Known leak - how to proceed with roof sag - T-2753

[JCTravels]

This past week we sprung a slow leak during our camping trip, so I was forced to address some roof neglect. I had the original EPDM roof coated in 2017 with the Dicor Cool Coat application and only twice completed caulk touch-ups since that time. Regretfully I haven't stayed on top of annual inspections and our Solaris is stored outside year round. Since we started leaking this week, I read through a number of threads, mostly from JohnB, describing a number of different roof maintenance items.

This is our family camper which we hope to use for many more years as we transition to military retirement next year. In September, we plan to build bunk beds for our young boys and make some additional changes throughout. Given that improvements are contingent on a leak-free camper, I want to ensure I'm not setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Acknowledging this leak is likely years in the making, I intend to stop the leak first. On the interior, there is no damage showing, yet. On the exterior, the EPDM roof is sagging in three spots and when pressed, show signs the bud board has deteriorated underneath. As a result, the sagging creates pooling, which I'm concerned about in the long-term. In the near term (this weekend), I will scrape away old caulk and seal up the seams with EternaBond tape. I'll follow up with Dicor Self-Leveling caulk in areas that need additional attention. Once the EternaBond and caulk have cured and outgassed, I'll seal the roof in mid-September with either Henry's TropiCool or Crazy Seal, depending on what I can get locally.

So my main questions for you are:
- Are my steps out of order or missing something?
- Is ok to put Henry's/Crazy Seal on top of a Dicor Cool Coat?
- Would it be possible or advisable to slide a thin board under the EPDM roof in the problem areas to prevent sagging/pooling?

I'm not too interested in a complete EPDM roof replacement due to cost and because there are no good RV shops near us in Northern Virginia. My last quote (in 2017) for a new roof was $10K, which exceeds the value of our camper, so I highly doubt prices have gone down since then.

I'm pretty confident in my ability to do most repairs, and I would prefer to do it myself. Would appreciate any advice or insight you're willing to offer.

Many thanks!

[JCTravels]

One more photo of the edge seam

[JohnB]

Hi Josh

I have limited signal right now to type a proper response to your situation, but see this one I just did for another member. There are links etc in it which can may help you.

https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post159151

I am willing to help as I can, just I will be very limited due to no signal until next week when the signal issue Will get fixed

Hope this helps

John

[JCTravels]

Thanks, Sir. Yes, I looked at this exact thread when I was doing research last week.

I ended up using a full roll of 4"x50' EternaBond to seal the left/right edges. I took your advice and sealed it so that 2" was on the rubber EPDM and 2" was folded down over the edge and partially into the gutter. In my haste, didn't take pictures, but it went down easy and adhered well. I also put some Dicor Lap Sealant in trouble areas and along the side of the EternaBond where I had extra concerns.

Next month I'm looking to roll on an additional sealant on the main part of the roof, but I need to find something that will cooperate with the Dicor Cool Coat that is already on there. I may reach out to Dicor and see if they have recommendations. I'll share what I hear.

Appreciate you sharing your detailed repair pictures in these threads. It gave me extra confidence to take this on myself!

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by JCTravels

snip..
Acknowledging this leak is likely years in the making, I intend to stop the leak first. On the interior, there is no damage showing, yet. On the exterior, the EPDM roof is sagging in three spots and when pressed, show signs the bud board has deteriorated underneath. As a result, the sagging creates pooling, which I'm concerned about in the long-term. In the near term (this weekend), I will scrape away old caulk and seal up the seams with EternaBond tape. I'll follow up with Dicor Self-Leveling caulk in areas that need additional attention. Once the EternaBond and caulk have cured and outgassed, I'll seal the roof in mid-September with either Henry's TropiCool or Crazy Seal, depending on what I can get locally.

So my main questions for you are:
- Are my steps out of order or missing something?
- Is ok to put Henry's/Crazy Seal on top of a Dicor Cool Coat?
- Would it be possible or advisable to slide a thin board under the EPDM roof in the problem areas to prevent sagging/pooling?

