Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 26, 2025 ...

Roof questions

July 29, 2020, 06:16:17 pm

I have been reading past threads about roofs and repairing cracks but am still uncertain about the best coarse of action. The roof is still water tight- had a heavy downpour yesterday and no evidence of leaks. I went up on the roof to check the ac's and took pictures.  Is the fiberglass roof supposed to be glued to the under structure ?  In most areas, the roof is solid but there are a couple of places where the fiberglass seems like it's not firmly against the under structure . In the pic you can see where water puddles and doesn't completely drain off. The ac's drain off no problem. Also, there are several cracks in places that have obviously been sealed/repaired before. What do you recommend as a sealant?  At some point I want to remove the satellite, but I'm very concerned about causing a leak. Thanks!

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #1 – July 29, 2020, 06:23:45 pm

John Morales will probably answer,he just had some roof work done.

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #2 – July 29, 2020, 06:32:46 pm

The gel coat has been known to bubble up with the thin fglass coating if water has got thru the top layer. My suggestion is to give the roof a really good clean with Bartenders powder, all over, and the radius edges too. This will show up what maybe caused or is causing a problem.
Once you get to this point go methodically  over every inch looking for hairline cracks etc. If you find any grind them down very carefully but only a 1/16th or so to give a good bond area.
Those screw holes etc need to be taken back to bare f glass. Once you are sure all is now found/cleaned and prepped you can fix them all with epoxy or any of the 3m tube 4200 etc or mix some gel up and cover areas needed. The sat dish can be taken off and clean then plug holes with same method. If you want to you can give it a couple of coats of paint that will bond to F glass. This should be all that is needed and is an easy diyourself fix .
Check those radius edges very carefully as they may have been hit by branches etc and I have over the years on a few coach's found hair line cracks.
Johnh

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #3 – July 29, 2020, 06:44:24 pm

Thanks for the helpful insights.  Do I use a really fine grit sandpaper to grind it down? And does it need to be done by hand or can a sander be used? Do you recommend using the Barkeepers Friend Cleanser with a sponge or rag or something with more bite?

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #4 – July 29, 2020, 06:52:54 pm

I use an angle grinder very carefully.
Barkeepers friend with a scrub brush or those scrub pads
 It works great.
Use a sponge to clean it up and rinse a couple of times
Johnh

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #5 – July 29, 2020, 07:58:26 pm

Thanks so much.... will give it a go; however it's going to have to wait a few days due to other must do's. Thanks again!

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #6 – July 29, 2020, 08:02:23 pm

I had my Traveler dish removed and fiberglass roof filled with color matched gel coat. Pretty happy. Cost $400.00 and they also spot repaired some other spots I noticed while I watched. Attached are some photos of the work. Just another option.

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #7 – July 29, 2020, 08:09:15 pm

As we just posted in the last week we had our 20 year old roof resurfaced at Xtreme in Nacogdoches. With time the original gel coat will begin to chalk. We, too had many thru roof holes patched with dicor previously. With regular annual checks dicor will work. For us, though, we wanted a "new" top to reduce the concerns for our period of ownership, especially since we plan to cover most of the top with new solar.

For some here what Xtreme did may be DIY.  They removed all covers, removed Dicor and filled and fiberglassed all holes.  Then ground fiberglass repairs flush and applied 3 coats of single stage urethane with the top coat containing ground glass for slip resistance.  After paint had cured they applied a liberal layer of Dicor around all through roof penetrations as well as the front and rear cap.

Happy to post more "after" pics if desired.

And, this can EASILY be done DIY...if you have the skill, interest or ability and time.  Some cost for materials and, based on watching Xtreme, 6 - 8 hours of time.  For me paying to have a job properly done that will last the next 20  years is worth it.  No matter what we spend we're ahead of a new, less well built coach.

What i also liked is that they gave the entire coach a thorough look over and commented on everything from airbags to windows and sidewalls.  You can tell these guys have "seen it all". 

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Re: Roof questions

Reply #8 – July 30, 2020, 07:42:17 pm

Walt,
Thanks for sharing- did you use a mobile tech or did you go to a shop?  Appreciate you sharing the cost.

Randy,
Thanks for sharing your experience- did you have to wait long for your appointment?  Thanks!

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