Re-Roofing Your RV (Part I)

By Russ and Tiña De Maris

Some years back, the RV industry touted a whole new roofing material called EPDM (for ethylene propylene diene monomer (M-class) rubber). Said to last the “life of your RV,” it would be a virtually maintenance free roof that should make RVers dance with joy. For a while, it was like that. But with time, RVers began to notice a few problems. For us old “metal roof” RVers, a switch to EPDM roofs brought on a new wrinkle in our maintenance routine: getting rid of the cursed “black streaks.” Do EPDM rubber roofs cause black streaks? You can argue the point all day, but something about RVs with EPDM roofs seems to attract black streaks.

If black streaks were the only problem, EPDM might be the song and a dance the industry promised. But maybe we need to define what the “lifetime” of an RV is. Three years ago we picked up a 1995 truck camper—our first RV with an EPDM roof. The first hard rain revealed the roof needed help, and we set about making repairs. We noticed the rubber membrane was turning black in places, seemed pretty thin, and no matter how hard we worked at making repairs, there would soon be a new tear in the roof membrane that let the rain come in.

We looked into new “roof coatings” that claimed they’d rebuild the roof with a simple act of “painting” the stuff on. But when push-came-to-shove, after hearing about the state of the roof, the roof coating company representatives suddenly got cold feet. We kept putting on patch after patch of EternaBond, which works great—except we’d simply develop a new hole right next to the repaired one.

As the months—and repairs—rolled on, we noticed that the area of “white” roof quickly shrank, kind of a global warming effect on a small scale. If polar bears were supposed to live up on our roof, they’d be extinct real soon. That old rubber roof was going to have to go—but what to replace it with? Yes, it’s possible to buy and install a new EPDM rubber roof membrane, but did we really want to? We consulted an experienced roofer who’d dealt with Install a new EPDM rubber roof, and sooner or later we’d be looking at the same sad problems we’d already experienced.

An Alternative to EPDM

Not willing to go with the expense and potential repeat issues of an EPDM roof, we looked for an alternative solution. We soon

Trailer leveling jacks helped push the sagging ceiling back in place.

Russ and Tiña De Maris

TECH TIPS

ran into a “new to us” roofing product called Peel and Seal. Manufactured by MFM Building Products Corporation, Peel and Seal is a multi-layered roofing membrane that starts with aluminum on the “weather” side, and ends with a very sticky thick layer of rubberized asphalt. A backing paper keeps the sticky stuff where it belongs until it’s time for installation—peel off the backing paper, roll out the membrane, apply pressure to it, and the new roof is in place.

Other specifications of Peel and Seal made it sound like just the thing for our project. It was lightweight—scaling in at about 30 pounds per 100 square feet. That’s a bit more than EPDM, but certainly not outrageous. Its self-sticking attitude eliminates the need for glues and weird fasteners. It is said to be puncture resistant— great for those jaunts out in the back woods—and if damaged, is easily repaired. And what about cost? With shipping you can figure somewhere around $120 for a 100-square-foot roll.

But would it work in the RV environment? We called the company and had a heart-to-heart with the company’s technical guru. He assured us that if we met the roofing material’s requirements to start with, that Peel and Seal would be an ideal material for an RV roof. He was so convinced he offered to provide enough of the stuff to cover our rig’s roof as a test subject. This story is about how we installed a new Peel and Seal roof, and our observations of how well it’s worked out since our installation last fall.

Preliminaries

Remember, we mentioned that Peel and Seal is an ideal material for an RV roof, provided you meet the requirements of the material to begin with. What are those requirements? First, a completely flat roof is a no-no. Peel and Seal needs a minimum pitch of a half-inch of slope for every foot. Ponding water can cause problems—even resulting in leaks. Our camper roof had plenty of pitch

Stop Brake Rotor Cracks in their Tracks!

Most of us would agree that strong, reliable brakes are the most important aspect of any vehicle—and this is especially true on large, Class A motor homes. You may not know it, but the stock brake rotors on the Workhorse W20 and W22 chassis are prone to cracking—and even if you’ve had them replaced under warranty, the same problem could occur again. That’s why SuperSteer has introduced a new brake rotor for these Workhorse applications that is a bolt-in replacement for the stock, but is made from a high-carbon alloy with copper and molybdenum for high temperature strength and durability. It also features 48 cooling vents instead of the factory’s 40 to ensure rapid heat dissipation.

If the factory pads are in good shape, they can be re-used, or you can opt for our high-performance carbon metallic brake pads. Don’t take chances with your safety—call SuperSteer today!