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Topic: How do you repair deep cracks in the Roof (Read 1986 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: How do you repair deep cracks in the Roof

Reply #25 –
Kent,
Have you read any to the threads on other RV sites about using Red Pro Max, a Lowe's brand "poly floor finish", as a poly-type protectant on motorhomes?  Some say it is very similar to Poly-Glo.  Any opinions?  They have been using it on older motorhomes.  The clean up the motorhome using BarKeepers Friend or Bon-Ami and then about 4 or 5 very thin coats of the Red Max Pro.  Say it brings the shine back to show room condition.  The guys on www.fiberglassrv.com seem to have orginated the idea.

Check this out NOT Poliglow...Time will tell.. - Fiberglass RV  They say you can use it on the roof, but it causes it to become very slippery.  Have also read that if it is not applied correctly, it will peel off, and then you have to strip the whole thing.
1994 U225
build #4514

Re: How do you repair deep cracks in the Roof

Reply #26 –
Quote from: PatC –
Kent,
Have you read any to the threads on other RV sites about using Red Pro Max, a Lowe's brand "poly floor finish", as a poly-type protectant on motorhomes?  Some say it is very similar to Poly-Glo.  Any opinions?  They have been using it on older motorhomes.  The clean up the motorhome using BarKeepers Friend or Bon-Ami and then about 4 or 5 very thin coats of the Red Max Pro.  Say it brings the shine back to show room condition.  The guys on www.fiberglassrv.com seem to have orginated the idea.

Check this out NOT Poliglow...Time will tell.. - Fiberglass RV  They say you can use it on the roof, but it causes it to become very slippery.  Have also read that if it is not applied correctly, it will peel off, and then you have to strip the whole thing.

Pat, I did a little research on Red Max Pro Floor Finish. I was specifically looking for an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) to see what's in the product. No luck! That's a tip off that it is a pretty generic product. I also noticed that it was listed as an indoor floor finish and that there was a stripper associated with it. Those clues lead me to believe it is a waterborne acrylic of some sort. There are better waterborne acrylics with epoxy backbones and with urethane backbones. Urethane backbones are the best for exterior use but epoxy will have better bonding qualities. Based on the price I think it is neither of these. It is probably just a well formulated base acrylic like Mop & Glow. When I was leaving the industry there were a number of new high performance formulations in the works. I don't know the outcome of the field tests but they looked very good in the lab but these new formulations would be more expensive, probably a minimum of $50 per gallon at consumer pricing. 

Acrylics are usually maintenance coatings. They are not designed to be permanent. They are really more like a wax than a coating. I used one on my U225 for a couple of years. I finally went back to buffing and Carnuba Wax. The acrylics always peeled and yellowed to some extent. They claim to be UV stabilized or to include UV blockers but as I said before, the UV will get through any clear coating and disbond due to chalking of the gel coat.

There are a number of products that work pretty good but the best way to stop chalking and streaking from roof run off is painting the roof with a good quality urethane paint.
The selected media item is not currently available.Kent Speers
Locust Grove, OK
1993 U300 SSE 40' (Restored at FOT 2009) Build 4323
720 watts Solar
6V92TA DDEC Silver Engine
2014 Subaru Outback

Re: How do you repair deep cracks in the Roof

Reply #27 –
It looks like I will be doing some temporary patching to cover up the crack that is coming from the antenna cable as I discovered today that the roof is delaminated for several feet forward from the crack.  I will be calling Extreme to see if they can give me a rough estimate and how their schedule is.
John Cooper
'91 GV 36'
Oshkosh chassis
Cat 3208T 300HP

Re: How do you repair deep cracks in the Roof

Reply #28 –
Kent,

After reading your post about good quality urethane paint, I talked to a new auto paint supply shop in town about it. He quoted $92 to $100 a gallon for a high quality urethane in white that would standup well in outside storage for a RV. I am used to paying over $100/qt for Sikkens or Lesonal so this sounds pretty good for domestic paint. In your experience, can you get good urethane for the above prices?

Pierce & Gaylie
'93 U300/36
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)
 

Re: How do you repair deep cracks in the Roof

Reply #29 –
Quote from: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart –
Kent,

After reading your post about good quality urethane paint, I talked to a new auto paint supply shop in town about it. He quoted $92 to $100 a gallon for a high quality urethane in white that would standup well in outside storage for a RV. I am used to paying over $100/qt for Sikkens or Lesonal so this sounds pretty good for domestic paint. In your experience, can you get good urethane for the above prices?

Pierce & Gaylie
'93 U300/36

I don't have recent or intimate knowledge of automotive paint pricing but three years ago it was in the $80 range for solid colors so yes that sounds about right. Both marine and aeronautical paints are more highly formulated so they are typically considerably higher cost than automotive.

My expertise was more on the raw materials side, the chemicals paint companies used to make their paint. Also, most of my direct experience was in two component coatings, epoxy, urethane and the esters.
The selected media item is not currently available.Kent Speers
Locust Grove, OK
1993 U300 SSE 40' (Restored at FOT 2009) Build 4323
720 watts Solar
6V92TA DDEC Silver Engine
2014 Subaru Outback