Roof tear repair

[lance.a.simon]

Greetings! I just discovered this tearing in the roof of my '99 Coleman pop-up and it seems to be spreading underneath the awning attachment. Looks like a previous owner tried unsuccessfully to patch it. The rip is at the right-edge of where the awning attaches. I'm guessing this was caused by the stress of the heavy awning. Has anyone dealt with this kind of tearing? I assume the top is fiberglass/plastic? Maybe a boat repair shop? Suggestions welcome, thank you! --Lance

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

That doesn't look like a rip in fabric - more like a cracked solid piece. Is that area part of the solid top/roof assembly, or part of the flexible fabric sidewall of the pop-up? 

From what I can see in the photo, it mostly just needs caulking. After a good cleaning, of course.

 

[lance.a.simon]

I decided to take it in to the local RV repair shop. I am concerned because the rip is spreading underneath the canopy holder, want to get it repaired professionally so I don't loose the canopy.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Good choice.  If you decide to repair a crack like that in the future, the first step is to drill a small hole at each end of the crack (1/8" to 1/4").  This relieves the stress caused by the crack and keeps it from spreading further.

Then you can fill the crack itself.  Clean everything well and use something like JB Weld, fiberglass epoxy resin, etc.

If you can get to the inside surface, you could put down a couple of layers of fiberglass cloth and resin to reinforce the corner.

The first part of this video show how to apply fiberglass cloth and resin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HGXnJjSZmA