Rubber roof qestion..

[hambone303]

Today I was trying out my Wineguard dish antenna, and I was having problem getting the proper elevation. I noticed the elevator arm was broken which is another issue, but while I was up on the roof I noticed a couple of small bubbles. These look to be air bubbles and one is approximateltely 3" long by 1.5" wide and the other is about 1.5" by 1.5". Is this something I should be really concerned about, as in getting the roof replaced immediately or is this normal for a 15 year old roof. What exactly is the approximate life span of a rubber roof system? I know that probably varies greatly due to exposure levels, but is there an average life expectancy? What would a new roof membrane install cost?
I have just recently bought this RV and I have been going through everything on it very thoroughly. These are the only issues I have come across. Thanks for all of your help this forum is a lifesaver...

 

[Bob Flight]

Providing what you see is just the rubber that has let go from the underlayment you are ok for now.  The rubber is good for 15-20 years, possibly more.  Look more closely to be sure that the wood under the rubber is still solid.  Also look at the chaulking on the roof and consider applying new chaulk if the current stuff shows signs of cracking or lifting around the edges.  We just finished reroofing ours and it was 20 years old, see the link below.

 

[hambone303]

Thanks for the reply and for the excellent write up on your roof replacement. I looked at the bubbles very closely and it appeared to be the membrane just seperating from the underlayment. I did look very closely at all of the other openings in the roof and all of the caulking appeared to be ok. I did not notice any sponginess or softness in the roof anywhere.
If it needs a new roof I would rather go ahead and do it now before any water gets inside and starts rotting everything out. But if I can squeeze a few more years out of the current roof, that would be great. I noticed that you had patched your old roof before replacing the whole thing, were the patches worth doing? Or would it be better just to replace the whole thing when a problem develops?

Jason 

 

[Bob Flight]

We started having glue separation issues at 10 years of age.  Before patching I'd squirt lap sealant under the rubber to replace the glue that let go.  After that process, I put a patch on top.  Tears and staple induced holes were handled the same way.  Basically the process is similar to putting a patch on a bicycle tire.  The oldest patch was still good when we replaced the roof. 

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

What you have is simple glue failure - separation of the rubber material from the underlayment. Not a big deal, but it needs to be glued back done. If you can get at it from an edge, squirt glue in from the side and clamp it down tightly. Otherwise, pt a small hole or slit in the bubble and inject glue that way. The edgs should seal tight with the glue, but put a dab of roof seal (caulk) or Eternabond tape over it to be sure.

There is no need to replace the roof unless the material is work to the point where the weave of the backing shows. Even then, it can be coated with a a liquid roof coat such as Kool Seal to get several more years out of it. There are also brush on liquid EPDM rubber coatings available.

 

[hambone303]

Thanks for the info. I called a RV place today just to see what a new rubber roof would cost, and they said it would start at  $4500.00 and go up  depending on how much wood they had to repalce. I will definately try to get the rubber sealed back down. I will have to search the web for a supplier of the EPDM coating, as I have no idea where to look. I also need to look up the differences between Koolseal and EPDM to weigh out the advantages and disadvantages of each. 

 

[Bob Flight]

The rubber that came off our roof did not have anything that looked like a woven backing.  For glue, I've just used the lap sealant that come with the Dicor roof repair kit.  The kit will coversometing like a 12" square area.  If your dealer does not have the kit, here are a few places to look:
PPL Motorhomes, Tweeties, best materials.com, Eternabond

All of our reroof materials came from Tweeties.

The process that I use to fix an unglued area is covered in a previous post, found here