1985 Sunline roof damage

[Admrose]

Didn't realize how much damage the roof had taken on the '85 we just purchased. At some point in its long history a medium sized tree fell on the roof of the camper. There were some minor penetrations that were patched up and the roof itself is still watertight. Only leak I've found is at the shower roof exhaust and it just needs to be recaulked or have flashing installed as there is nothing covering the vent cover anymore.

Anyway, the aluminum on the roof seems to have buckled and bowed over time. Some lays flat on the rafters, other parts of it can be pushed down and then pop right back up. There is some water puddling in some areas. I'll have to upload some pictures at some point but my major goal is to remove the dents and make the entire roof more uniform and visually appealing. I was thinking that the roof can be removed as one piece and the dents hammered out.


Has anyone had any experience with a situation such as this and if so what did you do to correct it?


Thanks in advance.

[JohnB]

Hi Admrose,

I may be able to help; I have done several roof replacements, which might help in your case. Posting some pics can help show what you are up against, and we may suggest a few things on which approach to go.

On the metal roofs of the time when yours was built, the roof metal was seamed together in sections. And the front end and rear end of the roof were seamed to the front and back wall siding. You can remove the entire roof in one big piece. You would have to take the front and rear walls apart to get that large front and back wall siding attached to it. But, it will all come off in one large piece. See this post by a fellow member, TedD, who just did this. He has a lot of pics in his photo album, which is linked in the post.
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...-rc-20658.html

Here is his roof, front and rear siding pieces all seamed as one large piece


Pending how bad yours is, there are other options for repair. One can be to replace the main roof with a new roof. It may be easier than trying to deal with fixing the old roof. You would have to price out the parts, but it can be an option. Your roof is small, so the cost of the parts may be tolerable. The process would be basically:

Cut the front and rear siding to create a roof transition joint in the "correct" spot. This separates the roof from the siding.

Remove the old roof. Deal with any rafter or other wood damage. See if you can create a small arched rafter set up to upgrade from the flat roof.

Install new decking. Install a new TPO, PVC, or EPDM rubber membrane.

Install new moldings on the front and rear seam and gutter rails along the side walls.

Mount your roof components, vent caps, etc. In this step, the odds are high that you will buy new vent cap parts, etc., either on fixing the old or new roof. Getting the old parts off most times damages them beyond reuse.

See this link to a roof replacement on a newer camper; while this camper has truss rafters, yours are most likely solid rafters. The plywood decking, new membrane, and moldings would be similar. You can get a feel for what this might entail. Scroll through it to see all the roofs pics https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post151483

Look at TedD's post, and let me know your thoughts on what you want to do. Repair the old, or put on a new roof.

I hope this helps.

John

[Admrose]

JohnB,

Thanks for the reply. This camper was on the receiving end of a tree at some point in its history. The heaviest damage was to the very front of the roof and the angled part above the rock shield on the front window. It was repaired but I’m not sure how good a job they did. I pulled down the panelling they installed inside to replace the what I’m presuming was destroyed factory panelling. All the wood was broken underneath, plus another beam directly under the front of the roof. Is this the arrangement that was originally used or did they get creative in their repair work? Also, correct me if I’m wrong but shouldn’t there be some decking between the insulation and the outside skin?

[JohnB]

Hi,

The pics help! We can now see what you have.

This pic,


is a broken roof rafter. Sunline "usually" tried not to use wood with larger knots, if any. Those big and many knots create a weaker split point in most cases. Something overloaded that one rafter, and it split and let go. It might have been someone or something landing on that signal rafter. If the rafter did not have as many knots or didn't have a split already started, it may have survived. Maybe that rafter was replaced during a prior repair and they did not use select low knots wood. Really do not know.

You should replace that rafter. Normally, the rafters are replaced with the roof membrane off. The very ends of the rafter rest "on top" of the wall top plate. All the roof load rests on that little wall top plate which may only be up to 1 1/2" wide on the newer campers. You can try to manipulate a new rafter in place with the roof skin on; it "might" be able to sneak in on an angle in the room between the two other rafters, and then rotate it into location. But, the length of the rafter must be the close to full width of the outside of the side walls to rest on top of the wall plate and be fully supported. Again, there is only up to 1 1/2" wide of support, making the rather shorter helps on rotating the rafter in place but shorter then has less support. If your walls are only 3/4" thick (many of the older campers were), then you only have 3/4" to maybe 1" for rafter support.

I do not know what model year Sunline went to 1 1/2" thick (2” nominal) walls, maybe sometime in the mid 90's, which would rule out your 85 camper.

As to roof decking, normally, there was not "any" roof decking on a Sunline travel trailer or truck camper. They did this practice to save weight and give you more cargo capacity. Some more high-end fifth wheels could have had a full walk-on roof. Even the last Sunline ever made in later 2006, does not have roof decking. Only special order, campers that requested a direct walk-on. roof at the time of building had them. There were an option. The roof membrane, metal or rubber was pulled over the rafters and fastened to the perimeter of the camper and at all roof openings.

The rubber roofs were glued to a thick, dense corrugate sheet and then draped over the rafters. The metal roof, like yours, was stiff enough that it would support the rain and snow loads by itself . Yes, I know this sounds strange, but it works for a camper. Other brands also do this. To service the roof, you have to use small sheets of 3/8" or thicker plywood in small manageable pieces with a tarp of sorts under them to not scratch the roof and span the rafters; then, you can kneel on the plywood and do whatever you need to do.

The ceiling board needs to be bonded to the bottom of the rafters. This creates structural stiffness. I use construction adhesive. There are also fine staples used to hold it in place until the adhesive cures. Normally, the ceiling board is under the rafters at the wall plate area. In your case, if you do not take the roof metal off, you may need to splice in between each rafter some wood support at the wall area to be able to hold the ceiling board between the rafters.

You mentioned the front wall where the tree hit; not sure what yours looks like, but again there was no plywood on the outside of the wall studs; there could be, a piece of 1/8" luan plywood for a foot or so across the front of the roof line to the front wall to help support the roof membrane and not allow ponding of water. Not all had this 1/8" support sheet, it may have been more of the rubber membrane vintage. If you ordered the fiberglass smooth siding, then 1/4” plywood was on the walls because then had to have it to bond the thin fiberglass too. All aluminum sided campers was direct to the wall studs. Even other brands today with aluminum sides still do this practice.

Hope this helps

John