Roof maintenance 2008 Diplomat

[Patricia Ferrara]

Hello Monacoers!

We have had no roof issues but figured that it was time to schedule a little maintenance before IT schedules us. Initial inspection saw a very dirty roof and some possible iffy seams. I thought it would be prudent to ask for the collective wisdom of this group (after we’ve searched the forum on this topic).

I am including some photos from before and after cleaning the roof with Dawn dish soap (and yes, both a/c units have already been serviced in the past week, so at least that is done).

First the before & after photos. The questions I have on these is: Do we need to get up the black stains from the a/c runoff, or will the Rustoleum Topside (2 coats) cover them? Should we scuff up the surface with sand paper first (and will we need to wash & let dry the roof again?)?

We also have some seam questions (with pictures) that we’d like some advice on in the next post…

Ok, now for the seams…

These pics of the seams are from PRIOR to cleaning, but they are the seams that give me the most concern. Most of the seams still seem pliable. The only places with dried out/flaking are on the screws above the awnings/slides. 
 

After seeing these pictures, can we put down new sealant where necessary/over the existing seams, and then apply the Topside a few days later? Or do the seams look so bad that they need to be removed so that it can be replaced with fresh sealant? We purchased 2 cartridges of Dicor self leveling lap sealant (last photo). Having never done a motor home roof before (and wanting to do it right the 1st time!), I am not sure on how to proceed.

 

Also, we are full timers, husband does security for a Texas resort, so we don’t have access to a covered area to get this done.

[Patricia Ferrara]

We have 3 quarts of the Topside, and hopefully it will be enough. We are considering adding some Tread Tex anti-skid paint additive, as we are senior citizens & highly allergic to falls from ANY height… so we’d appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this please 🙏 

[Gary M]

I resealed my roof in 2018. I got all my advise from Chris at Talin.

[Scotty Hutto]

The advice I received from Talin was clean, scuff, paint first (roll paint on diagonally, not front- back or side-side), then reseal seams.  The logic was if you paint over the lap sealant and/or Eternabond then ever have to remove the sealant for any reason, you may peel up the edges of the paint. Both the Rustoleum Topside and the Dicor Fiberglass Roof Coating form a relatively thick, pliable coating on the roof, and removing sealant to reseal, replace, etc., would peel up the edges of the paint. 

Also, tape off the painted radius of the roof, and use plastic sheeting to protect the sides of the coach. 

DO NOT paint the roof if any rain is expected, or the weather is conducive to condensation on the roof before the paint dries (hot days, chilly nights.) Either one will create issues you really don’t want to have to deal with (bubbles in the paint, white steaks on your paint, etc.) Paint the roof on a day where you know you will have several hours of warm, dry weather for the paint to dry before it cools off for the evening  

@NGADawgs Gary just did his last year and can probably give some more good tips. 

[Patricia Ferrara]

Wow Gary! Looks awesome! Your front & rear endcaps look great too! Did you put new clear coat on them? I’ve been debating as to whether to run the white Topside down to the running lights after (sanding) or doing clear coat. Thoughts?

Thanks Scotty! Yes, I have plastic sheeting & painters tape… How do I get ahold of Chris at Talin please? I’m hoping for a couple of days this week to tape off and apply the Topside first, as you suggested (makes sense!). 

[Scotty Hutto]

@throgmartin Hey Chris! 

[jacwjames]

I did mine in 2021.  I used a small pressure washer with the circular concrete/patio rotary cleaning head, did a great job on a bulk of the roof, used brush and light pressure washer on tight spots.  I washed the coach on the outside but then was able to back it into the garage to paint it. 

Unfortunately I did not have covered storage and in 2017 moved my rig to the wooded lot as I was building a new house.  Parked under trees for several years really took a toll on the roof, but it cleaned up pretty good and the Topside paint went on great and so far has held up.  Last picture is + 2 years after painting. 

 

[96 EVO]

12 hours ago, Scotty Hutto said:

The advice I received from Talin was clean, scuff, paint first (roll paint on diagonally, not front- back or side-side), 

What's the theory behind rolling it on diagonally?

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, 96 EVO said:

What's the theory behind rolling it on diagonally?

It was in Scotty's comments and it was explained there.  

From doing or being involved or on the roof for way too many roofing jobs...  Here is the way the PROS (million dollar jobs) do it.

