Rubber roof coating

[tcmbk]

I need to coat the rubber roof on my T-2475 Sunline. Looking for suggestions on what products work best. Is it necessary to do two coats now, or can I wait until Spring for the second coat? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[JohnB]

Hi tcmbk,

I can recommend a few products pending what you are trying to do with your roof coating and the roof's condition.

First, is the white shed layer worn to the point where the black layer starts to show? This is what a worn white shed layer looks like; this is not to be confused with black spots that can be mold or stains. The white shed layer is worn completely off in these blackened areas and indicates when the roof must be coated or replaced to restore the white shed layer and not prolong damage to the black waterproof layer.





Do you have any spot spots on the roof that feel like an old tire tube or rubber bouncy feel?

Would you like to use the coating to address bad caulking or stop a leak?

Posting pictures of your roof helps in these cases so we can see what you are up against. If you need help posting pics, ask away; we are glad to help.

You mentioned the best coating, which may change depending on your needs.

If you want a good coating to help restore your a worn white shed layer at a lower cost, Dicor makes a good acrylic coating, but it has limitations on its use and how long it can last before a re-coat is again needed. The caulking needs to be in good condition before the coating. That means you deal with the caulking, remove old cracked caulk, apply new, let it cure, and then coat the roof and the caulk. And there are no spot spots or sunken spots that can pond water.

If you are looking for the best, a lifetime-rated product that can address the caulking areas once the old deteriorated caulk is removed, deal with ponding water and be close to a maintenance-free roof short of the plastic parts on the roof. There are high-solid silicone coatings that can do this. They cost more but deliver more also.

Whether the camper is stored outside all the time versus undercover also factors into which coating fits best.

In either case, any water damage from a leak should be addressed before coating the roof. Pending the water damage, these can be local small repairs. The coatings should be used to keep a sound roof, remaining sound due to a worn white shed layer, or to deal with the constant need for roof inspections and caulking touch-ups to ward off leaks.

Do you have to do two coats now, or can you split them up by several months? Other options may help hold you over until next spring/summer, with spot treatments, versus doing 2 completely separate coats. But it depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the first coating. Tell us some more about your needs; we can possibly help give you better options.

Hope this helps

John

[tcmbk]

There is one area where the black is starting to show. I have already done the caulking, and there are no water leaks or damage. I have done some searching about what product to use for the coating, but there are so many different products on the market. I was just looking for some recommendations from someone, as this is the first time that I have done a recoating. Also, wondering if it is necessary to do two coatings at the same time since the weather is getting colder.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by tcmbk

There is one area where the black is starting to show. I have already done the caulking, and there are no water leaks or damage. I have done some searching about what product to use for the coating, but there are so many different products on the market. I was just looking for some recommendations from someone, as this is the first time that I have done a recoating. Also, wondering if it is necessary to do two coatings at the same time since the weather is getting colder.

Hi,

Good news, you have the caulk already done, and you are sure there are no leaks. If you find an issue with the caulk, roof leak, etc., let's talk further.

And yes, there are so many roof coatings out there, and they all claim to be the best or very good. How does one decide? That is an excellent question. I also have a good friend with a SunnyBrook Titan travel trailer (their high-end brand of the time). He had bad luck with certain EPDM coatings. I will not recommend the brand he used. But, I can offer two types of coatings, and I have feedback on both. Both have pros and cons, so please think about the best fit for your situation.

Four good Sunline friends of mine have used the Dicor 2-part acrylic coatings system. I have personally seen 3 of those friends' roofs. This is the Dicor system. They have not reported anything bad on them, and they have had them 4 to 5 years now.

This system needs a cleaner activator, https://dicorproducts.com/product/ep...oating-system/

And the top coating. https://dicorproducts.com/product/ep...oating-system/

The coating is intended to restore the white shed layer; it is not to deal with caulking joints. However, if you coat over good, sound roof sealant caulking, the coating can help extend the caulk life by reducing some UV sun damage.

We have a few folks on the forum who have used this coating system with posts on it. Dicor made the original rubber roof, so their coating will work on it.

Here is one by Wannabes; they dealt with the caulking issue by Eternabonding all the sealant areas and then coating the main roof. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post150309

Here is another post by Kirckcomer; he did his roof from the sides versus down the center. More on how to apply in a bit. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tem-19687.html

The Dicor Acrylic coating is warranted for product defects for 5 years. The costs are lower than the longer-term options. I wonder if your camper lives outside all the time or is under cover of sorts during the off-season? Two of my Sunline friends with this coating store their camper undercover. The point is that you may get more than 5 years on the coating before a recoat needs to be done. The recoat is needed again when the white shed layer is worn to the point where you see the black layer coming.

