Repairng roof rot

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Komrade

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2018
Posts
15
I have a 2003 Winderness Yukon 829S
I bought it with a river lot and neglected it for 3 years.
Now I  must pay for neglect.. It developed a leak around the skylight and there is visible wood rot.
The rest of the roof/trailer is OK--there is no visible water damage, leaks inside or outside
The trailer is in excellent shape inside, and everything works.
I took it to a local shop and they quoted me about 5K to replace the roof. They said the rubber had to be replaced as its protective (white) layer has been worn off on the edges.
The price is actually relatively reasonable, based on my research (<$150/ft), but i wanted to ask if alternative/cheaper route is worth pursuing

Basically, peel off the roof corner, fix the rot, put the roof back on and then put liquid roof on top..

He did claim that the rotten wood would be stuck to rubber and might be a challenge.

thoughts?
 
yes. I need to move it away from the floodzone every time river comes up.

I thought about it, I'd need 2 such structures, and material alone is 3-5k depending on size.

additionally, I would like to be able to use it as camper outside of the river lot
 
I agree if the trailer is planted permanently at a site and won't be moved by you, there are numerous solutions from sealing the roof with an EPDM safe coating to a carport roof, etc.  That's what I would be looking into. 


ETA after OP response,

In this case I would either do the work myself, or fork over the money.  Doing it half way will likely just lead to future problems
 
Why a complete re-roof?

Won't the liquid roof product add the coating that original rubber roof is missing?
 
We are just guessing here - need some pictures and better details on the problem. You can definitely fix a section of a roof if you know what you are doing, but few dealers will ever risk that (you would probably sue if they weren't perfect).  If you can't DIY, you are probably stuck with their total repaplce solution.

I strongly disagree with darsben re the use of Liquid Roof or similar, at least as far as highway speeds are concerned, but it's not the answer to every problem.
 
At that age it wouldn't seem like it put 5 grand in it. My son had a similar problem with some rot around the air conditioner. PPL about 5,300 to repair the whole roof or 3500 to cut the roof and just get to the wood around the AC unit.

We took off the front trim piece only not the side rails and razor cut it back to the air conditioner. we cut out a section of wood between the air conditioner and the roof and  put various pieces of blocking under the edge of the existing roof panels. We then glued in a section of wood and glued the EPDM back down. We then taped and dicor the joint. He used it a few more years like that and then sold it and it was still in good shape. It's not the high-class option it's the $5,000 still in your pocket option we spent $200 to fix his.
 
I'll add that his was actually TPO which has more of a grainy finish to it and felt on the back so it was a pain to peel it back without damaging the vinyl.  If you remove your air conditioner filter you might be able to see the edges of the roofing material up there by the AC flange there they cut it and they fold it in usually. back then I would bet it was EPDM which is white on one side and black on the other with no felt.
 
The OP leaves it on a lot most of time. I reason he will be wanting to leave it there for many years to come. Other solutions may be temporary repairs as witness the statement "He used it a few more years like that and then sold it and it was still in good shape." So we do not know how it faired in the long run nor where it was stored and how much maintenance was done after repair.
OP states he did not maintain the rig for 3 years. A repair type job will requires more work and inspection so if it is outside unattended then it needs a good re-roof and rot removal. Dicor and Eternabond are not long term solutions without inspection and possible reworking.
So IMO if the OP is going to keep it then the money is well spent.
 
Pic of sunken skylight
Roof top along edge
2 pics of general roof condition
Skylight from inside
Roof corner next to skylight
Trailer pic

That piece of wood you see one of the roof pictures was used to keep the tarp down I just threw over it.
 

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IF it is insured... and IF a limb falls  causing damage to the roof and sky lite, the insurance company should replace the entire roof for just the deductible $$$. We get on average 12 to 14 roof replacements per year paid by insurance companies. This year one older camper was deemed total loss because of age, so that should also be a consideration.

Cheers!
 

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