I have spent a lot of time discussing RV roofs. The reason for this is all of the misinformation about repair them. I would like to warn all RV owners that when you repair a EPDM RV roof that you use a product that is compatable and meets warranty requirements. Most of the repair products on the market are not what the manufacture sugguest and could void the roofing warranty. So be sure to check and make sure. It could save you a lot of money in the future.

I have recently been looking on the inter net for information about patch kits that are used for the repair of rubber and metal roofs. I have looked at over ten different kits from different suppliers and none of them have any primer tape activator in them. I can assure you that if you don't use a primer that your repair will only be tempery. I use to work in a research and development lab working with epdm and other single ply rubbers. I have conducted many test on using tape with primer and without primer. In every case the non primed tape failed over time. If you don't believe me go out and pull on the edge of a repair done without primer you will see that it peels up easily. The reason that most suppliers don't use primer is because primer is flammable and can't be shipped normal channels. So they simply say clean thoroughly and apply patch. There are only two companies that have solved this problem and have primer in their patch kits. One is Firestone Building Products that has a pond patch kit with primer, tape, roller, gloves and scrubber pad. The other is Rooftop which is a trade marked division of flatroofsolutions.com who has a multi surface patch kit with white rubber tape, primer , roller, gloves and scrubber pad.

RV ROOF INSTALLATION.

A friend of mine purchased a used RV unit in an auction. This rv's roof was leaking and had caused a lot of damage inside. It also appeared that the decking was water damaged. He decided that he would have to take off the old roof and put a new one on. So he contacted an rv dealer to see what it would cost to put a new roof on his rv. The rv is 9' x35' and does not have any slide outs. The dealer quoted $3,500 to take off the old and install a new one. Since I had some experance with rubber roofing my friend asked me if I would help install a new roof on his rv unit. I told him I had never done this before and was a little apprensive about tackling this project. He talked me into doing it and he purchased a complete rv installation kit for under $ 500 from flatroofsolutions.com. So the two of us started one morning and removed the old roof using the instructional dvd as a guide. It only took a half day to remove the air-conditionar unit and vents and remove the old roof. We then had to replace some of the rotten deck with new. This process was much easier than I thought it would be. We then installed the new rubber membrane on the roof that same day. The second day we finished the roof by attaching the air-unit and vents back onto the rv. It actually took only a day and half for the two of us to complete this project. The whole process was much easier than anticipated. As you can see , my friend saved about $3,000. This price could vary according to your local rv dealer. But if you are some what handy and can follow instructions you should be able to do this installation yourself. As you can see your could save thousands of dollars.

history of epdm roofing

Carlisle was the first roofing company to use the dupont technology to make epdm roofing for the roofing market. They had this market to themselves untill early 1980s when colonial rubber works started making their own epdm roofing. Then firestone building products started making their own epdm roofing in the late 1980s. Even though there are many brands of roofing such as johns manville, celotex, mule-hide, centimark and others. All of the epdm roofing was manufactured by one of these three companies. Then in 1993 firestone building products bought colonial rubber works roofing division. So now there are only two manufactures of epdm roofing in the united states today. Both companies offer a quailty product that will withstand the harsh conditions often found on a roof. The only noticable difference between the two roofing membranes is that carlisle's has more visible dust on it. So it requires more cleaning. Both manufactures offer twenty year warrantys on their product. Epdm roofing is well known for it's great u.v. resistance. U.V. sunlight is one of the primiary factors in making other roofing products crack and fail. Epdm roofing is also a very user friendly product and can be installed by an individual homeowner with good instructions.

History of EPDM

EPDM rubber roofing is a commercial product that works great on residential homes. Until recently it has not been offered to the homeowner and diy market. In the 1960s DuPont, Exxon and Uniroyal Chemical companies were developing a polymer called EPDM which is Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer. They discovered that this polymer gave them improved U.V. resistance and weathering ability over other products being used in the market place.
With this in mind DuPont developed a roofing compound using EPDM as the base ingredient. At this time the roofing industry was dominated with asphalt roofing products. Before long EPDM roofing membrane became the dominate force in the commercial roofing industry. It was chosen because of it 's superior U.V. resistance, its proven durability and ease of installation. U.V stands for ultraviolet. Even though epdm roofing is ideal for most flat roofs around the home it is still primarily sold through commercial roofing distributors, so this leaves out the homeowner and diy people. You can't buy this product at your local Lowe's or Home Depot. I hope to continue providing information about this product and its many uses. The good thing about this product is that most homeowners can learn to do their own installations saving themselves thousands of dollars.

RV Roofing

RVs are enjoyed by millions of people annually. RVing is a great way to spend time with your family and friends. It provides a way for you to get away from your day to day problems and relax. However, like everything else, you have to do maintenance from time to time. The majority of RVs use White-on-Black EPDM membrane to protect roofs. This membrane has a proven track record in the roofing industry. One problem no one likes is roof leaks. Leaks may be caused by limbs falling on your roof or around penetrations like pipes or vents and air conditioning. When this happens your leak needs immediate attention.Now that you have a leak you will have to find a material to patch or replace your roof. What better material can you use other than the original to do repairs. Roof-Top® membrane and accessories are top quality and are permanent solutions to your roofing repair, unlike coatings and caulks, which you have to redo every few years.
We recently have been dealing with problems that RV owners seem to be having all over the country. One being sun rooms or extra rooms that are built and attached to stationary RVs. The major problem is the use of the wrong roof material to join the two together. Today most of the RVs have a white EPDM rubber membrane roof on them. RV dealers and repairers are still using an old technology which uses an asphaltic base material to join two roofs together. This type of material, being an asphalt product, does not work with EPDM rubber roofs. This material will usually stop leaks for a short time but will breakdown EPDM rubber membrane and cause it to fail.
The correct way to join two EPDM rubber roofs together would be by using EPDM rubber cover tape which is a 6” or 12” wide “peel and stick” tape. Remember to thoroughly clean the area of membrane prior to applying tape primer and tape. The white RV roof is very hard to clean, we recommend cleaning the rubber surface with warm water and a rag repeating to make sure the surface is clean. Apply the tape primer (activator) to the area to be taped, let the primer dry and applying a second coat. This will cost a little extra but will help to insure adhesion. If asphalt products have already been used, it will have to be removed. If the 12 inch tape is not enough to cover, with 3 inches on each side of the old repair, a wider piece of EPDM rubber would have to be fully glued down.
The other problem area is at the end of the trailer where the rubber roofing and metal meet. This transition leaves a small gap by which the manufacturer usually applies caulk, very heavy at times. Over a period of time this caulk will crack and fail causing a leak to occur. To repair this joint you will need clean and prime the area, then use our 6 inch wide cover tape to make it watertight.