Unfortunatly in the deluge of rain this week my camper roof leaked. I’m not sure if I should use Silver Dollar coating or Fibered roof coating. Any help would be appreciated.
By the way, does anybody know if silver dollar waterproofs?
Headstong, I’ll take on anyone!
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Replies
I don't know the silver dollar brand name, but lean more to fibred. But I have more to say.
Generally, the older roof coatings are a silver paint (which I tend to asume the silver dollar is) tjhat is primarilly only to reflect UV rays for a cooling treatment or to extend the life of smooth surface BUR roofs and modified bitumens. The only real value for a mobile home or camper is in the cooling.
The fibred coatings have strands of ( used to be good old asbestos) fibreglas to hold the aspaht together and to float into cracks and seal leaks for a few years. The silvering agent is included and floats to the surface when applied after much mixing in the bucket. This stuff works pretty god for mobile homes that don't run up and down the road a lot but though it gets sold for campers too, the vibration and windspeeds can impact it's long term value.
My recommendation would be to find a hardware or lumberyard that has Geocel. They have caulkins and paint-on repair kits that fill stick and bond well, and the product has great elasticity so that it will handle the vibrations of travel and thermal expansion. It is clear too!
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Thanks for the info. I'll go with the fibered roof coating. The trailer is in a campground and stay there all year around. I guess thats how I'm spending my Sunday.
Headstong, I'll take on anyone!
Geocel 2315 (fibered) would be the silver bullet in this case. I know several people that have used it successfully for the same purpose.
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I was gonna say that..BTW, Dale says that is all I need to prep for paint on my terne roof...then red primer? What if I don't want red?
I kinda am leaning towards the silver but I dont want the trailer paint stuff...any other options you can think of? Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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Are you looking to do this one the cheap or do it "nicely"? The fibered cement is some real miserable goo. I've used it and never like the stuff. There are spray on coatings for existing metal roofs. This would be the ultimate permanent solution. A couple of phone calls and a internet search might turn up a local supplier you can pull the trailer to.
Certified boat fetish.
How about a more definitive lead? most spray ons are nothing more than a paint for preventive maintanance that does nothing to 'fix' a leak
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I want this as a temporary fix. It can't be removed from the site easily since it has a deck on it. I'll tarp it for winter and I'm putting down an EPDM roof in the spring. I just don't have the time right now to do it.
Headstong, I'll take on anyone!
I would definitely go with the geocel.
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Actually, I never could see the point of EPDM on a trailer. Like link points out, most leaks are at seams and penetrations in a trailer roof, and those are easily fixed, but the guys who put EPDM on trailers don't have a great track record of sealing the rubber to the penetrations properly, which can leave you with a leak in both the roof and the pocketbook, so try to identify the source of the leak, clean and patch it, and unless the whole roof is in some kind of terrible shape, that might do you.Caveat, if this has already been caoted with the fibrered AL coating in the past, all bets are off. That fact can mask problems.
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I had a camper with a roof leak too. From what I've learned the leaking is almost always a seam or gasket. Where the roof rack attaches to the roof. The antenna, the AC's gasket.
Mine was where the trim piece that connects (or covers) the roof to the side had pulled off a little. I could only see it from the roof and only looking at it closely. I pulled that piece of trim off and could see the leak. There's some clay like goop that goes under these trim pieces. I replaced the trim with new goop then cleaned and caulked that joint and every other joint with boat calking. "Suitable for under water applications" The stuff takes several days to dry but it's way better than any other caulk. I'd do that before painting on any roof coating.
most of the original joints were sealed with butyl rubber which worked a lot like chewing gum until it dries out twenty years later and gets more brittle. t can look like a clay sometimes.Geocell is about as good as the boat caulk but about a third of the price.
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Heck, put on trusses, sheathing, and shingles. Be sure to use good tie-downs, though.
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