Roof Sealing

[SBJBRH]

Ok so we have a 1970's metal camper.  We just got it on the cheap side.  The previous owner sealed the roof with tar.  It looks terrible and it obviously needs to be redone.  I do not wish to use tar to fix this problem but do you feel that this is a once tar always tar kind of deal?

Should we try to remove as much of the tar as we can (back breaking work) and then seal it properly?

Should we just do the tar?

Or can we just cover what is already on there with something else?

What are your thoughts?

This is totally new to us so any and all opinions and expertise is welcome. ;D

 

[donn]

Best would be to strip the junk that is there, clean everything really well and reseal properly.
Another option would be to strip it and have rhino flex installed.  Yea, it is a bed liner material, but one of the high end trailer builders is offering this as an option now, so it must work.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Bummer.  Those old metal RV roofs are flimsy and often unsupported except at the joints, making it difficult to work on. I'm not sure how you would safely get the old tar off on the typical RV roof construction. The usual technique (on commercial construction with flat tar roofs) is a large flame "gun" to soften it, then scrape up with a broad knife (usually a long-handled one), but that seems "iffy" for an RV roof.

I think I would smooth it as best I reasonably could and coat over it with something like Henry's Solar Flex Roof Coat, which says it will bond to old tar.

 

[SBJBRH]

Thanks!

I've bought some stuff and taken some pictures.  I can't wait to get started. 

Sandra

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Best of luck. And please post before and after pictures - around here we kind of "get off" on that sort of thing!

 

[brwneyedsue]

What type of camper do you have?  We just bought a 1973 Holiday Rambler Traveler and have to seal the top of ours too.  I'm not sure what is currently on it.  It's a grayish substance.  Don't know if it's tar or some type of sealer.  We would love to know what yours is and what you're going to do.  Susan

 

[jonnapierce]

We've been down the tar roof path!  The tar can and will come off with persistence.  We literally peeled it off with the old luan.  LOTS of work to get it all off, but you will be glad you did once you are on the backside of the project.  The tar itself will add too much weight to your unit to even be considered as an option.  Have fun and good luck!

 

[jonnapierce]

Also, there is a newer product called Gaco that is being used for lots of applications one being re-roofing of RVs.  Google it and see if this may work for you.

 

[Stella]

I think I would smooth it as best I reasonably could and coat over it with something like Henry's Solar Flex Roof Coat, which says it will bond to old tar.

Gary what a great find! And it is white!

I cannot imagine how hot a tar coated metal roof can make the inside of the camper...

Please post pix!!!

 

[SBJBRH]

What type of camper do you have?  We just bought a 1973 Holiday Rambler Traveler and have to seal the top of ours too.  I'm not sure what is currently on it.  It's a grayish substance.  Don't know if it's tar or some type of sealer.  We would love to know what yours is and what you're going to do.  Susan

Unfortunately I am an amateur so I went and bought the Henry's seal but I didn't buy enough.  So I went to Lowe's but they didn't have it they only had the silver stuff.  So I bought some of that.

 

[SBJBRH]

Ok so this was an hilarious journey!

First we scraped off every bit that we could.  Since it was badly cracked then we didn't have much issue.  We took off most of it but we had issues on some areas and Hubby and I chose not to remove the tar that was really stuck on there good. 

Then like I said in the previous post I bought Henry's flex seal but didn't buy enough.  I went to Lowes since it was closer to our house to buy more but unfortunately they do not sell it so I said heck with it and bought a silver seal. 

So since the silver seal was really thin I put that stuff on first.  I had to have two gallons to coat it.  I did make an error and did not stir it very well with the first gallon and it looked more black than silver.  So then I started a second coat with the next gallon that was thoroughly mixed. It was very thin but I wasn't too worried because I still had the Henry's flex seal.  So what in the end happened was that the silver seal actually filled in all the minute cracks for anything that was left of the tar and the Henry's seal was a thicker coat.

Hands down Henry's seal was SO MUCH MORE AWESOME than the silver stuff.  I really disliked the silver seal as it got everywhere and I got really sticky while using it.  Also it was so thin (even with proper stirring) that it just wasn't sufficient.  Henry's flex seal on the other hand was everything we could hope for. 

So some pictures.  The only picture I can't find is what it looks like after the henry's flex seal.  I will have to add that after I find it. 

First picture was a picture we took right after we started removing the tar.
The second picture was after we really got started.
Unfortunately we didn't take enough pictures so no picture before the we put the silver seal on after the tar was for the most part off.
Third photo was during the second coat.  You can still see the black coating on the right where I didn't stir the can.  And 3/4ths is silver where I did stir it well.

I'll have to get back with you guys on what it looks like after the Henry's flex seal was put on.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Glad you have a sense of humor! It seems as though a bit more time spent in planning would have made life easier and the results better as well.