I'm pretty confident in my ability to do most repairs, and I would prefer to do it myself. Would appreciate any advice or insight you're willing to offer.

Many thanks!

Hi JCTravels,

I now have a good internet signal and access to all my files etc. Sorry this took so long, I could not be this indepth until tonight. I see you already did the Eternabod treatment on what looked like the rubber membrane ripped at the gutter rail area. These pics





The Ebond will help seal those tears.

You asked about the sagging membrane/ponding from the deteriorated backer board on the EPDM membrane. Ponding water on an acrylic coating is often an issue long term. The acrylic coatings, in general, have been known to break down when subjected to standing water for long periods. It is not quick, but in the long term, standing water raises havoc on the coating.

Even the white shed layer on the EDPM roofs does not like long periods of standing water. When the roof pitch sheds the water, there are no issues with the acrylic coatings or the white shed layer of the EPDM; it is the ponding that creates the issues. It is like the coating or the EPDM shed layer is living underwater, and they are not made to do that.

See this pic. This is one of my project campers. It is a 2004 T317SR I acquired with major water damage that I am restoring. The prior owner had a tree fall and yanked the roof membrane out from under the rear wall molding. The backer board got soaked, and soon, the membrane sank, creating a big pond of water that just sat for months in the winter/spring until the owner found the tree. You see the black EPDM layer, with the white shed layer gone. The black layer is waterproof but very thin; think 2 to 3 sheets of printer paper thick only. While waterproof, in this condition, it will not take much to poke a hole in it. This pic had 4 to 5" deep of water sitting in it when I went to get the camper. I missed taking a pic of how big that pond was.



Ideally, in your case, you do address the ponding issue so the water will run/shed off. I'm not sure if you have done something to address this; if you need a few options, let me know I can type some more.

I had to correct this ponding issue on a friend's camper two summers ago. In their case, the prior owner walked all over the roof with no plywood support board and broke the membrane backer board in many locations. Those locations ponded badly. See here on this 2006 T267SR,


You mentioned the Henry's or Crazy Seal coatings. These coatings can handle ponding water as they are high-solid silicone coatings and are impervious to water ponding. I have done this coating style with four camper roofs to date and know their good, bad, and ugly. Used for the right reasons, they will work well.

If you are considering them, we should talk about doing an adhesion test on your existing roof to make sure they will bond correctly. It is not a hard test to do and can save you a lot of grief if your prep work was not done right to create a good bond or the old coating is not bonded well enough for a top coating. In this case, the old coating is the base to bond to. Ideally, the new coating is bonded directly to the EPDM. The 2006 T276 SR above was also coated with a thin paint-type coating; after doing an adhesion test and properly prepping the roof, that camper did get the Henry's 885 and 887 Tropicool coatings, and it created a sound long, life roof.

Hope this helps

John

[JCTravels]

Thanks for that extra information and the details. It is really reassuring to see that our roof isn't beyond repair. Ideally I would like to address the ponding areas on our roof, but I'm concerned that it's more than I can presently handle with two days of off-time. I will say, it's encouraging to see that our ponding isn't as bad as the T267SR you showed above. It's also good to hear Henry's can withstand a little pooling.

If I proceed with the Henry's 885 and 887 TropiCool coatings mid-September, can I reasonably expect to get at least a couple more years of protection until I'm retired and can take on the larger project of replacing the EPDM membrane?

Separately, I am curious about how I could address the ponding short of rolling back some of the EPDM and taking up some of the EternaBond I just put in place.

Thanks again!

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by JCTravels

Thanks for that extra information and the details. It is really reassuring to see that our roof isn't beyond repair. Ideally I would like to address the ponding areas on our roof, but I'm concerned that it's more than I can presently handle with two days of off-time. I will say, it's encouraging to see that our ponding isn't as bad as the T267SR you showed above. It's also good to hear Henry's can withstand a little pooling.

