Rubber roof?

[Eric J]

I think I have found the camper (toy hauler) i,m goin to buy? however It has one of these one piece rubber roofs.
if I under stand this correctly? I will need to put a rubber roof cleaner and a protectent that I have to wash and put this stuff on every 6 months and seal cracks as well with a roof caulking? looks to me like it will cost about 100 dollers a year? I,m not sure I like the sounds of that? what can anybody tell me about this type of roof? any and all info would be greatly appreciated.

[admin]

There are millions of RVs with this type of roof, and dozens of opinions on maintenance. For a good source of info on the EPDM rubber roof see:
http://www.protectall.com/artroofcare.htm

Of course they want to sell their product, but the tips provided are well worth a look.

[Marty in TN]

Eric: I've had two motor homes with "rubber roofs." I did a lot of researach in the maintenance and such on how to maintain them. I went back to that posting that I made over a year ago on this subject and rather then trying to repeat what I wrote, I did a "copy and Paste" to bring it forwards. Here's what I wrote on the subject back then.

Quoting: "I did a "google" on rubber roof maintenance and eventually found this site that I think would answer most of your questions. But over the past few years when I had rubber roofs, here's some skinny on what I learned about rubber roof maintenance.

#1, clean the roof with plain soap (I used plain old Borax from a local store, worked great) using a soft bristle brush. That's it------there is no need to add anything on top of that, your just wasting money. In fact, I have a gallon of glook I got from Camping World couple years back that I'd give away if someone would just come by and get it.

#2. Never use any type of a cleaner that has a petroleum or citrus base. Will soften the rubber and destroy it.

It is generally recommended to clean the roof twice a year especially if your unit sets out all year long.

I hope this helps you in your cleaning work.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rv/b ... um=4&hl=en" Un-quote

Marty

[Eric J]

Thanks yall
I read through both links.......wow..... dont know what to think? it would appear if I under stood correctly that the cleaner or protectent? if not used in just the right amount can cause a short life of the roof per say? goodness me
Couple questions here, I will not be parking it under a tree, but trees are close by, but close enough that small spots of tree sap will find their way to it, so would it be a good idea to buy a cover for it?
Marty I have a question?
For how long now have you been using Borax? that sounds so much Ez-er
to me. do you put say 1/2 a cup to a 5 gal bucket and brush it on and rinse with a hose? some of what I have read seems to say rinsing can leave a chalk residue on the side that can be hard to get off?

[Marty in TN]

Eric: How long had I used Borax? Gosh, I don’t really know. Initially, I started out using my wife’s Tide but kept running into a conflict because she’d accuse me of using all her soap and she’d have none. So to keep peace, I switched over to Borax because a motor home friend was using it and kept my box in the garage out of her way. That kind of restored peace around the house. But I would say in a rough guess, about 5 or 6 years. The point is, it met all the criteria for a good cleaner with out damage to the rubber membrane on the roof. Also must remember, the general consensus has always been that a rubber roof if taken care of, will last for up to 20 years.

We talk about chalk down the side? My opinion here, I don’t care how careful you might be and unless your able to turn the unit upside down (roof down towards the ground) your going to get crap down the side of the unit. If you have a decent wax job, clean the roof in the shade where the sun and/or heat cannot cook said crap to the side of the unit, as soon as the roof has been cleaned, then go after the sides and it shouldn’t be that big of a problem.

What amount of Borax did I use? That’s kind of hard to say for I’m one of those guys that very seldom will measure anything like this. Generally I’d just dump a good amount into the bucket saying that should be the right amount and go with it. Sure, most times I have residue in the bottom that didn’t dissolve but always felt that at least I didn’t run dry or not enough to do the job. Besides, you can start out with a full bucket, get half way done and only have a half or quarter full bucket, so you add more water. With that residue in the bottom, at least I wasn’t diluting the cleaning water by adding more water-----well at least it made sense to me.

Possible tree sap? I never really had that problem so I don’t have a good answer for it. The bottom line would be do not use anything that could damage the rubber membrane such as stuff that has a petroleum or citrus base. The one item that might do the trick and this would have to be your judgment--------Clorox puts out a little dispenser for cleaning spots from clothing or cloth items. It might work but I’d be very careful using it.

Sorry for such a long post but hopes it’ll be a help to you.

Marty

[Eric J]

Thanks fer the info Marty,
and I sure under stand about keeping peice in the house wish I could just buy a box of borax and call it peicefull

[Eric J]

I have another question, would it better to buy a 200 dollar cover for it? than leave it not covered? I know it would keep the sun off it, but may attract moisture under it as well from time to time?
whats the bad points of having a cover?
what the good points?

[Rob98801]

"#1, clean the roof with plain soap (I used plain old Borax from a local store, worked great) using a soft bristle brush."

Marty is right on the money here. I called the factory (Forest River) and thats what they told me. Borax, soft brush thats all. When I asked how often I was told as little as possible.

About the cover? I'm sure if you do a search of the RV sites on the net you will get an ear full as to why to or not to use a cover. I use one and have no problems to report.

[Eric J]

cool, Borax it is then
I was kinda thinkin I may buy 2 or 3 cheep inflatable rafts to place on top and help it breath a lil better?

[Russ Chastain]

I think I would leave it uncovered, or park it under a tall pole barn type shed to protect it from the elements.

[ron buckner]

Covers bring a whole nuther issue to the table when it comes to mold and mildew. Your far better off to keep it under a carport-type of environment. No UV, less heat, no rain, no junk cleaned out of the air and left on the coach because of the rain, etc. Tarping the coach makes an envelope that allows the temperature inversion of the day (nightime >,daytime>hot) to compound it's affects. The key is abating the compounding nature that dawn and dusk create.