One issue with acrylic coatings is ponding water can break down the coating if the ponding happens often in the same place. This can be a concern if you have a sunken area on your roof that will not drain while in off-season storage.

Next is a coating system I researched, tested, and applied to four campers and one house porch roof so far. It is a high solids Silicone coating. There are two brands I use: Crazy Seal, https://crazyseal.com/. And Henry 885 and 887 formulations of Tropi-cool. Here is the 885 for every seam that used caulk, https://henry.com/retail/repair-seal...r-roof-sealant and here is the top coat for the open areas. https://henry.com/retail/white-roof-...e-roof-coating

These types of coatings are different than the Dicor Acrylic coatings. Both deal with the seams and joints where caulk is still used as the final seal and the open areas of the roof. There is no more caulking checks or failing caulk issue once the thicker formulations are used over those caulked areas.

Ponding water is no concern as the product is not affected by standing water once cured.

Both have warranties on the product that will outlast the camper, Crazy Seal is 50 years, and Henry is lifetime.

EDIT on Costing, 9/30/23: The cost of these coatings is higher than the Dicor, and with all the recent price increases on everything, a gallon of Dicor Part 2 is $90/gal on Amazon, and Henry 887 is $120/gal. at Home Depot. So yes, the Henry does cost more, but it gives you a longer life for 33% more cost.

The Henry products can be bought from Home Depot, so search their site for pricing. Crazy Seal, you buy directly from them. The Henry will be slightly cheaper than the Crazy Seal, but both are in the same cost league. You need to cost out the total system as the Dicor needs the activator/cleaner, and the Henry/Crazy seal uses the thicker 885 / Patch products to deal with the caulking seams. The cost will come down to your needs, such as lower initial cost as you will not keep the camper that long, or a ~30% more cost as you will keep the camper longer and do not want to deal with roof caulk anymore.

Three of the campers I used the Henry products on live outside all the time, and the owners have physical constraints (can't get up on the roof) to be unable to check and maintain the caulking four times a year. This system can make sense if you want to keep your camper for a long time. There are other benefits, too: easy-to-clean and highly reflective surface to reduce some of the heat transmitted into the camper. You are buying a much more rugged product that lasts longer; as such, it costs more.

A realization is that once you convert to the high solids silicone coatings, you must stay with them on roof repairs. If you break a roof vent and have to replace it, it can be done, but you need to use high solids silicone to bond the repair back into the coated roof. You cannot use Dicor caulk on top of the silicone coating as it will not bond, but the new silicone coating will bond over the old silicone coating. This is very doable; realize the repair needs.

Here are some pics of those roof coatings.

A 2006 T276SR I restored for a friend over the repaired EPDM budboard roof. This was a Henry coating




A restored 2007 T289SR with a new walk-on roof, new TPO membrane, and coated I did for a friend. This was a Henry coating.




A 2019 Keystone Laredo 5th wheel for a friend. This was a Henry coating on a full walk-on repaired TPO roof. The friend wanted the light gray and not the white.


This is mine, a 2004 T310SR on an EPDM budboard-style roof. I can't find my campers' pics with all the roof items back on.


You mentioned doing a second coat next year. For the Dicor; they want all coats done on the same day. And no rain or dew until the coating fully cures.

On the Henry high solids silicone, these products can be coated at any time and are rain-safe within a short time after application for rain only (you cannot walk on it, though, until fully cured). You can do only the seams with the 885 as a treatment and stop there if you want. Then come back later, days or years, and do one whole roof coat with the 887 at another time, and then the second coat of 887, again the next day or next year. You can even do spot treatments if needed. Ideally, you'll be able to do the two main area coatings soon as if you missed a spot; the second coat covers the miss. And if there is a hole in the membrane, that is the issue. If you know of no pinholes, then waiting is less of a thing.

The high solids silicone coatings will seal to themselves. But, you have to clean the roof if you wait long periods. It will take three days (1-day seams, 1-day 1st coat, 1-day 2nd coat) to do the Henry/Crazy seal system to allow the coatings to harden up before they can be walked on. Those days can be consecutive or separate. The installation process is longer on the Henry or Crazy Seal due to the seams where there was caulking and needed to let each top coat cure before doing a second coat. The Dicro Acrylic coating system has to happen in a long day.

Think this over and see if any of it fits your situation. I can help get into more application details as needed, especially the high-solids silicone option. And how to deal with the budboard roof system, coating it, and getting up there as you coat it.

