Roof Maintenance and Coatings. Help Please

[Charles H]

I have a 2010 DRV and the roof looks like it is peeling off in some areas. This is a thin layer the thickness of paper or less. Possibly the previous owner put a coating on the roof??? Noticed the peeling in the front corners and some in the far back roof area. Also the roof looks like it has small spots of black mold on top of the roof. Been cleaning the roof with DAWN each year and using a product called Best Rubber Roof cleaner & protectant with UV blocker. I did try using a mixture of bleach and water to clean and kill mold with no luck. Just kind of looks ugly having the black spots on the roof. I called the manufacture of the trailer back in 2017 for maintenance suggestions and was of really no big help other than just wash the roof with with DAWN. I store the trailer outside year around with a cover on it.

Any suggestions? What should I do?

Update as of Oct 6,2020
Called Mobile Suit and asked them about my roof. Mobile Suit RV. DRV recommend calling the roof manufacturer Dicor at 574-264-2699. They might have a higher grade of products for roofs and other RV maintenance products than Henry's. . Wanting for a response.

Just got the phone with an RV retailer/repair shop in Salem, Oregon that has been here for 30 plus years. They said if you maintain a RV roof you should not have to do anything but clean it each year. Said this;if a roof starts to peel, the entire roof needs the peeling remove and completely re-coated. Doesn't sound like a fun job. Also, once this is done, you will have to re-coat the roof about ever 5 to 6 years.

Called an Authorized Mobile Suit Dealer in Oregon today also and they said that they never re-coat any RV roofs and do not recommend it. When the roof leaks of goes bad they replace it. Don't seem like their into doing any real roof repair. Maybe just a very small roof repairs if any and they said to use Dicor product only.

You would think there is straight forward information on RV roof maintenance from the professionals. All I got so far is no homeowner should ever re-coat a RV roof. But Wait! Yes sir you can bring your RV into a dealer and spend thousand to have a new roof put on. Sound like a run around to me!

Finally: Got in touch with the factory rep from Dicor Products. He told me that within the last couple of weeks several people have call in about questions using Henry's products. His company has a policy about bad mouthing other c companies. But; He said that Dicor Roofing System is a two stage process. First step process helps the coating to attach to the final/ second process coating. Rep said Dicor is good for approximately 6 years, Just got off the phone with the Henry's Rep. He said their roofing produce is good for approximately 15 to 20 years plus. So is Henry's Roof coating better of is Dicor Roof Coating?

At this time I do not know the best way to go. Need all the help I can get.






Tags: None

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to the Forum!
This sure sounds as if you'll need new roof.
Once things start peeling: it's beyond patching.
Which roof coating conversation left you feeling as if you were hearing the truth?
I'd go with them.
Good luck!

[cavie]

I did the Henerys to mine this summer. I was impressed. Henerys Tropicool says lifetime warranty. Time will tell.

[Charles H]

Well it took me most of a week to completely re-coat my RV roof. Tuesday morning started in by hand scrubbing the roof with a mixture of bleach, TSP and water. I did use a pressure washer to get the dirt out from under the roof air conditioner units. Took me a good part of the day to just clean the roof. Then I started in trying to peeling off the old very thin rubber coating. Well, three and a half days later, wearing our a pair of leather gloves, I through I give it my best shot at getting off the lose old thin plastic coating.


Saturday afternoon I started getting ready to start applying the Henry 887 Tropi-Cool® 100% Silicone White Roof Coating. First off cleaned out all of the old clacking above the roof gutter and replaced it with new Henry's clacking. Then mixed the coating with a drill and poured it out a quart amount in a paint tray. The Henry 877 coating pours out like the thickness of pancake syrup. Used a leaf blower to blow off any material laying on the roof. Started in using a four inch paint brush to do the corners, sides, roof pipe outlet, vents and air conditioners. Only did a 5 to 7 foot section at a time. Then used a 9 inch long by 1/2 inch nap paint roller to sped out the Henry's roof coating. Took about two to three hours to fully cover the 8 foot wide by 34 foot long 5th wheel roof with one coat. Next day applied a second coat.


Lessons Learned:

1. Try to apply the coating a a fairly calm day. The wind can carry the coating in the air when applying it.

2. I applied the coating when the temperature was in the range of approximately mid 60's to upper 68 degrees. Sun helps, but I can not imagine trying to apply Henry's coating of any other roof coating on a day when it is approaching upper 70's degrees or higher. Too hot for me to do a roof!.



3. Weather: Have to apply the roof coating on when the roof is completely dry. Fall time and moisture in the morning is hard to dry off the roof and or have to wait for the sun to come out. Dampness or morning do can take several hours to dry off the roof.



4. Give yourself plenty of time to do a good job. The faster you try to apply the roof clacking or roof coating you are most likely of do a sloppy job and have mess.



5. Most Important: Slow down on the roof. If you fall off you will probably spend a lot of time in the hospital recovering if you are lucky!



Conclusion: I worked like a dog for nearly a week trying to bet the Fall weather.Wished I could of done the roof repair/coating in better weather conditions. Sweating bullets all week worrying about the possibility of rainy weather. Got lucky this time around! Henry's 877 when on fine, thick enough to be impressive and I believe I made and hope I choose the right product.