Roof buckling due to leak

[kf]

I found a leak on my roof where the awning strip attaches.  I removed 6 screws at the end where the leak was, filled the holes with wood and glue, and rescrewed using larger diameter screws, and covered with lap sealant.  The screws appear to just screw into the thin wood sheathing, no joists.  These all seem to hold well, except for the end screw, where the leak was the worst.  I think the wood is too damaged to hold the screw.  At this point on the roof, the roof is buckled, about 4" by 6".  My guess is the roofing, which I assume is plywood, or presswood, is buckled due to water damage.  My plan was to apply etenabond the entire length of the awning strip.  My question is, do I need to address this buckled spot, or since the leak will be repaired, no further damage is expected.  I appreciate any suggestions.  Thanks.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Tough call and depends on the extent of the damage. "Buckled" sounds ominous - is it really that bad? Or just a little soft and the roof covering loose?  I guess all you can do is try it and see if the structure is weakened enough to cause further problems.

The skin is typically filon panels over luan plywood. The roof is typically a sandwich, with luan plywood over wood ribs as the main structure.

 

[kf]

Gary, you are right.  Calling it buckled is overstating the situation.  A soft spot that has a give to it is more adequate - you know how you panic when you find any kind of leak.  I was tempted, but just for a moment, to slit the rubber membrane to check the situation since I was going to be placing eternabond, but I figured that would be Pandora's box.  Thanks for the information.

 

[memoryroads]

I see often, that those of us reading seem to just read and then 'click' away. 

A few respond with a comment.

"I" think, YOUR estimation is what i should listen to.  IF you feel you have something significant going on....pay a few bucks at a few 'different' places soon...to get a variety of opinions of those Professionals....that can then advise you.

After that, put your info here and maybe those with some do it your self info can help.

Right now, I'm thinking ANY big wind, can do damage to an awning.  IF, left as is, this can cause a problem.

From here? I doubt anyone can ...really...advise, without more and better input.

However, the crowd is always ready to help.

 

[kf]

I know I did not give full details on the roof, but to be honest, I really thought this would be a more common problem.  To me, it seems it would be a vulnerable spot for a leak to occur around a screw holding down the roof awning bracket due to the stess on the awning from  being pushed up and down by winds.  Obviously, I was wrong (not an uncommon thing for me).  Not being completely familiar with the roof anatomy, I was hoping someone else had encountered a similar problem, you know how misery loves company, and just wanted to know what their diagnosis and solution was.  Upon further inspection, I really think the plywood decking is just swollen in this one spot.  I was hoping to catch a roof joist to further secure things, but this was not happening.  My concern is the EPDM rubber roof has become unglued to the swollen part, and may become further unglued.  I have since placed Eternabond down the entire awning strip, and while I was at it, also placed it on the front and end cap seams.  I have now moved to the wait and see mode.  Time will tell.  Thanks all.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Surprisingly, leaks along the awning rail are not real common. They do happen, but it's not something we hear a lot.

You should re-glue the loose EPDM rubber. Cut a slit or two in the rubber, clean the wood underneath as best you can and re-glue. Then seal the slits with lap sealant or Eternabond or both.

 

[pixurit]

I too am in wait and see mode.

I have a couple of soft spots near the bathroom skylight.  Apparently that is one of the more common areas to develop a leak.  Standard rubber roof sealant can have problems adhering to the plastic of the skylight.  I removed the skylight and let it dry out for a few days then used butyl tape and butyl caulking to reseal.  My roof framing is aluminum and the insulation is styrofoam so I'm hoping that stopping the leak has stopped the spread of the softening/delaminating in the luan plywood roof decking.  I will remove the inner skylight dome soon and check for moisture (fingers crossed).  I have a roll of Eternabond ready if I need to add an additional layer of leak protection.

 

[kf]

The thing about that wait and see mode is it sure creates paranoia. 

Leaks drive me crazy because you really do not know if you have indeed fixed the problem.  The way I discovered mine was from a very small puddle of water in the MEDICINE CABINET, otherwise the leak would still be going on.  After reading Dave's post, I was back on top rechecking the shower skylight. Seems to be okay, but we all know how that goes.

Before I owned, I always wondered why people went on factory tours.  Now, I sure understand and would love to go on one.  I sure would like to see a good cross section of the roof and how the ceiling joists tie in.  I have never been able to find this on the internet. 

I sure wish I could store under a roof, but that's something to just keep wishing for.  May everyone stay leak free.

 

[Pike227]

I recently had what I think is a similar problem as yours.  There was a leak somewhere in the front right corner of the roof above the passenger seat.  The rubber roof was bubbled in about a 12" x 20" portion of the roof.  I removed about 8 of the screws from the metal termination strip where the rubber terminates at the front fiberglass cab.  I found right on the corner the original installers had cut the rubber short of the termination strip by about 1/2" by 3" right on the corner and rather thank fix it right they just caulked it which lasted for a few years. 

