I was on the roof this morning, cleaning some of the crud off, and came up with some questions about how to best clean it, and a few small (so far) issues to address...
First, how often do y'all clean it off? We've had this for a few months, and the roof looked kinda cruddy, to me, anyway. It may not need to be done often, and I'm not OCD enough to think it has to gleam, but I just figure that, as with plenty of things, cleaner is better. I'm using a cleaner I bought at the store; what do y'all recommend? Do you use a commercial cleaner, or is something else just as good, or better? Not a huge deal, but I like to DIY when it makes sense.
I also spotted a few issues on top (which was a secondary reason to clean, to get a close-up view); some of the caulking at the very front of the roofing is cracked/cracking, and there is a pretty small pinhoole/cut on the roof as well. Being in Louisiana, it rains a lot, and I haven't found any spots where water seems to be getting through, but I'd like to address it before it gets worse! My experience has been that partial caulking is only a temporary solution that doesn't last anywhere near as long as you hoped; am I going to need to take off the entire strip of caulking to fix a couple of inches of damage? If so, then so, but I'd like to hear the experience and expertise of others first.
As for the pinhole, it's more like a little cut, about 1/16 inch; I assume that one patches it similar to a bicycle tire. Any recommendations as to a brand that has been good before, or one to avoid...?
(I'll post some pictures later; apparently my tablet can't handle it. Well, maybe it's me, but I'm perfectly comfortable blaming the tablet... lol)
ETA - Okay, the first photo is a before/after; it wasn't really filthy, just some dirt and stuff that had been sitting there. There is a nearby tree that drops plenty of twigs and stuff; I usually have been hosing off the top every few weeks. The second is the pinhole, which looks bigger than I remembered. I'm guessing that it was caused by a falling branch or something, although I don't recall anything that large being up top; it may have already been there when we bought the trailer. It is easy to miss, because of it's size. The last is a photo of the forward caulking; it doesn't appear to be 'bad', but it also looks to be something I'd rather do now, rather than wait and have more repairs to do later. It does show how nasty some of the discoloration was; I took it a little easier there because I didn't want to make the crack any worse before I knew what to do to fix it...
First, how often do y'all clean it off? We've had this for a few months, and the roof looked kinda cruddy, to me, anyway. It may not need to be done often, and I'm not OCD enough to think it has to gleam, but I just figure that, as with plenty of things, cleaner is better. I'm using a cleaner I bought at the store; what do y'all recommend? Do you use a commercial cleaner, or is something else just as good, or better? Not a huge deal, but I like to DIY when it makes sense.
I also spotted a few issues on top (which was a secondary reason to clean, to get a close-up view); some of the caulking at the very front of the roofing is cracked/cracking, and there is a pretty small pinhoole/cut on the roof as well. Being in Louisiana, it rains a lot, and I haven't found any spots where water seems to be getting through, but I'd like to address it before it gets worse! My experience has been that partial caulking is only a temporary solution that doesn't last anywhere near as long as you hoped; am I going to need to take off the entire strip of caulking to fix a couple of inches of damage? If so, then so, but I'd like to hear the experience and expertise of others first.
As for the pinhole, it's more like a little cut, about 1/16 inch; I assume that one patches it similar to a bicycle tire. Any recommendations as to a brand that has been good before, or one to avoid...?
(I'll post some pictures later; apparently my tablet can't handle it. Well, maybe it's me, but I'm perfectly comfortable blaming the tablet... lol)
ETA - Okay, the first photo is a before/after; it wasn't really filthy, just some dirt and stuff that had been sitting there. There is a nearby tree that drops plenty of twigs and stuff; I usually have been hosing off the top every few weeks. The second is the pinhole, which looks bigger than I remembered. I'm guessing that it was caused by a falling branch or something, although I don't recall anything that large being up top; it may have already been there when we bought the trailer. It is easy to miss, because of it's size. The last is a photo of the forward caulking; it doesn't appear to be 'bad', but it also looks to be something I'd rather do now, rather than wait and have more repairs to do later. It does show how nasty some of the discoloration was; I took it a little easier there because I didn't want to make the crack any worse before I knew what to do to fix it...