If I proceed with the Henry's 885 and 887 TropiCool coatings mid-September, can I reasonably expect to get at least a couple more years of protection until I'm retired and can take on the larger project of replacing the EPDM membrane?

Separately, I am curious about how I could address the ponding short of rolling back some of the EPDM and taking up some of the EternaBond I just put in place.

Thanks again!

Hi Josh,

Yes, I totally understand the two-day camper work weekend. I used to be in that group, like you, before I retired. A full roof job is a good amount of work, but the outcome keeps the camper for a good long time.

We need to talk about the time-line until you can get to do a full roof replacement. Doing the Henry's "full" roof treatment now to hold you over is a big cost that will get trashed the day you do the re-roof. That said, depending on how big the ponding is, and how many years, there are some other options.

I can't see in your pics, how large and how deep the affected ponding area is. Or where it is. Post some pics to try and show where the location is from above in relation to the roof AC unit. A top shot. And then a few pics to show the size of the bouncey affected area.

You are correct, the ideal way to shove something under the membrane to hold it up is from the side of the camper. You take the gutter rail off, pull some staples, and lift up the membrane. Post a pic of the Eternabond you did and how far down the gutter it went. There "might" be an option to not have to remove it all.

Depending on where the bad spot is, if it is close enough to the roof AC unit, you can lift off the AC unit and then shove a smaller sized sheet under the affected area. This is a limited option and only practical if the spot is close to the AC.

What may be the more doable and practical option, is to cover the affected area in 6" or 8" wide Eternabond. You layer it with some overlap to cover the entire affected area. This will beef up the white shed layer to not break down, and add slightly more stiffness. The ponding will still be there, but it will not have the ability to leak as quickly. And it only costs you a roll of E bond that will be tossed when the new roof comes along. Have the E bond attached to good solid roofing, then over the bad spot, then back to good solid roofing. I would also add the primer (Eternaprime) to the area before putting Roof Seal tape down. This option is a band-aide only, but a very doable one that will help.

There is also a Henry's spot treatment that could help. You go to Home Depot and only buy 1 gallon of 885 Tropicool Roof Repair. This stuff, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Henry-88...5142/206030020

The 885 is a trowel applied formulation. It can go on thick, 1/16" to 1/8" is no problem. Even 1/4" thick will cure out. This option you trowel and smooth out the entire affected area back to solid roofing. A wide silicone wiper blade helps the smooth out. Think of this stuff spreading like butter or cake frosting, yes it is that thick. The Henry's will not care about ponding water, and it will add some level of strength to the area if you spread it to the good area of the roof. There is only one but on this one, we should do an adhesion test to make sure the Henry's will bond to your old coating. I can help with the adhesion test how to, if you want to go this route. Again this is a bandaide to hold you over, but this option will work if the Henrys will bond to your roof.

The cost between the Henry's spot treatment and the E bond, is close to the same.

Think this over and let me know if you need more.

John

[JCTravels]

Originally Posted by JohnB

What may be the more doable and practical option, is to cover the affected area in 6" or 8" wide Eternabond. You layer it with some overlap to cover the entire affected area. This will beef up the white shed layer to not break down, and add slightly more stiffness. The ponding will still be there, but it will not have the ability to leak as quickly. And it only costs you a roll of E bond that will be tossed when the new roof comes along. Have the E bond attached to good solid roofing, then over the bad spot, then back to good solid roofing. I would also add the primer (Eternaprime) to the area before putting Roof Seal tape down. This option is a band-aide only, but a very doable one that will help.

There is also a Henry's spot treatment that could help. You go to Home Depot and only buy 1 gallon of 885 Tropicool Roof Repair. This stuff, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Henry-88...5142/206030020

The 885 is a trowel applied formulation. It can go on thick, 1/16" to 1/8" is no problem. Even 1/4" thick will cure out. This option you trowel and smooth out the entire affected area back to solid roofing. ..... I can help with the adhesion test how to, if you want to go this route. Again this is a bandaide to hold you over, but this option will work if the Henrys will bond to your roof.