I then made a cut in the rubber back from the termination strip about 24" and then 90 degrees back over to the edge near the awning.  I then folded back the rubber to the awning exposing the bubbled roof substrate which was 1/4" plywood overlaying the rigid insulation underneith.  I cut out the bad plywood with a roofing knife and replaced the section with a similar exterior glue plywood.  Luckily I was able to expose a couple of the aluminum roof crossmembers to which I glued and screwed down the plywood.  Be sure to countersink the screws.  You then have to glue the rubber roofing back over the new plywood with an appropriate M-1 Sealant from Best Materials LLC (Copperstate Roofing Supply).  I also bought 50' of 4" Eternabond from them for about $1 a foot.  I also used the M-1 to glue the edge of the new plywood to the old plywood.  After glueing the rubber down, I sealed the cuts with Eternabond.  Put a piece of plywood on top of the repaired roof section and then weight it down with two 5 gallon pails of water overnight.

At first I was hesitant about cutting the rubber at all but the Eternabond looks to be a great fix.  To top things off, I removed all of the crappy caulking on top of the ternination strips and other roof penetrations, replaced loose screws with larger screws and sealed over with M-1 and Eternamond.  I then plan on putting a coat of Rapid Roof III over the entire rubber roof.  If I had only paid more attention to the termination strips earlier I wouldn't now be faced with redoing some of the internal paneling now but I guess that is what they call learning the hard way.  Pay attention to your roof caulking before it leaks!

 

[Ghostman]

 

Pay attention to your roof caulking before it leaks!

That is a very good point. I get on my roof and scrub it clean twice a year and look for any tears or places that sealant needs repaired. I still had a leak though in a slide go figure. Still a good idea always to do preventive maintenance instead of repairs.
edit: fixed quote.

 

[raymaid]

You need to replace your roof to remove that kind of wood. The water may already damage that part of your roof so the materials are already weakened. Try taking an estimate and try to see if you need a major repair or just minor for the leaks.

 

[Molaker]

Surprisingly, leaks along the awning rail are not real common. They do happen, but it's not something we hear a lot.

You should re-glue the loose EPDM rubber. Cut a slit or two in the rubber, clean the wood underneath as best you can and re-glue. Then seal the slits with lap sealant or Eternabond or both.

If I were slitting the membrane to reglue (which I would do), I would also consider slitting it enough to insert a thin piece of plywood (1/8") to cover any rotted plywood roof panel and then glue down and seal the membrane.  The plywood should have the edges sanded down so it does not puncture the membrane - perhaps some Eternabond sealer around the edges.  Gluing the plywood to the "good" roof panel beyond the damaged area would them give you a good surface the reglue the membrane to.  Lastly, seal the membrane slit(s) with Eternabond.

 

[sleeptech1]

Is it really that difficult to pull the old rubber roof entirely? Check luan for water damage, replace as needed, then recover with new roofing material and use eternabond in all seams and vent covers? I think I can do this in house so to speak?

 

[Molaker]

The biggest problem is removing all the gizmos on the roof - A/C, ceiling vents, black water tank vent, etc., etc.  The awning will have to come off along with the aluminum trim that runs around the entire edge of the membrane.  Once all that crap is off, the membrane pretty much just peels off.  With the exposed roof panles it should be fairly straightforward to replace what looks bad.  Of course, if you've gone this far, you may want to inspect for rotted rafters as well as water damaged insulation and replace as necessary.  New membrane (it's expensive) is just rolled on, gluing as you go and making sure there are no bubbles or unglued spots.  Then holes cut into it for the vents, etc. and the vents and etc. reinstalled and sealed.  Nothing to it.

Personally, I wouldn't consider doing it unless the membrane itself was in very bad shape - beyond patching.  But, that's just me and my arthritis talking.  The prospect of crawling around on my knees that much makes me want to consider a new RV instead.

 

[wackymac]

I used to work for Macy's as a building engineer.  Macy's had the Vancouver, WA store remodeled and the roofing contractor left a 10' x 100' roll of EPDM roofing on the roof.  This stuff was about 3 times thicker than the RV roofing and was super heavy.  If I was going to re-roof my MH I would contact a commercial roofing contractor and try to find some of that material.  It would probably outlast the rest of the MH.

 

[Molaker]

99 times out of 100 (well some high percentage, anyway), a roof leak on an RV with a membrane roof is where screws and other such have penetrated the membrane to mount a vent or antenna or whatever.  The durability of the membrane is seldom the problem.  Consequently, super duper roofing membrane probably wouldn't solve much over standard membrane - it would just add weight.

 

[sleeptech1]

Didnt I read that the membrane has life expectancy of about ten years? My TT is 15 yrs old. I just figured if I pulled it off, I could use that opportunity to replace with better insulation in the roof. Spring project will be pulling out the interior walls and reinsulating that as well. Both projects will also address any wood damage from potential leaks