If it is a SINGLE LAYER Coating...  Say spraying masonry with a sealant as it is "weeping" or if there is TWO COATS to be applied...

On a VERTICAL surface, you start EAST to WEST from the TOP.  Then for the SECOND coat, you go SOUTH to NORTH.  BTW, that is what one is supposed to do if waterproofing (Scotchguarding) something like a fabric hanging switch or cushions for a lounge or whatever.  That gives you 100% COVERAGE.  Remember to LIGHTLY coat... Really doesn't matter if you apply the the field of the roof....but you always put the second coat on perpendicular to the first.

Drive way sealing is the same.  The tech support people, for the 3 or so that I talked to says do the N-S and then E-W or vice versa....in other words....one coat goes one direction.  The second goes perpendicular to the first.  They advise to mark or sorta "have a known square footage area".  THEN you apply both coats.  You measure or have predetermined exactly HOW much liquid you have in your sprayer.  The object with the TWO COAT method is to achieve their "X GALLONS per Y Square Foot" formula.  They say...MOST don't do it.  WE, the lab, does it that way and runs our testes and weathering and such...

YES... only we engineers do things per the instructions....or from watching folks that know what they are doing....do it...

NOW, if it was a SINGLE PLY (as in the discussion), it was a matter of what works best.  The DIAGONAL trick that Chris uses is great....as then any seam and your roller seams are not an issue.  TECHNICALLY, if you read the instructions on latex paint....you put a GLOB in the center and then roll in multiple directions to get coverage and leave no "roller seams".

Hope that clears it up.

[Patricia Ferrara]

Anyone have any thoughts on the Tread Tex anti-slip additive? Boaters that have used it suggest that if it is added, be sure the stir the paint frequently as it can settle to the bottom. We thought it might be a good idea, as it can get a little slick up there. I’ve already had more than my fair share of accidents, and don’t need another one at my age!

[96 EVO]

Yeah, I don't know how much (if any) more slick, the Topside paint is, over the factory gel-coat.

There is a few members on the forum that have used that paint. Maybe they can chime in!

I have 3qts myself, ready to go on. Just waiting for the right weather conditions.

[jacwjames]

I haven't tried to go on the roof when it's wet but I've been on it and the Topside paint isn't slippery to walk on. 

[Patricia Ferrara]

I hear you… it’s raining yet again here in north Texas. This has been one of the wettest springs! I don’t remember having so many flood watches as we’ve had the past few months.

Maybe I should try a patch & see how slippery the Topside is. When I cleaned the a/c fins, it got a little slippery after I rinsed the cleaner off (yes, the cleaner is supposed to rinse off via condensation, but I wanted to make sure the fins were squeaky clean before I put everything back together).

[96 EVO]

23 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

I haven't tried to go on the roof when it's wet but I've been on it and the Topside paint isn't slippery to walk on. 

How do you wash it without walking on it wet?

[jacwjames]

1 hour ago, 96 EVO said:

How do you wash it without walking on it wet?

Good question, I stand corrected.  So I guess I have walked on it wet and never fell off

[96 EVO]

7 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

It was in Scotty's comments and it was explained there.  

Hope that clears it up.

No, it hasn't!

Scotty's explanation dealt with not painting over the lap sealant. That makes perfect sense!

My question was, and still is.... why rolling on the diagonal?

Hopefully Chris will read this thread and reply.

Edited May 13 by 96 EVO

[throgmartin]

Patti:

I know you messaged me but I wanted to answer here in case someone else needed some tid bits on roof renos.

Scotty used to sleep through my seminars so he wasn't able to give you the full details. 🙂 I always taught RV'ers during my roof renovation seminars that Eternabond tape is your friend. Using eternabond cuts back on caulking. If applied properly it will last 20 - 30 years and during that time prevent you from having to re-caulk those areas.

Looking at your pictures I would run eternabond around the vent fans. I always do this when doing a roof reno on a customers coach. Many service places wont do this because they want you coming back for caulking touch ups. Put the eternabond tape down and be done with it forever.

It appears you have a roof mounted patio awning. All of those screws and all that caulking is a great place to lay down eternabond tape. There too many screws to have to keep track of with caulking and one screw pop and leak and you will end up with roof rot. We had a member who lost part of his roof to leaks around these screws. It was a major job fixing it. ( See picture below ). I would use the 6 inch wide eternabond and lay down so it covers the screws as well as the inside seam where it meets the roof. Once applied you will never have to worry about caulking those screws or one leaking.

