Roof detachment

[ORGANCORY]

We live in Columbia, SC and were headed to Stone Mountin, GA. We get on the interstate and are on the interstate for approx 20 minutes, when my wife just happened to look back at the kids when she saw the roof of the camper flapping in the wind about a foot from the camper. This thing is a 2006, which makes me question the quality. We took it to the RV place and they said it is completely rotted out under neath the rubber. Has anyone else had any problem with this?

[Timothy]

Same thing happened to me in Texas this july. The roof rubber shredded off of the front of the RV. The wood underneath was fine but very little glue on the wood. Mine is a 2004 Canyon Trail fifth wheel which for the most part I had been pretty pleased with until then. Of course Dicor said the problem was because of a bad installation from Gulf Stream. Gulf Stream said too bad your well out of your warranty. Cost $5200.00 and four days of my vacation to get it fixed.

Edit (somewhat late) Gulf Stream did step up and helped pay for the roof replacement even though I was out of warranty.
and I did buy another GS :P

[nandj1966]

Oh, how horrible! :shock:
We haven't had that problem, thank goodness, but I'm not so sure either of your problems was a GS quality or manufacturing problem. We owners are supposed to check the roof from time to time.

I gotta think if it the wood was "rotten" underneath the rubber, that the calking maybe had gotten hard and should have been replaced. The roof had to be leaking somehow to rot the wood. That would have caused the rubber to separate from the frame underneath. And maybe the hot sun and temp. in Texas is what caused the glue to let go from the rubber roof?

A 2004 and 2006 model - had either of you ever had the calking replaced or the rubber roof checked :?:

Ours is 2005 -- I need to get my hubby to check the roof ASAP!

[ORGANCORY]

I never knew to check it, we have only had the trailer since February. We bought it from an individual.

[Timothy]

I wash check and recaulk mine several times a year. It was checked right before I left on the trip to Texas. I have photos of what happened and was able to examine the roof as the rubber was removed. The only problem I noted was a small air bubble in the rubber near the front cap. The bubble was about 2" wide and 4" long and there were no leaks around it. There was a leak at the front cap that I caught and repaired before the trip when we had a heavy rain it was where there was a crack in the Dicor caulk along the front seam. I removed the caulk and sealed the front with eternabond roof tape. The only thing that I can think of was that that air bubble kept getting bigger as we were driving until the roof ripped free from the front cap, as stated above the roof was not glued down very well. The unit was repaired at Bert Ogden Chevrolet in Mission Texas, (Hats off to Doug and his crew who did an excellent job with the roof) who also said there was very little glue and it seemed like it was applied in strips that were thicker in some areas and almost no glue at all in others.

As for the issue of quality, I can't say that GS is worse then any of the others, however I have done a lot of things that most don't so I do know about the construction of my trailer. I have removed wall and roof panels to run wires for switches, had the bottom open, added electric valves etc (see links to photos in other posts by me) I have seen spots where the insulation is missing, been showered on by sawdust and debris when opening interior roof panels, removed light fixtures to see that the wires are run through a hole that looks to be hammered out of the wood, the wood in the walls that divided some areas is warped with large knots, not good quality. I have repaired wires that could have caused a major fire, the wires were run too near the slide out mechanism. I have replaced both fenders caused by the cheap Carlise tires blowing out, I also had to replace the radius skirting on the curb side because of this and had to repair the slide out wires on the street side. As I stated I have never ripped into a trailer as much as this one.
I have fixed just about every defect there is, including replaceing splintered and poor wood framing where I had accessed areas for other reasons, including replacing defective wood in the dinette seats, I think I have everything fixed. (it was)

[rjf7g]

My 2007 Innsbruck has a 10 year warranty on the roof. Still, I walk it every couple of months and will get the dealer to check over it at the start of next season.

[nandj1966]

Wow, Timothy! You really do KNOW your trailer, don't you? You should have some recourse because of the lack of glue. With a statement from the dealer who fixed the problem and your pictures, surely GS would take some kind of action. Have you contacted them?

We had ours in the shop a week ago to replace the thermostat on the heater. We're taking it to the North Georgia Mountains in Oct. so we'll NEED that heater! Cooler temps. -- Can't wait to go!!

We had them check out the roof while they had it. It does need calking replaced, but the rubber roof is doing good. They wanted $200 or $300 (I forget) to replace the calking, so my hubby bought the supplies & will do it himself. It is "self-leveling" caulk, so how hard can that be? lol

Does he need to scrape out all the old caulk and replace all of it with new caulk? Or can you just replace the areas where the old caulk is cracked? I'm thinking replace it all -- before we bought the TT, it sat out in the HOT Florida sun for a couple of yrs. with NO use or upkeep.

[Timothy]

Does he need to scrape out all the old caulk and replace all of it with new caulk? Or can you just replace the areas where the old caulk is cracked? I'm thinking replace it all -- before we bought the TT, it sat out in the HOT Florida sun for a couple of yrs. with NO use or upkeep.

I would not try and remove the old caulk if it is adhered well, just clean it (the caulk) as good as possible using denatured alchohol, acetone, or a commercial cleaner made for rubber roofs and apply the new dicor caulk to the area that needs attention. After he's done checking and sealing the roof I would suggest that he does the sidewalls also, pay special attention to running lights and where the awning attaches to the trailer. Completly remove the old caulk in any areas that need to be touched up and recaulk with high grade silicone, or proflexRV caulk.

[Timothy]

My 2007 Innsbruck has a 10 year warranty on the roof. Still, I walk it every couple of months and will get the dealer to check over it at the start of next season.

My roof had a 12 year warranty but it did little good, Dicor will only replace the rubber that is defective and will not replace anything if it was installed incorrectly. The best thing you can do is keep maintenance records, along with photos to prove that your roof was maintained.