John

Thanks, Sir.

Unfortunately I cannot follow up with photos since we store our rig about 25 miles away (we're near DC), so I won't see the camper again until we begin our bunk bed conversion mid-month.

I hadn't thought about using EternaBond to strengthen up the concern areas, nor had I noticed the thicker silicone from Henry's as a plausible solution. Based on the extended time required for the EB to outgas, I'll probably lean toward utilizing 885 for the soft spots. The 885 says to allow 48 hours to cure, so I'd need to factor that into the schedule before applying 887 thereafter.

Yes, I'll take you up on your offer to help me understand the process for conducting an adhesion test. I want to be sure I get this right before we invest time and funds into the interior.

Thanks!

r/

Josh

[JohnB]

Hi Josh,

A few things need to be clarified; let me explain some more. You review them and then let me know which or what way you move forward with this.

Originally Posted by JCTravels

I hadn't thought about using EternaBond to strengthen up the concern areas, nor had I noticed the thicker silicone from Henry's as a plausible solution. Based on the extended time required for the EB to outgas, I'll probably lean toward utilizing 885 for the soft spots.

Where did you pick up on Eternabond outgassing? Did you find this on some EB website?

OR, was there a misunderstanding in something I mentioned in one of my posts? I have stated many times that when using Eternabond over the top of freshly applied Dicro lap sealant, the Dicor Lap sealant has to cure and gas off for approximately 30 days before applying Eternabond over the top of it. Or else the Dicor gassing-off effect can create bubbles in the Eternabond. The gassing issue I know of is Dicor-created, not the Eternabond.

If your weakened membrane has no fresh Dicor that is gassing off, then the Eternabond can be applied to that membrane area without waiting. The area will need to be cleaned, a mold kill process done, and I recommend the area be primed with Eternaprime before applying the new Eternabond Roof Seal tape.

If you found outgassing of EB somewhere else, please let me know of it so I can review it.

Originally Posted by JCTravels

Based on the extended time required for the EB to outgas, I'll probably lean toward utilizing 885 for the soft spots. The 885 says to allow 48 hours to cure, so I'd need to factor that into the schedule before applying 887 thereafter.

Yes, I'll take you up on your offer to help me understand the process for conducting an adhesion test. I want to be sure I get this right before we invest time and funds into the interior.

Sorry, I did not expand enough on the Henry's 885 option. I did not intend for you to have to do an 887 application over the 885, not in this patched area. I was under the assumption you were "only" doing the water-damaged bud board area, not the entire roof.

Part of this is understanding all the Henry literature. They have a lot of info on their website; they do a good job supplying it. They do not necessarily break it all down into camper applications much as the building applications. The Tropicool product line applies to building roofs also/mainly, and they have many more videos on buildings.

I'll expand on this to clear up any confusion.

The 884, (10 oz. caulk tubes), the 885 (thicker seam repair trowel applied), and the 887 (roller or brush applied) are all part of the Tropi-cool product line. The actual material is the same formulation; they tweak each type (884,885 & 887) in viscosity for how it is applied and the area to be used. Each is a stand-alone product and waterproof by itself. All products will bond to each other when wet or have been cured years later.

I have bought and used the 884 caulk tube product, but only a little of it, as I found I could use the 885 in the same areas on a camper. You pump the 884 out of a caulk gun. Then, spread it out with your wet finger or a putty knife. This viscosity will not run downhill. For what I do, it is cheaper to go with an 885-gallon can instead of many 884 tubes.

I use the 885 when doing a total roof coating and apply it over anything on the roof that has a joint or where Sunline used Dirco caulk. This builds a robust, solid foundation over all the bad-acting leak spots on a camper roof, the joints that were covered in Dicor sealant. This is a trowel-applied consistency product. It certainly will not run downhill or drip out of the can. You have to dig it out of the can. This thicker viscosity can be applied thickly to build up over joints; 1/8" to even 1/4" thick can occur depending on where you use it and can be used in vertical applications.

