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Old 03-15-2019, 06:24 PM   #1
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2000 Sunline Solaris roof.

Can I walk on the roof of my 2000 Sunline Solaris roof without damaging it?
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Old 03-15-2019, 07:04 PM   #2
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The Solaris name encompasses quite a few different models, so those who might be able to answer the question will need to know exactly which one you have. It's usually labeled right beside the door, in the format T-xxxx.
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Old 03-17-2019, 09:32 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregorym View Post
Can I walk on the roof of my 2000 Sunline Solaris roof without damaging it?
Unless your camper had the custom option of a walk on roof, or partial walk on roof, when bought new, you cannot walk directly on the roof without protection.

Odds are high you have the standard Sunline rubber roof with the bud board backing. This bud board is a heavy thick corrugate backing that the rubber membrane is glued to. Then the entire sheet is pulled over the roof rafters. As such there is no support between the rafters to hold your body weight.

To service items on the roof, you place down a trap, or other soft protection item over the rubber, to protect the rubber from abrasion. Then using pieces of 3/8" or thinker plywood, in approx 24" to 30" wide by 48" long, you place the wood sheets to span the rafters. Then you can kneel etc on the plywood. The rafters are close to 16" centers. Not all of them, but many. You can feel them being stiffer and solid under the rubber roof.

See here where I am servicing the roof AC unit. You have to use a solid ladder on stable ground to step off of and onto the roof. Be extra careful when getting on and off. Use the 3 point contact method. 1 foot, 2 hands, or 2 feet 1 hand etc. in contact with ladder or roof as you get on an off.





Hope this helps

John
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Old 03-21-2019, 09:00 PM   #4
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I have a 2002 2553, and have always gone up on the roof, by using several layers of large corrugated (from old appliance carton). I never knew that it wasn't a walk-on roof.
Guess I lucked out. I'd probably still do the same thing, knowing that I shouldn't.
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Old 03-23-2019, 07:56 PM   #5
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To help explain and show why you should not directly walk on a standard Sunline rubber roof, or the older metal roofs, see these pics of one of my project camper being taken apart of how the roof is made.

The rubber roof structure is a thin rubber membrane (0.040" thick) glued to an approx 1/16" to 3/32" dense corrugate sheeting called bud board (not exactly cardboard, more like the backing of a paper pad, only thicker) that is then draped over the top of wooden trusses or solid rafters. There is no support for point load weight ( like a person kneeling or standing) between the rafters. You can damage the roof or break through it.

The white topped, black bottom, rubber membrane glued to the bud board





The roof rolled up, the insulation lifted up showing the raters and in this case, water damage.






The rubber membrane and budboard off the roof


The rubber membrane and budboard laying on the ground


The older metal roof campers, while they did not have the rubber or the budboard, the thin sheet metal was draped over the rafters just like the rubber roof was. You can damage those metal roofs as well unless you use sheets of plywood to spread the weight of your body out across a larger area.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 03-25-2019, 08:01 PM   #6
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Thanks,John. It's obvious why I should never have been up there. I think that the corrugated I used must have generally been over the rafters and no damage was done. I lucked out. Wonder how many Rv repair shops know this?
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Old 03-25-2019, 09:03 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas A View Post
Wonder how many Rv repair shops know this?
If they are not familiar with the Sunline brand, they may not know the roof make up. I myself do not know of any one else in the industry doing it like this. There may be, but not many. I have heard folks saying their dealer was up there and walking around.

On my son's 2006 Sunline when we looked at it at the dealership before he bought it, I saw the footprints on the rubber from an inspection they must of done up there. In this case, it looks like they sort of "high wire walked" on the rafters balancing at they went. The good news, they did not go very far. It's like they were standing there on the rafters looking over the roof, then backed up and got off. Thankfully as there was a prior leak that dried up but destroyed the budboard under it. Not much left other other than the rubber membrane as we found out after we opened up the roof for repair.
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Old 05-30-2023, 07:23 PM   #8
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Stirring up old thread

Fixing water damage all over now my roof is same as shown. Not a walk on roof. I'm doing a pvc roof can I add 1/4 sheets on roof to make it a walk on? Seems like it would also make it easier to do the pvc if I can walk up there without balancing on rafters
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Old 05-30-2023, 07:45 PM   #9
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1/4" wouldn't make your roof safely walkable; I recommend 7/16" at least--though as you can see in an earlier post in this thread, JohnB has found 3/8" to suffice.

Given the hassle involved with adding that much thickness to the roof (new "edging" all around, re-working all roof penetrations etc.), I wouldn't go for it.

If you really think 1/4" would suffice, try an experiment: lay a couple of 2x4's on the ground 16" apart, throw some 1/4" on top and stand on the middle.
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Old 05-30-2023, 08:00 PM   #10
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Ok ill try that. Good idea. I think it might be enough I only weight 135lbs. Just don't want to go to thick. And add to much weight.
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Old 05-31-2023, 08:35 AM   #11
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Hi Mitchb,

Here are a few things to consider as you do your re-roof project.

Today's modern plywood or OSB board thickness is often only "nominal" thickness. Metric numbers replace the older true full-size thickness, and we lose about 1/32" in the thickness on average from nominal. That said, the modern-day thickness will work.

This post by ynmoose talks about roof thickness and which to use. Read that post over it has some good detail in it. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tch-19201.html

When we do a re-roof to a Sunline rubber roof, we will have a hard time reproducing the same heavy corrugate board they used to bond the rubber membrane to at the factory. This leaves us with a few choices in what to use. These are the choices, and they all come with trade-offs.