In regards to scuffing the paint, I never have. But then I use Dicor paint exclusively. It is made for RV roofs. They sell it in two formulas - 1,) Metal roofs 2.) Fiberglass roofs. The paint you are using will work OK. If you have a 40 ft coach I am not sure 3 quarts will cover the entire roof with 2 coats. The trick to getting good adhesion is power washing the roof then cleaning the roof with Dawn and then rinsing it till the cows come home. I typically use the power washer when rinsing. I use a scrub brush with the Dawn.

In as far as adding grip material, I would try it but would paint the roof first. Go back with new paint and lay down the paint with tread tex just in the pathways you walk. I have never applied it before but have been on roofs that had it. Pretty nice to walk on. Reminds me of the time I nearly did a peter pan off a roof top. I have doe over 3,000 inspections on Monaco brand coaches during my career. Only once did I fall off a roof. The only thing that saved me from bouncing off the pavement was I landed on the roof of the slide. 🙂 Guess why I fell ? The roof was wet with dew and it was windy as heck. Lesson learned. One other safety measure I want to add here - Always wear sunglasses when painting a roof. The sun reflects off the new paint and will produce blinding glare spots. I almost busted my a$! by nearly walking right off a roof once. I couldn't see because of the intense glare it produced in my eyes. I have never been blinded like that before and I had to sit and wait till my eyes returned to normal. Fresh white paint on a roof is REAL bright.

 

Good luck with your roof reno. Be safe.

 

 

[Patricia Ferrara]

3 hours ago, throgmartin said:

Patti:

I know you messaged me but I wanted to answer here in case someone else needed some tid bits on roof renos.

Scotty used to sleep through my seminars so he wasn't able to give you the full details. 🙂 I always taught RV'ers during my roof renovation seminars that Eternabond tape is your friend. Using eternabond cuts back on caulking. If applied properly it will last 20 - 30 years and during that time prevent you from having to re-caulk those areas.

Looking at your pictures I would run eternabond around the vent fans. I always do this when doing a roof reno on a customers coach. Many service places wont do this because they want you coming back for caulking touch ups. Put the eternabond tape down and be done with it forever.

It appears you have a roof mounted patio awning. All of those screws and all that caulking is a great place to lay down eternabond tape. There too many screws to have to keep track of with caulking and one screw pop and leak and you will end up with roof rot. We had a member who lost part of his roof to leaks around these screws. It was a major job fixing it. ( See picture below ). I would use the 6 inch wide eternabond and lay down so it covers the screws as well as the inside seam where it meets the roof. Once applied you will never have to worry about caulking those screws or one leaking.

In regards to scuffing the paint, I never have. But then I use Dicor paint exclusively. It is made for RV roofs. They sell it in two formulas - 1,) Metal roofs 2.) Fiberglass roofs. The paint you are using will work OK. If you have a 40 ft coach I am not sure 3 quarts will cover the entire roof with 2 coats. The trick to getting good adhesion is power washing the roof then cleaning the roof with Dawn and then rinsing it till the cows come home. I typically use the power washer when rinsing. I use a scrub brush with the Dawn.

In as far as adding grip material, I would try it but would paint the roof first. Go back with new paint and lay down the paint with tread tex just in the pathways you walk. I have never applied it before but have been on roofs that had it. Pretty nice to walk on. Reminds me of the time I nearly did a peter pan off a roof top. I have doe over 3,000 inspections on Monaco brand coaches during my career. Only once did I fall off a roof. The only thing that saved me from bouncing off the pavement was I landed on the roof of the slide. 🙂 Guess why I fell ? The roof was wet with dew and it was windy as heck. Lesson learned. One other safety measure I want to add here - Always wear sunglasses when painting a roof. The sun reflects off the new paint and will produce blinding glare spots. I almost busted my a$! by nearly walking right off a roof once. I couldn't see because of the intense glare it produced in my eyes. I have never been blinded like that before and I had to sit and wait till my eyes returned to normal. Fresh white paint on a roof is REAL bright.

 

Good luck with your roof reno. Be safe.

 

 

Thanks Chris!

If I am to use the Eternabond tape, would it be best to scrape up the old sealant? It’s pretty thick and lumpy in places (I think a previous owner may have put some additional sealant in places). If I’m scraping the old sealant off, what is best to prime the surface to receive the Eternabond? If there’s any gaps, put a thin bead of Dicor down first? And then apply Topside prior to the tape? Do you have any YouTube videos that you could recommend so that I don’t drive everyone on this thread crazy 🤪 with endless questions?

