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BadPennyKenny

BadPennyKenny

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Joined
Aug 30, 2020
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19
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Gary, S.D.-St.Louis, MO.
What Type/Brand roof coating will work best on a Winnie Roof?
I own a 2008 Winnebago Access WF29T, The roof was neglected for a long period of time as well as multiple coats/layers of caulk being added on top of the old ones and I am planning on doing a major remodel of the interior and a repair and beautify of the exterior. This is all going to start with the roof work I.E. Repair solar panel mounts(4), Replace entire antennae mechanism, replace roof vents and anything else that isn't up to Parr.
    I am not looking/asking for opinions on whether or not I should coat the roof, only on viable products that will work/stick to a Winnie roof since I have seen one review on Youtube that used Dicor and it did not stick.
    Two of the coatings that seemed to be most highly recomended was Kool Seal and Henges.
Has anyone used any of these products or known someone that has?
Looking forward to hearing your feedback, Thanks
https://www.carbibles.com/best-rv-roof-sealant-coating/
https://www.rvweb.net/best-rv-roof-coatings-sealants-reviewed/
 
Your Access has a fiberglass roof, so it shouldn't need any of those coating products, which are designed to rejuvenate worn EPDM rubber membranes.  If the fiberglass is dingy-looking, you can repaint it with something like Dicor's Fiberglass Roof Coat or a quality marine fiberglass deck paint. If you have a problem with seams or joints, repair those first with a lap sealant or caulk. Dicor's self-leveling lap sealant is good for horizontal surfaces.  You can use a RV-grade caulk for joints are openings, e.g. Geocel Proflex RV or similar.
 
BadPennyKenny said:
What Type/Brand roof coating will work best on a Winnie Roof?
I own a 2008 Winnebago Access WF29T, The roof was neglected for a long period of time as well as multiple coats/layers of caulk being added on top of the old ones and I am planning on doing a major remodel of the interior and a repair and beautify of the exterior. This is all going to start with the roof work I.E. Repair solar panel mounts(4), Replace entire antennae mechanism, replace roof vents and anything else that isn't up to Parr.
Click to expand...
Dicor self-leveling caulk should NOT be used over the top of the Nu-Flex self leveling silicone based caulk that Winnebago used when they built the coach because Dicor will not stick to it.  Dealers (even ignorant Winnebago dealers) slop on Dicor routinely when there is absolutely nothing wrong with the original NuFlex. I fell for a dealership "roof recaulk" deal once ... basically they sent two rookies up on the rook with a case of caulk and apparently told them not to come down until they slopped it all on.  It was a disaster. They obviously didn't even try to clean the old caulk ... maybe they knew it wasn't going to stick anyway.  I had to return the coach to them the next day so they could do the side seams that I had taken it in for in the first place. A year later I very easily pealed all the stuff they slopped on and the original caulk under it was still in great shape.

You likely need to peal all the cobbled on caulk off. It likely will peel off the original NuFlex fairly easily, and you will likely find that the original NuFlex has few if any problems.  The fiberglass needs to be scrubbed clean ... power washing would likely work but it would be easy to damage the seal on the roof items if you are not really careful.  The last time I scrubbed my roof I used a windshield washer ... the bug scurbber side.  It got the roof pretty clean.  Some folks put several coats of was on the roof to try to keep it clean. A Winnebago fiberglass truly is a verr low maintenance roof. The only routine maintenance I have found my roof needs is the side seam along the rain gutters, and the cap to roof seal on the vertical portion at each corner of the coach.  I use clear ProFlex in those areas.
 
afchap said:
You likely need to peal all the cobbled on caulk off. It likely will peel off the original NuFlex fairly easily, and you will likely find that the original NuFlex has few if any problems.  The fiberglass needs to be scrubbed clean ... power washing would likely work but it would be easy to damage the seal on the roof items if you are not really careful.  The last time I scrubbed my roof I used a windshield washer ... the bug scurbber side.  It got the roof pretty clean.  Some folks put several coats of was on the roof to try to keep it clean. A Winnebago fiberglass truly is a verr low maintenance roof. The only routine maintenance I have found my roof needs is the side seam along the rain gutters, and the cap to roof seal on the vertical portion at each corner of the coach.  I use clear ProFlex in those areas.
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul,
Unfortunately I've had to use a heavy bristle (Not metal) scrub brush and some Mean Green concentrate with a low dilution rate to cut through the built up heavy tree  grime (Black Walnut). Obviously in order to replace the roof vents and antennae mechanism I will need to remove all the caulk even the original factory stuff in order to get a nice snug fit on the new items. It was my intention to use my Bosch oscillating tool to clean off all the existing caulk from the roof so I could start with some nice clean caulk lines (There goes my OCD).
    I'm also planning on building some type of base for my 4 solar panels to reduce the wind drag and the tension on the mounting brackets while on the highway. this to will need to be caulked obviously.
    Possibly, I could use the Dicor's Fiberglass Roof Coat to give it a clean look after doing the caulking, or should this be done before? You mentioned that Dicor caulk wont stick to NuFlex, Is this also true for the Dicor roof coat as well?
 
This adventure will be my reality in the relatively near future so I've been climbing the learning curve too.  The 311 sealant that's up there now is pretty remarkable stuff, still pliable after all these years in NM sun, just a bit of a tan to it.

