Why you should be on your roof!

A young man went on vacation leaving his younger brother, mother, and pet cat at home. When he returned home he asked his brother how the cat was. His brother replied “Dead”. This shocked the returning brother who said “Gee, couldn’t you have broken the news to me a little easier? “How would I do that?” was the response. “Well”, the brother replied “You could have said there was a squirrel in the yard and the cat chased it around, then chased it up on the roof, and then unfortunately the cat slipped and fell off the roof and died”. “O.K.” the brother replied. “So, how’s mom?” the brother asked. “Well there was this squirrel in the yard…”

I included this just because it’s a funny story about a roof, however, there’s nothing funny about problems with the roof on your travel trailer. That’s why you really need to have it inspected regularly. If you are not comfortable getting up on your travel trailer roof, have a professional check it for you. At the very least it should be checked twice a year. Personally, I am up on my roof after every trip. Cleaning, inspection, and maintenance should keep you from having an ugly surprise during a rainstorm, or worse. Water leaks can destroy a travel trailer.

Now, there are many different roof types so before you inspect it you need to know two important things:

Is it a roof that can be walked on?
What type of roof is it?

If it’s not a walkable roof then the inspection is going to be more difficult because it will need to all be done via a ladder. Even on a ladder you probably won’t be able to inspect everything on the roof. Some folks have decided to lay plywood on the roof to distribute the weight so they can climb on it and inspect it. If it were me, this is one case where I would do everything I could from a ladder, and then have a RV facility do the rest.

If there is a ladder on the back of your travel trailer, more than likely the roof is walkable. However, even on a walkable roof you need to be careful as you walk around skylights, vents, fans, and areas where the roof may not be quite as strong.

It’s important to know what roof material you are dealing with because the sealants are material specific. You do not want to use the wrong sealant as it may ruin your membrane. Most travel trailer roofs come with either a TPO, a EPDM, or a PVC vinyl roof. Of course there are other types of roofing materials like aluminum and fiberglass but let’s just talk about the three I mentioned. My Travel Trailer has an Alpha Systems TPO roof, and so I only use Alpha sealant on it.

Once again, not everyone is comfortable being on the roof of an RV, if you are not, then take your rig in and have it inspected and maintained. A fall from an RV’s roof could lead to a very serious if not fatal accident. You probably won’t be able to find statistics related to this, but keep in mind the number one cause of death in the construction industry is related to falls. So please exercise caution.

I always start by rinsing the roof in about 4’x4′ sections. Next I use my soft bristled RV Roof brush with a bucket of water containing dawn dishwashing liquid. I brush the section in a circular motion. Then I immediately rinse that section after I scrub it. It’s all a matter of repeating this until the entire roof is clean. As I clean the roof I look for cracking, voids, or peeling sealant. After the roof is completely dry I seal any areas of concern.

Even though I am on my roof multiple times every year, I still find things to take care of. After our last trip I found several areas of sealant that were cracking and some screws that were starting to lack sealant over their screw heads. I also found a bit of silicone missing by a drip rail.

Don’t delude yourself into thinking you will never have an issue, or that you will never find anything to maintain on your roof. You will, it is just a matter of time. Don’t be discouraged by it, just think of it as a normal part of RV maintenance.

Of course some folks opt to replace their membrane roofs with a spray on roof with is substantially stronger and requires less maintenance. Every type of roof has it’s pros and cons, so research whatever roof you are interested in, if a replacement is required. For now I am fine climbing up on the roof frequently, a few years from now I might not be that happy doing that.