I use the 887 for top coating the entire roof. This is a thin viscosity that will flow downhill if it is very thick (> 5 mil thick). It is a roller or brush applied. On the big open areas of the roof, it gets applied in two 20-22 mil coats to build up a 40-44 mil thickness. It is so thin you do not want to try and build up a 40-mil coat in one shot. And doing two coats ensures you did not miss a spot on the first coat. They claim one 22 mil coat will work, but if there are any misses, it will leak at the miss.

I created a process of applying a very thin coat of 887 wet, over fresh applied 885 on the seams as an aesthetic enhancing feature. The 885, when you spread it out, can have little raised edges where the end of the trowel is. I still need to perfect how to feather it out to look perfect without the 887 brushing—going over so many bumps on the moldings is not easy to make look perfect. Using an automotive Bondo silicone wiper pad helps smooth those bumps to some extent.

The 887 can be lightly brushed over 885, and the 887 solvents slightly melt into the 885, making my wiggly 885 trowel-applied area look better. Some other high-solids silicone makers do this, so I just applied it to the Henry's.

With all that explaining, for your patched-up area, you will put down a good 1/16 - 1/8 thick of troweled-out 885; you do not need to do an 887 top coat unless you want to make it look prettier.

Where did you get the impression you had to top coat the 885?

In both of these approaches (885 or EB), I consider them a patch job to carry you through 2 to 3 years until you replace the entire roof. The water will still pond, but in this case, it gives you greater leak protection in the ponded area. If you have other thoughts that this is a long-term fix, then let's talk.

There are pros and cons to each option. Both options require the same cleaning and mold-kill process.

Going the EB route, you have used EB, so you know it, and there is no adhesion test to deal with. Yes, you should prime the EB route. You can use the spray can primer option; it only adds 20 minutes. But, a downside is that you must ensure the EB is pressed down well to create its bond in the bouncy rubber areas. If EB is not firmly pressed, it will not create a lasting bond. Water and dirt can then seep in, and the bond can be bad. I can not feel how bad your ponded area is; I sense it feels like a bouncy blown-up tire tube. This option will work if you can overcome the pressing down to create the seal issue.

Going the 885 route, you should do the adhesion test to confirm the bond. The adhesion test will take 3 days to cure before you can do the test. Setting up the test will take about 1- 2 hours the first time. Once cured for 72 hours, it takes about 10 minutes to run the test itself. It can be done now if you have the time after work to start the curing process to avoid losing the 3 days waiting when your bunk work time comes. Aside from the adhesion test timing, this is a trowel-on-and-done application.

As FYI, Henry's or Crazy Seal (or most other roof coating) will "not" bond to the top surface of new Eternabond. The EB has a TPO (plastic) top surface, and the only way to have Henry stick over new virgin TPO, is to prime it or have it sun aged long enough to burn off the slick plasticized surface. The special TPO primer only comes in 5-gallon cans, and it takes years of sun aging to burn it off.

The cost of either option will be close to the same.

Look this over and let me know which way you think will fit your needs the best. We can then get into how to do the cleaning and mold-kill process, and if you want the Henry route, we can get into the details of the adhesion tests.

Send the pics when you can. It may change a few things once I see what you have.

Hope this helps

John

[JCTravels]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Hi Josh,

Where did you pick up on Eternabond outgassing? Did you find this on some EB website?

OR, was there a misunderstanding in something I mentioned in one of my posts?

Sorry, I did not expand enough on the Henry's 885 option. I did not intend for you to have to do an 887 application over the 885, not in this patched area. I was under the assumption you were "only" doing the water-damaged bud board area, not the entire roof.

