completely filled the area as excess epoxy squeezed out the drilled holes. It seems to be rock solid in that area now.
I only want to do this repair once so I am leaning toward getting some biaxial fiberglass fabric and epoxy and doing one or 2 layers over most if not the entire surface of the roof. The fiberglass comes in 50" wide rolls so that would do one side with an overlap in the center. I measure the white unpainted roof width at 89". In some areas I do have some very fine cracks running lengthwise along the edge of the roof about 2 inches in from the edge of the paint. This is what is leading me toward covering the entire roof. I have to learn more about how to break up the work. I don't think you could epoxy 4ft by 37ft in one continuous operation even with a helper mixing. Primer and paint sounds easy compared to the fiberglass.
I did buy a top end Bosch electric random orbit sander that makes pretty quick work of the sanding so if I do proceed with the entire roof it wouldn't be too bad a job.
Bruce sounds like a really good plan. If you look on YouTube there's a channel called sail Life. The guy's name is mads and he is been refinishing a 40-ft sailboat for the last couple years. He's done extensive fiberglass work and both on the deck which he had to completely replace, some of the hull, and he fiberglassed in a lot of the interior hall supports. Essentially he's almost rebuilt this boat. In the deck sections he had a three-person team, with one person mixing in the epoxy and the other two laying the glass and smoothing it out. I believe he put down two or three layers of both by biaxial and triaxial, although don't quote me on that. He then put a epoxy fairing compound over it. he did do a lot of sanding with some pretty specialized sanding equipment including 4 ft long sanding bars. But a boat deck is a little bit different than the RV roof I'm not sure that it would need that much. Finally as he painted the deck he put in a non-skid additive. It turned out perfect. The guy started out with little knowledge refinished state small sailboat which he lived in with his dog for many years, and then bought this 40 ft warrior sailboat which he's refinishing with the intention of him and his fiance to sail the world soon. He's even building a zone boiler heating system since he lives in Denmark and his plans are mostly cold weather sailing. It's also working on a really cool generator using a really small Perkins diesel engine. He's pretty cool guy. He's taught himself to do a lot of things that I wish I could do or had the time to learn. Not sure if this will interest you or not but I thought I'd put it out there might help.
http://youtu.be/SfLZEiBiDU4
No reason not to be able to do it all in a day. Plan it out and it will work fine. I have done a 16ft x40ft deck in one go, and 2 layers and a year ago a 8x 14ft deck.
Yes they are at just above ground level but planning the job right will make it fine
JohnH
Bruce consider triaxial vs bi on this. More money per yard but only should need one layer of glass and that means less resin and less work.
For paint check out the interlux bright side and add some interlux non-skid to your walk areas. It's a one-part polyurethane paint. With UV additives. Can easily be rolled and tipped. Or sprayed.
I painted our U300 roof with Pettit EZ-Poxy: Pettit | Single Part Polyurethane (http://www.pettitpaint.com/products/topside-paint-finishes/single-part-polyurethane/) They also sell spraying, brushing thinners and a catylist for making the paint easier to flow and harder and more durable once it dries. The EZ-Poxy Performance Enhancer Topside Finish Performance Enhancing Additive - 3021 is not sold by most paint companies as it can be hazardous if sprayed and a full body suit and outside air supply should be used. I rolled and tipped and got a good result. This takes two people to do it right. One with the roller and the other with a brush.
Roll and Tip method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK8A82dVJDE
Very pleased with the work. They repaired several stress cracks, rock chips, buffed & waxed, caulked from the roof on down. Also, repaired small wear of gel coat under batwing ant. Also offers complete roof replacement with stronger fiberglass than new with lifetime guarantee against hail, etc. Also, offers same lifetime for boat hulls. He says his replacement roofs & hulls are that strong. I have no financial interest or receive compensation from Marine-Clean.
Before:
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After:
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After reading this I am getting very worried about what I will likely be told!! As you can see, I have many of those same type of cracks and worse yet I have some soft spots on my roof. Not terribly soft but not as hard as the rest of the roof. And let me mention that the interior ceiling fabric has stains from past leaks. I currently have a very slight leak near the shower so I know I need to do something.
Really I was thinking I would simply clean, lightly sand and coat the roof. I am not sure what would be better as there are many opinions out there. Gel coat, paint or coating.
Lets hear your thoughts.
Farrfark
The way these coaches are built, fiberglass over plywood, any place the fiberglass has a screw through it the opportunity for water to get in exists. When water finds its way in eventually the wood decays and the glue joint between the wood and fiberglass is gone. Soft spot. Delamination.
This probably will require opening it to repair.
I had one that started at the sky light and bad wood went all the way across the roof to the hand rail on the other side.
They kept cutting out pieces of fiberglass until they got to good wood. Replaced the bad wood the put the glass pieces back and fixed the joints. When done it was again solid and you couldn't tell it had been open.
There are other ways to repair small delaminations with out opening it up.
Depends on how extensive it is.
I am a roofer and have put single ply systems on RVs before but do not want to do that here! I really do not feel like the delamination is bad enough to even bother with (as of now). So I am leaning towards using a Bus Kote to seal the roof and reseal the penetrations. I believe the water damage has come from penetrations more then it has these cracks but both need maintenance!!
I appreciate your and anyones insight on this.
I bought my Foretravel after it had had a refrigerator fire that burned a 5'x6' hole in the roof. A metal panel was placed over the hole and caulked to seal the hole as a temporary fix.
I'm NOT a fiberglass expert so I approached the repair with that knowledge in mind at all times.
My solution was to remove the temporary metal panel, cut out the hole, replace the insulation, replace the plywood with marine grade plywood and then cover the plywood with FRP (fiberglass reinforced panels comes in 4'x8' sheets at Menards or HD) bonding the fiberglass to the plywood with 5200 adhesive. All I had to do then was fiberglass the seams from the old roof area to the new roof (4 sides), sand the seams to blend to the old roof and then paint on a layer of gelcoat.
6 years later its still every bit as strong as the rest of the roof, maybe stronger. I can see the seems but I don't care. Its the roof, not the side of the coach. The seems now are covered with solar panels and can't be seen.
With a 1995 coach I have far worse problems as far as appearance than a few seems on the roof that nobody but me see's and probably would not even be seen unless pointed out.
As long as the roof is structurally sound and does not leak, its good to go in my book.