 

[throgmartin]

I use a multi tool with a scraper blade attachment. This makes fast work of getting the old caulking up. Once it is up, go back and clean the area with denatured alcohol. If there are any gaps you can lay a thin bead of Dicor down to fill them. Allow the dicor to tack up, then put down the eternabond tape.

I am sorry but I have never seen a youtube video on caulking. It is a very straight forward process.

[Patricia Ferrara]

4 hours ago, throgmartin said:

I use a multi tool with a scraper blade attachment. This makes fast work of getting the old caulking up. Once it is up, go back and clean the area with denatured alcohol. If there are any gaps you can lay a thin bead of Dicor down to fill them. Allow the dicor to tack up, then put down the eternabond tape.

I am sorry but I have never seen a youtube video on caulking. It is a very straight forward process.

Thanks Chris!

I will go up & measure how many linear feet of seams that I have, and then order the eternabond tape. I guess that I’ll redo most if not all of the seams, as the majority look like they have just been resealed several times over the years, so starting fresh sounds like the way to go. Just hoping that I do everything right, as I will never hear the end if it from DH if we end up with a leak lol!

Thank you to everyone for your input and help! I think that now I have a pretty good idea of how to get this done correctly… just need some cooperative weather so I can take my time and end up with a decent result (and no leaks!). Fingers crossed!🤞 

[Tom Cherry]

15 hours ago, 96 EVO said:

No, it hasn't!

Scotty's explanation dealt with not painting over the lap sealant. That makes perfect sense!

My question was, and still is.... why rolling on the diagonal?

Hopefully Chris will read this thread and reply.

The advice I received from Talin was clean, scuff, paint first (roll paint on diagonally, not front- back or side-side), then reseal seams.  The logic was if you paint over the lap sealant and/or Eternabond then ever have to remove the sealant for any reason, you may peel up the edges of the paint. Both the Rustoleum Topside and the Dicor Fiberglass Roof Coating form a relatively thick, pliable coating on the roof, and removing sealant to reseal, replace, etc., would peel up the edges of the paint. 

Looks like we read the same text and each of us interpreted if differently.  Made sense to me.  But, others, as you have, might differ...

 

[throgmartin]

Patti it is very straight forward. Just remember that whenever you put down eternadond tape you have to roll it with a steel roller. You will do fine.

 

This is the one to order.  https://www.amazon.com/Roller-Handle-Eternabond-Repair-Sealant/dp/B07RYB9JT6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3TF335XQL45KA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xNG5s1IdC3ijOojfn1-z5xjmjCAi-WOMgQ3SEt9wg__nhE97zIHxOaLibTzK2qBHDJG2BrRsO4MZe_yV9grL2jEHekb39ZgvxsqjFewC5cqKLK41xpDlAiVTcsVzXI8e6RgA-uhrRTdq0HDuEBB3MHS0pWkLNV3U0lDgZXzgpz-okULCtck59vYx4KOaTZ_yh-XfM4hndr8xApBcGiqG5HPFDJK4pI5wOSaJP2MPboEbtWoShFfatCijQFv-GgxtMTaOAJtf9HspXaHfpXx3el-df--6DYzu1lod-IVnOOk.LoYlJPJX2hmi8gAZ291gArpVPvwAtr-Xk-3yWHBDCyA&dib_tag=se&keywords=eternabond+rv+roof+tape+roller+tool&qid=1715614260&sprefix=eternabond+tape+roller%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3

 

Edited May 13 by throgmartin

[Jim Wallace]

On 5/12/2024 at 11:34 AM, Patricia Ferrara said:

Anyone have any thoughts on the Tread Tex anti-slip additive? Boaters that have used it suggest that if it is added, be sure the stir the paint frequently as it can settle to the bottom. We thought it might be a good idea, as it can get a little slick up there. I’ve already had more than my fair share of accidents, and don’t need another one at my age!

I used an anti-slip with the Top Side last year. And yes it was really impossible to distribute in the paint evenly. Didn't make any difference how much I stired it. Home depot would not let me put it in the paint and have it shook up. Not sure it would have helped. It went on unevenly. The paint itself does not create a slick surface, moisture does.