With all that explaining, for your patched-up area, you will put down a good 1/16 - 1/8 thick of troweled-out 885; you do not need to do an 887 top coat unless you want to make it look prettier.

Where did you get the impression you had to top coat the 885?

I can not feel how bad your ponded area is; I sense it feels like a bouncy blown-up tire tube. This option will work if you can overcome the pressing down to create the seal issue.

As FYI, Henry's or Crazy Seal (or most other roof coating) will "not" bond to the top surface of new Eternabond. The EB has a TPO (plastic) top surface, and the only way to have Henry stick over new virgin TPO, is to prime it or have it sun aged long enough to burn off the slick plasticized surface. The special TPO primer only comes in 5-gallon cans, and it takes years of sun aging to burn it off.

Send the pics when you can. It may change a few things once I see what you have.

Hope this helps

John

Thanks for all the extra information and details I hadn't compiled yet. I believe the outgassing for EB was an error in my understanding of another post (can't say for sure it was yours, since I've lost track of all the material I've read).

For the 885 and 887 application, my plan was always to do the whole roof, but I wanted to address the ponding as well. In the off chance I don't replace the whole roof in a couple years, I want to give it the best chance to survive for a while, so based on my research, a couple coats of Henry's will give me a longer window of opportunity to address it down the road. Also it allows me to feel more comfortable doing our interior renovations knowing that we won't be risking additional leaks.

Today I picked up 1 gal of 885 and 5 gal of 887 and am mentally working out the timing of applying the 885 to the soft spots before doing the 887 on the whole roof. Thanks for letting me know the 887 won't adhere to the EB surface without a primer. Is it acceptable to just build up my 887 coats alongside the EB tape I put along the seams? I'd rather not buy 5 gal of TPO primer given how much I invested already today. If I could buy less, I'd be open to it but I don't need a large bucket sitting around.

I'm attaching a few photos I took today on a quick trip to check on the repairs I completed last month. I circled the ponding areas, which are all on the left-hand, mid-rear side of the camper. Last month, using your technique for identifying blistered and cracked lap sealant, I paid close attention to pulling out old sealant and re-applying Dicor to the trouble areas. I'm pretty confident that using 885 for the soft spots will make a big difference. Similarly, I'm pretty excited to apply the 887 and change the overall cleanliness and structural integrity of the roof.

Let me know if you think I'm cutting corners or expecting unreasonable results for the effort planned.

[JohnB]

Hi Josh,

Your latest pics tell a story.

This pic tells a lot.


I also zoomed in on a section of that pic to see the texture of the roof. Here are two pics of it in different resolutions to try and show what I "think" I'm seeing. On the forum screen, they may look the same.




The first pic shows the roof membrane sagging over what appears to be five rafter spacings. There may be more, but five is enough.

These tears/separations in the membrane (they look like that in the pic) may have come from the sagging membrane pulling hard on the edge seam from weight in the sagging ponding areas between the rafters of the membrane, possibly from winter snow/ice or heavy rain over time. This normally only happens with multiple times of stretching, not just one big event unless a tree branch fell on it etc. The black waterproof layer of the EPDM roofing is very thin and it can tear easily when the budboard has deteriorated.




If you know, did the tears line up with the spaces between the rafters? They may also be close to a rafter and spread into the open area. If they did split like this, it adds more odds of how the tears came about. The first leak started somewhere, yet TBD, but as time went by, more water came in, infected the budboard membrane backing, and the sagging/ponding started and later aggravated itself into what you have now.

The zoomed-in pic on the membrane surface texture appears to have bubbles/blistering going on. Is this a correct statement of what we are seeing?

When I gave you the response above that Henry's 885 could hold you over a few years, the "assumption" was you only had one rafter space with ponding/sagging. Now we can see many more affected rafters spaces that could point to the water damage being 6 feet long or longer across the five rafters.

