Escapees March-April 2019 Vol 40 Issue 5

still operate a repair facility in their old factory and sell new and used RVs of differing brands. Many of the employees, who originally built my RV, are still employed there. I was confident they could do the job and do it well. I received a quote from them but continued on with my research. • I saw advertisements in RV magazines and on RV forums about two major companies whose products were maintenance-free and didn’t require caulking. One traveled to your location to repair and coat your RV roof (roll-on only) on site. The other company required that you go to them. After completing my research and reading reviews, I chose FlexArmor® to do the work. I contacted their RV facility closest to me, located in Denton, Texas (near Dallas). The quote I received from them for the cost was a little higher than the quote I received from NUWA. I chose the spray-on roof coating over a new EDPM rubber roof because it would be maintenance-free and did not require caulking to seal the roof. To me, this made the additional cost worth it. I arrived at the DFW RVRoof facility on a Sunday afternoon in October. The owner left a 50-A cord under the garage door for me to plug into for the night. The next two nights would be spent in a nearby hotel. Monday morning, I was met by Doug and DeWayne White. These brothers have over 90 years of combined experience in the RV industry. They moved my fifth-wheel into their facility and surrounded my rig with scaffolding. They spent all of Monday and most of Tuesday prepping the RV. This prepping was meticulous. Plastic sheeting was taped into place on all four sides to protect the rest of the RV from overspray. Any items needing to be removed from the roof or replaced were removed. The vinyl inserts in the termination strips along each side of the roof were also removed. To protect the interior, any holes were covered. Every screw on the roof was replaced with a new screw. In fact, they drilled new holes in the end cap termination strips, doubling the number of screws. Special attention was given to all the roof penetrations, the termination strips on all four sides, and the fiberglass end caps where the new spray-on roof would cover. A special tape was used everywhere they wanted the new roof coating to end. After the roof coating is sprayed on, this tape

                                                                              S pring transitioned into summer, only this summer was particularly wet. It was while I was camping that I noticed a dark stain starting to grow across the bathroom ceiling. Then, another ominous dark stain appeared in the ceiling in the bedroom. My RV roof, which in the spring was waterproof, had quickly degraded. A reinspection of the roof showed cracks had developed in several places in the caulking. I recaulked the roof, which stopped the leaks but did not fix the problem. My RV is a 2002 HitchHiker fifth wheel. I recognized that the roof was nearing the end of its life expectancy and knew that it was time to do something about it.        • I discovered that there are numerous roll- on roof coatings compatible with EDPM rubber roofs. One even claims to be liquid EDPM rubber. They are DIY and relatively inexpensive; however, they all had limited bed liner company even produced a product formulated specifically for RVs. Peterson Industries, who used to make Excel fifth wheels, even experimented with this kind of roofing material on brand new rigs. They gave it up. There were too many customers who complained of leaks. • I contacted NUWA industries in Chanute, Kansas, about having a brand-new rubber roof installed on my RV. While they no longer build HitchHiker fifth-wheels, they lifespans and still required frequent inspections and regular recaulking. • I had read on RV forums of people using truck bed liners on their roofs. One truck

36

   

Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online