Torn between Dicor and boat deck polyurethane.  The Dicor I believe is water cleanup but also has a fairly quick tack time which can be a pain when applying to a large surface.  According to Dicor, it "adheres better".  But millions of boats can't be wrong and they see a similar punishing environment.  Probably the right answer is "either one" since they're both better than doing nothing, and ultimately each will fail in their own way.  Plenty of posts on the forums from folks using each kind and even some that are less common and more expensive with similar no clear advantage.  In a perfect world I'd do half with one product and half with the other, but I'm not sure I care that much to find out that each has a plus and a minus.  At the end of the day what you don't hear is OMG, whatever you do, don't use X so pick your poison, do the prep right and if you end up owning the thing long enough to outlast it you'll know what you'll want to do different by then.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Thanks Mark,
    Since I am 62 (Retired this year from a maintenance carpentry job at Parkway School District In St Louis MO) I hope to get at least 10 to 15 years out of the old girl ( the Winnie yet to be christened) doing what my wife and I enjoy doing most exploring the U.S.A.
    Now that I have the time to put in to working on it (And since I cant afford to go out and by a new one) I am trying to fix it up to be a little nicer as well as dependable and water tight.
    I found this video and I think that where some of the Nay Sayers to this product probably had bad results was not doing the necessary prep work of cleaning, sanding and cleaning again.
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_aEmUCa5Hw"
 
I applied the Dicor Fiberglass Roof product back in 2014. After careful consideration, I decided the Dicor prep instructions were necessary only in a worst-case scenario. I'm a wood worker and handyman type and have a lot of experience painting, staining and refinishing all kinds of surfaces and I felt my particular fiberglass roof didn't require everything they wanted done. It was in excellent condition and cleaned up well, so my only issue was that the factory paint was chalking.  Prep for that condition is simply to remove the chalky layer and re-paint.  After my normal cleaning procedure (detergent + bleach) I used a liquid sandpaper product to lift the chalkiness and expose a clean and solid layer for the paint to adhere to.  It was actually an easy chore, basically wiping down the surface and frequently changing cloths to be sure I wasn't leaving chalky residue behind.  Then I masked off the edges ad painted with the Dicor (two coats).  Yes, it tacks rather quickly, but that made it practical to apply two coats in about 4 hours.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
I decided the Dicor prep instructions were necessary only in a worst-case scenario.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gary,
    Considering the condition of my roof I will probably do the full prep but do you know the answer to my other Q(s)?

"Possibly, I could use the Dicor's Fiberglass Roof Coat to give it a clean look after doing the caulking, or should this be done before? You mentioned that Dicor caulk wont stick to NuFlex, Is this also true for the Dicor roof coat as well?"

I went back and looked at the Dicor installation video (AGAIN) and the caulk is to be done before the dicor roof coating....
 
It was afchap that said that; I have no knowledge of Nuflex.  Nor did I make any attempt to paint over Dicor or any other sealant, so can't comment on that either.  The fiberglass Roof Coat is just paint, and some sealants won't take paint at all (many silicones, for example), some shed it fairly soon (months) and some paint ok.  I rarely count on paint adhering to sealants unless I have previously tested it. It's a cosmetic treatment at best.
 
Many Thanks to all of you that have lead me towards the correct items to research on this, I have decided to go with the Dicor products.
Thanks Gary really appreciate your patience.
 
I have an older 31-foot class A RV with one a/c and 1 gallon covered the whole roof and had about an eighth of the can leftover. I used a heavy coat on the edges and rolled the rest ? goes on great and covers very well. The second coat even did better with about a quarter of a gallon leftover. Really pleased with Heng?s product and the price was very good. I researched some more roof coatings before deciding to buy Heng's product. https://www.smartrving.net/best-rv-roof-coatings/
 
I want to jump in to this thread and state that I am a fan of "The Bar" repair approach.  The Bar is a fellow Peanut Gallery Member here on the RV Forum Boards.

His methods is that on "Joints / Seams" that will take twist or Flex while the Vehicle is in motion, creaking and squeaking down the Highway of Life to Caulk let cure, then Blanket with Eterna Bond 4". On my front end cap I left it raw Eterna Bond as only 911 Helo Crew's won't give a hoot as they will be the only one's with this view anyway.

Just cut, Gouge out the failed, probably Original OEM crappy factory line work, replace with Fresh Geo Cel RV Caulk (Let Cure) then Blanket with Eterna Bond as wide as possible on both sides of the seam. 

If you are into aesthetics the parts of the seam that show you can trim and lap the seams with smaller puzzle pieces of Eterna Bond tape, scuff, mask, and rattle can Krylon paint them.

I did a visual, lots of pics, Joint Repair Thread Earlier last month.  I just took Eagle-1/RV Last week for a 450 Mile stress test last week so I need to jump up on the house and inspect my handy work.

JD
 
Most excellent product!!! Used this Proguard F99911 Liquid Roof on some EPDM sheeting that was showing a lot of black color through the material. I have used many products over the years that made claims but this is truly a product that meets its claims. I used the systems that most suggested of brushing around the edges and roof protrusions then pouring out the product in an area then squeegee then roll with a low nap roller, it works 100% as an EPDM rubber coating which is capable of covering an area of around 42 to 45 square feet. In addition, it is capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures – from 6o degrees to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
 
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