My Brave has started to flip its lid

[ceemike]

Last week we were camped on Assateague Island. A storm came up overnight and it was quite windy. When we got home I discovered that the wind had gotten under the fiberglas roof skin and ripped a piece of it off.  It was raining and a whole day passed before I found the damage, so some water got in our bedroom.  I took it to a nearby repair shop and they covered the entire roof with a tarp. The insurance adjustor is coming to look at it tomorrow.

I've never heard of a problem like this before.  Can the skin be repaired with a patch, or does the entire roof skin have to be replaced?

This is certainly putting a crimp in our plans to head to Florida in 2 weeks. 

 

[DearMissMermaid]

Yikes, that looks  really scary.

Sure looks like Sasquatch was trying to come in the wrong way.

If all the repair shop could do was put a tarp over it, I would sure be looking around for a new shop.

Awhile back when i was waiting on  an insurance adjuster, between storms,  to show up to look at a tree branch dangling in my galley, I told them I was already making repairs to mitigate the damages. They eventually showed up days later and still paid off in spite of the repairs already completed.

 

[boatbuilder]

Fiberglass can be repaired fairly easily.  Though in your case it looks like it pulled out from under the edge trim.  A repair will probably involve removing the edge trim the resetting the roof panel and then glassing the split.

 

[ceemike]

If all the repair shop could do was put a tarp over it, I would sure be looking around for a new shop.

Considering that I'm not a regular customer of the shop (a friend is a regular customer and recommended them to me), and they took me in immediately and covered the hole to keep the rain out and mitigate the damage, I've no complaints at all. The adjuster is coming out tomorrow.

 

[afchap]

Fully proper repair would be a new single-piece fiberglass skin on the roof. I have heard of some patching small areas.  The problem occurs when the roof cove seal along each side is not properly maintained.  The sealant must be checked &  repaired at least once a year as needed. This is the second one I have heard this week... the other last almost the entire skin.

 

[ceemike]

Fully proper repair would be a new single-piece fiberglass skin on the roof. I have heard of some patching small areas.  The problem occurs when the roof cove seal along each side is not properly maintained.  The sealant must be checked &  repaired at least once a year as needed. This is the second one I have heard this week... the other last almost the entire skin.

It will be interesting to see what kind of repair the insurance company will pay for.  Is a new roof skin something most Winnebago/Itasca shops could do, or would it require a more specialized shop, or even the Winnebago factory service?

Thanks for the info about the roof cove seals.  If my rig survives this, I'll definitely be getting those checked. 

 

[BobNSam]

Now I see how lucky I was! Mine only pulled out over the driver side and about half way back. I had no damage to roof or under. Only required cleaning, putting back in side rail and resealing.

 

[John Canfield]

Per Winnebago: the roof to sidewall seam needs to be checked every six months.  Once the sealant breaks down, the roof skin can come loose as you discovered.

 

[John Hilley]

I've had three friends have their roof blown off, one friend twice. In all cases a new roof was ordered from Winnebago, this includes the foam and inside covering. Cost was about $16,000. In all three cases Pleasureland in St Cloud, MN did the repairs. Took about 6 weeks. After the change it looked totally original.

 

[kdbgoat]

It will be interesting to see what kind of repair the insurance company will pay for.  Is a new roof skin something most Winnebago/Itasca shops could do, or would it require a more specialized shop, or even the Winnebago factory service?

Thanks for the info about the roof cove seals.  If my rig survives this, I'll definitely be getting those checked. 

If you're still in Assateague, contact Cox's RV repair in Bridgeville De. 302-337-9568