You have a bigger problem from what we can see from the pics; you have the potential for a lot of trapped moisture in the ceiling and the walls. By chance, did you get a moisture meter and scan the ceiling and the wall where the leak points were? The meter will tell how far the water damage has spread. See here for more on the moisture meter. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...per-17613.html

And this PDF found in our files section, shows more on how to tell what the General Instruments numbers mean in Wall mode. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/d...o=file&id=5638

From what I have seen in damaged Sunline roofs, the moisture meter will give more confidence to what I will say. Your issue is the amount of wetness trapped in the ceiling and the wall. Left unchecked, the water will keep rotting the wood as years go by. Even if we seal the roof now, the rot keeps going until it is dried out. If it does evaporate out, then dry rot can start if the wood has not been treated. The rafter ends can rot away, and then there is no structural support of the rafter to the side walls. This does take time, but we or you may not know how long it has been ongoing. Two years from now, the rafters may be comprised in that area. The rafters are only supported by the wall with the last 1/2" tip of the rafter. When that 1/2" goes, there is no more support.

I have many pics to show what the above looks like and the repair, but I am out of time right now. I can type more early next week. Consider getting the moisture meter at Lowes and see how big the wall and ceiling and wall wetness is inside the camper? Scan the entire wall, ceiling to floor. Then you know a lot more about the condition of the situation. Make a sketch of the range of wetness on the walls & ceiling where it will go from high to zero.

I'm thinking about how to help you with this, do you happen to have any pictures of the Eternabond applied to the gutter rails? Pending how you did this, there may be a way to cut the Ebond and then get the screws out of the gutter rail to allow the membrane to be lifted and at least air out the attic and get the wet insulation out. And we can open up the top siding on the wall to help it air out too. If you get rid of the wetness, it gives up time to later come back and deal with the long-term fix.

Sorry, this is not better news; it is what I am seeing. If your camper inside is in great shape and the outside too, other than this leak, these Sunlines are all repairable. Yours would make a great candidate to restore and keep.

I hope this helps

John

[JCTravels]

Appreciate all the extra information and insight. That's a lot to take in.

I don't recall the seam tears being directly between the rafters, but I now see that this is a problem we've had for a while now, but only became aware of. Yes, in the picture you posted, there is bubbling in the membrane, but I wasn't sure what that meant.

I'll look into getting a moisture meter. In the meantime I may run a dehumidifier in the camper to help dry it out a bit before I can take on the larger job of peeling back the membrane. Is there anything I can do inside the camper to help dry it out?

[flbradjr]

You have all the help you need from JohnB. The only thing I can add is that you buy a large tarp and cover the roof and maybe part of the sides. Bungee cord or tie down with rope. I've been doing this every year and so far no major leaks. Some small ones that I've treated. Brad

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by JCTravels

Appreciate all the extra information and insight. That's a lot to take in.

I don't recall the seam tears being directly between the rafters, but I now see that this is a problem we've had for a while now, but only became aware of. Yes, in the picture you posted, there is bubbling in the membrane, but I wasn't sure what that meant.

I'll look into getting a moisture meter. In the meantime I may run a dehumidifier in the camper to help dry it out a bit before I can take on the larger job of peeling back the membrane. Is there anything I can do inside the camper to help dry it out?

Hi Josh,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. We have been on a long camping trip, and the internet signal was bad to non-existent.

The dehumidifier can help the inside of the camper not get so musty smelling, but it will most likely not help dry out the attic. Which direction are you going, and what is the timeline? A way to vent the attic is by adding attic vents, even in your current condition; they will help air out the attic and dry up some of the wet, but it will not stop the total wet or dry rot that can come after it does dry out. The attic vents are a short-term bandaid, but pending the timeline of when a roof repair comes, it can help air out the attic and slow down the rot. See here, I have added them to a budboard roof before. If you are going this route, lets talk on where to place them. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...-do-19983.html

If you lift the roof membrane back, that will allow it to dry out in a few good high-heat sunny days and nights. But, before doing this, you need a long-term plan for what you will do.

Hope this helps

John