[nandj1966]

I'm nandj's hubbie. I started on the re-caulking project yesterday. The first thing I noticed was that the roof rubber was not attached for the first 6 to 8 inches on the front. I removed the front molding that attached the roof to front fiberglass panel. The wood looks new and undamaged. The fiberglass front panel has a wide (white tape) sealing the fiberglass panel to the wood roof. Of course this is under the roof rubber.
The wood looks to have a thin layer of contact glue that was not stuck. I went by a camper supply and he sold me a Pint of solvent to clean the caulk joints ($15.00) and a small roll of thick sticky tape. I think I most likely got ripped on the solvent but who knows.
My questions are (1) can I use contact glue to re-glue the front of the roof panel? and (2) what in the world is the wide thick sticky tape for. The only thing that I saw in taking everything apart was caulk.

[Timothy]

I would not use contact cement. For the proper glue see HERE (http://www.dicor.com/Product.aspx?ID=12)
I'm not sure what the tape is, my guess something that aided in the installation of the roof.

On edit, after re reading your post the tape sounds like eternabond tape
http://www.eternabond.com/ this is used instead of lap caulk.

I used this on the front of my cap, it is supposed to be an excellent sealant, however my roof didn't stay on long enough for me to find out :cry:

Tim

[nandj1966]

Thanks Timothy; All I could think of was contact cement. I cleaned all the caulk joints on the roof today and re=caulked. I was waiting and hoping that some one would steer me in the right direction. Thanks for saving me more grief for using the wrong product. I found a cracked sky light in the process and call the closest rv dealer (50 miles away). Of course he will have to order one so I just piled on more caulk and wait some more.

[Timothy]

Your most welcome. Glad I could help.

Tim

[IOWA HAPPY CAMPER]

the gulf breeze dont have a rubber roof ?

[cherokeenangel]

We live in Columbia, SC and were headed to Stone Mountin, GA. We get on the interstate and are on the interstate for approx 20 minutes, when my wife just happened to look back at the kids when she saw the roof of the camper flapping in the wind about a foot from the camper. This thing is a 2006, which makes me question the quality. We took it to the RV place and they said it is completely rotted out under neath the rubber. Has anyone else had any problem with this?
I completely agree about questioning the quality. We bought a 2006 conquest park model travel trailer in Sept of 2006 and had it delivered and set up on a site. It has never been moved since set-up, my husband tarps the roof during the winter, and it has a 12 year roof warranty. We use it as our permanent residence. Earlier this year we had to close up the trailer to move in with my mother in law as she had surgery to replace both of her knees, we have not lived at home since Feb. I make it a habit to check on things at home and was shocked at what I had found in April after we removed the tarp from the roof. The ceiling was bubbled and the wallboards, cupboards, and closets warped because of moisture. We weren't sure if it was due to a leak or condensation, but if it is condensation firstly how since it was closed for months and had not been heated? and second, isn't that a bit excessive for condensation? We then contacted Gulf Stream since the whole thing is also covered by a 2 year warranty. We were told to take pictures and send them in, when we had a neighbor climb up to take pics of the roof, he noticed that the air conditioner appeared to be offset and partially "in" the roof and not "on". However Gulf Stream told us that this appeared to be a maintenance problem and not their responsibility. This among many other problems are still an ongoing issue that should have been covered by the warranties.

[IOWA HAPPY CAMPER]

We bought it from an individual

sounds like the folks you bought it from took atvantage of you not knowing much about rvs and didnt mantain it, then dumped it off on you.

I would try to go back on them, but if you bought it as is,,, its yours.

just like buying a used car from somone as soon as you pay them and drive off its yours if they didnt change the oil and it blows up is it the mfg's fault?

some times people have to be accountable for there own actions and not try to find a way to blame some one else

did you get the owners manual with it? everything you need to know about your camper is in it.


I own a gulf breeze, bought it new and have had many good times in it with my family. I spend time checking things out, do preventive maintenance on it at least once a month and yes 2 or more times a year im on the roof making sure i havent caught a tree branch leaving the camp grounds.

I realy hate to here folks having proublems with there unit, but a rv is alote of work to maintain. " there is no maitanence free rv" and a good dealer is priceless and a must when owning a rv

[Coolbreeze]

Hopefully this doesn't happen to me. I have a bubble in the front roof of my trailer. My 2nd year of ownership was far better then my first. Only thing that happend last year was my antenna cable leaked water. Always check those. I'm up on my roof several times a year washing the roof and checking for leaks.

My first year of ownership was ugly. Delam, a couple of electrical problems and a 2 leaks that somehow only I could find. 2 Windows leaked at the top. I decided to put 3M marine calk in it. I might be sorry if they ever leak again as it looks permanent but it doesn't leak that is for sure.

I just perpetually knock on wood with my trailer. I like it but I really don't want to have to constantly fix it and it is only as good as it's maintenance record.

I for one am glad the RV industry is getting hammered. It is very apparent to me if you have so many companies in business that means that they all build a pretty cheap product with tons of margin. Less companies and less buyers would for the most part necessitate a better product.

[jpf]

if there's little to no sign inside then I question the extent of 'completely rotted'.
with the weather we've been having this year in cola a small leak could easily saturate and delam part of the roof.
but normal weather here will certainly produce cracks in caulk after 5 or so years.
I wouldn't take the RV shops word for the extent of the problem.
delam doesn't necessarily lead to leaks.. it's when this skin is punctured. brushing a tree branch can puncture the skin and the journey itself could've easily led to the tear once delaminated.
did you bring it back to cola?
sorry it ruined you trip.
it's a huge fear buying used but dealers are no better.