My "New" 1985 Sunline 1550's roof and...

[DDenise]

Hello all,
I am so happy to find this forum! I have a couple of questions/problems I would like advice on:

1. The roof is rubber and has some minor leaks and areas of sagging. Is there a way to level the roof? Pic attached (I think).

2. The Demetic Duotherm A/C unit blows cold for about an hour then blows a breaker. It also produces a lot of condensation that drains onto roof and puddles in the uneven places. I am considering placing a gutter to drain the unit off the roof. I have also ordered a new cover for it. Any suggestions?

3. The gutters on each side are uneven with slight bent areas- not too bad, but I would like to replace them. Difficulty level?

Lastly, I live in Silver Spring, MD and was wondering if anyone could recommend a home service inspection and repair estimate?

I purchased a roof rubber paint on suggested by my neighbor; However, I feel I need to get the roof leveled and new gutters before painting this stuff on.

Thank you in advance!

Denise

 

[janepete]

DDenise, that looks like an aluminum roof to me. Probably painted with a rubber roof paint. When you say not level, do you mean the grooves or the black area in the photo?

 

[DDenise]

Janpete,

Thank you for your response. The Black area is an example of water pooling and mold build up due to the unevenness of the roof. I just climbed down and beleive you to be correct: aluminum roof painted with rubber.

 

[DDenise]

Another picture of the roof

Another pic of the rear showing the awning and much dirtiness!

 

[janepete]

Looks like a good scrub with a long handled brush and something like Awesome cleaner (from the Dollar Store) is needed. I don't have any thoughts on getting the dents out though. Hopefully someone else has experience with that. After cleaning you can get a better look at the seams and edges to see what might need to be resealed to stop the leaks.

 

[Gene-SUN]

It looks like a metal roof to me too, and I know nothing about metal roofs. I agree with janepete, it needs a good cleaning with Awesome and maybe a little bleach mixed into the Awesome. On an all rubber roof would you would normally use something like Dawn or Tide that would not hurt the type of rubber used on an all rubber roof.

As for the Dometic Duotherm A/C, they all drain the condensation from cooling onto the roof and it ends up running accross the roof and into the gutters. Mine always wants to drip off the front gutter on the door side. When it drips into the camper you have a problem.

Running for an hour and then tripping the breaker could mean it is low on freon and the motor is heating up and seizing but I had another thought. My water heater used to trip the breaker after about 20 minutes. I thought it was the element and then one time when I tried it I noticed the breaker was getting very hot. I replaced the breaker and haven't had any problems in the 8 years since. It could also be as simple as a bad connection of the wire to the breaker causing it to heat up.

 

[jim44646]

Metal roof like a mobile home. Scrub good and if needed use something like mobile home product like Kool Seal

 

[DDenise]

I figured out why roof has sags :/

The roof is rotted at the corners. Yuck. Looks like a big job!

 

[DDenise]

Another pic

And.....

 

[DDenise]

So which do I repair first? The roof support to prevent the pooling or the roof? The roof only has minor cracks in the rubber coating above this area. I think it is leaking more due to the sag....thoughts?

 

[Sunline Fan]

Yep, that' rot looks pretty exensive. Basically these trailers are built from the inside out, so you need to start on top. You will need to strip off all the roof components (roof vents, etc.) and then pull the metal off to expose the wood/insulation. From there you'll have to strip off all the insulation and rafters. You can try to use a good one as a template for making new ones. Then you should be able to get to the ceiling panel to remove/replace that. Hopefully the walls are in pretty good shape so you don't have to replace wood in those, but with water damage, it's best to expect the unexpected.

Once you have the new wood and insulation in, you need to reassemble everything with new putty tape. Once everything is all installed and looking good, cover every seam and screw with the roof seam cement to prevent water from getting in.

Hopefully someone else has some more time to explain in more detail, but that's it in a nutshell. Not a real easy job, but doable if you're relatively handy. Probably would take a week of evenings and a weekend to get it done.

 

[DDenise]

So the work begins!

This is what I have done so far....far from finished! This picture is inside above the door and towards the right front corner.