Roof cracks

Topic: Roof cracks (Read 3877 times) previous topic - next topic

Roof cracks

February 05, 2020, 05:24:13 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #1 – February 05, 2020, 05:35:28 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #2 – February 05, 2020, 06:05:55 pm

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

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #3 – February 05, 2020, 07:01:53 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #4 – February 05, 2020, 07:13:12 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #5 – February 05, 2020, 07:23:33 pm

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

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #6 – February 05, 2020, 08:22:47 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #7 – February 05, 2020, 09:11:30 pm

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

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #8 – February 05, 2020, 09:13:06 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #9 – February 05, 2020, 09:46:45 pm

Xtreme will grind out the cracks to accept fiberglass cloth and resin, then paint with a sand additive.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #10 – February 05, 2020, 11:41:54 pm

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

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #11 – February 06, 2020, 10:34:21 am

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #12 – February 06, 2020, 11:00:47 am

Was that crack on the side the reason for the soft wood?

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #13 – February 06, 2020, 11:27:03 am

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #14 – February 06, 2020, 12:04:04 pm

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

Either way, Jamestown distributors is the place to get it from. Great prices. Good company.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #15 – February 06, 2020, 03:15:56 pm

Has anyone sprayed or rolled truck bedliner on their roof? It may come in white now.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #16 – February 06, 2020, 09:29:39 pm

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...

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #17 – February 06, 2020, 10:56:12 pm

If it were my coach have Xtreme do the repair

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #18 – February 07, 2020, 06:37:26 am

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #19 – February 07, 2020, 08:18:57 am

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #20 – February 07, 2020, 11:52:25 am

Kensington Yacht & Ship Brokers (Monte Sereno, CA)
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 .

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #21 – February 07, 2020, 12:07:00 pm

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.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #22 – February 07, 2020, 12:50:34 pm

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.

. He also buffs and waxes the fiberglass. One of the hidden jewels.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #23 – February 07, 2020, 04:57:29 pm

I believe there are a few utube videos with his gell coat work on a heavily damaged boat rebuild.

Re: Roof cracks

Reply #24 – February 07, 2020, 09:30:44 pm

I would appreciate the links you found. I could not find any.

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