1/8" luan plywood. Remember, this is not a full 1/8". Sunline uses this on the campers with slide roofs, which works, but the wood rafter structure has to support such thin plywood. The lightweight here and the smaller size of the slide roof makes this work. It helps save weight and adds cargo capacity to the camper. You may get some ponding if you use 1/8" on the large main roof areas with the 1/8" sagging. Make sure you add extra support in the four corner areas of the roof if you use this thickness. And you have to add extra reinforcements under the 1/8" at tank vents, TV antennas, radio antennae etc. I would not recommend this thickness for an entire main roof. Yes, to a repair on the main roof to a smaller area under the Sunline corrugate roof, can work well with added reinforcement.

1/4" nominal exterior-rated glue plywood. I say plywood as I would not want to use OSB as it is very rough to glue down the membrane directly. Some manufacturers do glue direct to OSB; this comes down to a personal choice. Using a BC sanded rated plywood and the B side of the membrane works. AB sanded is even better if you can find it at an affordable cost. The 1/4" helps save some weight but is still a little heavier than Sunline used with the heavy corrugated board. In my view, the 1/4" is "not" a direct walk-on roof. It will snap and crackle between the rafters if you kneel on it. Some dealers use 1/4" laun plywood and call it walk-on; I have seen this done by two dealers. Again, this is a choice. You have to add extra reinforcements under the 1/4" at tank vents, TV antennas, radio antennae etc. to hold the screws for the vents etc.

3/8" nominal exterior-rated glue plywood. The same comments apply to the sanding did side and OSB as the 1/4". The difference is the added strength which also adds more weight, and you lose some cargo capacity. See the post above I linked on the weights. With 3/8", you will gain a walk-on roof, but keep it in perspective. This is not as strong as a home roof, and you need to care for the roof when carrying heavy objects around on it, like the roof AC unit. For the roof AC unit, you need a two-persons to shuffle the AC across the roof, not a one-man lift, and walk with it. The 3/8" on a camper roof will work; consider the limitations. With the 3/8" being thicker, you do not need to reinforce the small roof attachments out in the open, tank vents, etc.

7/16" or larger. This will for sure work for a walk on the roof; houses do it all the time, and they also carry packs of shingles with a person walking on it, plus other home building code requirements. But it comes with some negatives. It is heavy; a small camper is not as bad as a 30-footer, but you will lose cargo capacity. If you are on a seasonable campground and never tow the camper, losing weight capacity is not as bad; if you tow it, weight becomes a larger issue quickly.

The moldings were mentioned; you can reuse the old molding on any of the above combinations. For 3/8 and thicker, you will need to shave down the rear wall to the roof area decking of the camper to about 1/4" to make that back molding work better. I have done 3/8" without shaving, but it works better with the 4 to 6" wide taper to 1/4". 7/16 and thicker has to be shaved. This is not a major issue, just something to work through. The gutter rails and the front cap molding can all be reused. You can buy new molding if wanted not to clean up the old ones; it is just an extra cost that will be added. If you hire out the roof job, go with new moldings; it is cheaper than the cleaning labor; by doing it yourself, you can save some funds cleaning up the old ones.

Converting from the standard Sunline roof to a decked plywood roof of any thickness will be about the same work in the big picture. You have to remove all the Sunline added reinforcements to support the corrugate budboard, and you should deal with any water damage when the roof is open. Granted, 3/8" and thick is heavier to handle, but it is doable.

This comes down to weight choices and if you want to deal with using support boards and a tarp on the thinner materials.

I found using the 1/4" exterior glue-rated solid flooring sub-straight a good choice if weight is a concern. You deal with the extra support boards when servicing the roof, but it is not that bad. There are no dead pockets in the plywood, and it has a nice smooth surface for gluing; it sheds the water well and, done right, will not create water ponding areas. If you want the walk-on, consider the 3/8".

I will also give these two recommendations.

1. Screw the roof deck down with pre-counter sunk holes for a true flat screw head to the surface. This takes more time but will not budge up or bulge down the membrane.

2. Do not use staples to hold the roof deck down on a camper. Staples lift will come in time as the towing miles add up. I have seen it several times on other brands of campers or where a dealer did it quickly and easily. The staple lifts the membrane, and soon a hole will form.

If you do the plywood test over two rafters mocked up, fasten the plywood to the rafter and prevent the rafters from moving. The fasteners and the rafter not moving makes it stronger to hold the weight between the rafters.

You mentioned you are going with PVC membrane, which is not a bad choice, but let's talk about what not to do with PVC as it can crack. PVC done right is good; PVC done wrong is not. And for sure, "do not walk" on a wet PVC or TPO roof. The PVC is like ice wet; you will slide off of it. Dry is not so much an issue, just not wet or damp.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 06-05-2023, 08:25 AM   #12
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Ya Johnb I also see now that I have roof peeled back a little the trusses don't have much support the arch is only supported by 1/8" pieces of sheeting staple to them so id have to add support to all trusses seemed like a task
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Old 06-05-2023, 11:53 AM   #13
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Mitch,

You remove all the Sunline 1/8" reinforcement and 1/2" pieces down to the bare rafter top if you are going with all new decking.

Not sure if you found these 2 posts, they may help

A 3/8" walk on decking https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...avy-16834.html

A 1/4" non walk on decking with added screw support for tank vents as needed. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post151483

This can help with the gluing down of the new membrane. Take note, it is common on your first roof to by not knowing, put enough glue on as the fresh plywood absorbs it so fast. You have to use the correct rate of glue per square foot and do the fold over test to see it is wet on the back side of the membrane
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post154533

Ask away on any questions.

John
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