I hope this helps.

John

[tcmbk]

John, thank you for the information. It sounds as if your saying to go with silicone vrs. acrylic. I'll maybe go with Henrys.

Tom

[JohnB]

Hi Tom.

You are welcome; I am glad to help.

If you plan on keeping the camper for a long time, going with the high-solids silicone is a better long-term option, as you can use it to deal with all the issues the caulking can have simultaneously.

That said, it will be a low to medium level of more work to do the Henry or Crazy Seal products than the Dicor acrylic. In the big picture, the extra time you gain back is a longer life, and you dealt with all the roof caulk issues in one step.

You can overcome the roof sealant issues with the acrylic coating by using Eternabond tape over all the caulking before coating the roof. I have done this, and it was the go-to method until I found and tested the high-solids silicone coatings. It takes me 3 days to do an entire camper on all roof seams with Eternabond. And then there is the added Eternabond cost that will put it at par with the Henry treatments. A side note: The acrylic coating will only bond to the new Eternabond after the right primer is used or is sun-aged for a long time. The slick surface of the TPO cover on the new E bond will not allow almost any coating to stick to it without having to treat the surface first.

I have tried to find a good Henry Tropicool RV roof video on YouTube to help show you, and sadly, I have not found one yet that hasn't had some issue with how the person used it other than the Henry factory videos used on building roofs. The main issue is that they needed to follow Henry's instructions for the best performance and elected not to. The RV situation also differs from commercial roofing in that it needs to be spelled out in the directions, mainly dealing with bonding to new plastic roof parts. I learned this through research, testing, and many calls to both manufacturers to ensure the product would work as needed. The instructions do not expand on the issues that the RV roof is exposed to. It is easy to miss the pitfalls of any coatings.

I have developed a process I use and will gladly share it with you or anyone to consider using it. I was going to post on my learnings but have yet to make it. When were you considering doing your roof? I can push that post up to the top a bit if it would help.

The process, once explained, is easy to follow and do; there is just more to it than what may seem to be painting it on, and you are good to go. And I will point out what not to do that many current YouTube videos show.

You can look at these pics; they are of the first camper I did. Since then, I have tweaked the process, but this is pretty close. Here are the steps for the Henry process. These links are to my Flickr photo hosting site.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/camper...7720295784623/

Here is how I calculate how many Henry products I need. In this case, the 32 ft length is the length of the roof membrane. You would change the length to the actual rubber roof part length on your T-2475, front roof seam to the rear wall. https://www.flickr.com/photos/camper...h/52123950356/

Here is the adhesion pull test short video I did. Just click it, and it will play. This test is on Crazy Seal, but the Henry is the same, other than the direction you pull on the scale. You have to be at a minimum of 2 pounds per linear inch when the pull sample comes off the roof. I always want it to be higher and can get it with the right roof preparation. https://www.flickr.com/photos/camper...posted-friend/

This process assumes all the caulking has been touched up and any new caulk cured within a month or more.

1. There is a cleaning process. The surface has to be clean and de-molded. This can take the good part of a day, depending on how dirty the roof is.

2. You need to do an adhesion test to confirm whatever is on your roof has a good bond with the coating. This is all about guaranteeing you will have a good bond. This test takes about an hour to clean the small area and create the adhesion samples. Then, you wait for the samples to cure. Then, the actual pull test takes about 10 minutes once the samples are cured. Depending on your working conditions, you may do the adhesion test before step one, as it will take at least 24 hours for a cure to get an early read; per Henry, it is 72 hours before you do the adhesion pull test.

3. Once the roof is dry and you know you have good adhesion, I use the Henry 885 thick product on every seam that uses caulk and the gutter rails. I also topcoat it with a light coat of 887 to help smooth out the looks. You are cutting in all over, so to speak, to later roll the large open areas. There is masking tape prep for this step also. This process takes a long day. Let it cure overnight.

4. The first 887 coat is then rolled onto the roof to the correct thickness. You have to sort out how to get the correct rate applied. You are more like spreading the coating with the roller; it is not like rolling paint on a wall. There is masking tape prep for this step also. This process takes about 4 to 5 hours. Let it cure overnight.

5. The second coat of 887 is done like the first coat.

Steps 3, 4, and 5 can be done at very different times if needed; I listed them to do it all at once in order.

After looking at all that, if you want to move forward with the Henry coating, please give me a timeline of when you want to start this so I can try and get the coating post with all the words in it up on the forum.

I hope this helps.

John