First Time RV Owner Faced With Roof Repair After Only 2 Weeks

by Lynn Culver
(Mena, Arkansas)

Question: We bought a used RV and it had apparently had its rubber roof repaired improperly some time prior. I think that about a four foot wide strip of rubber was replaced over the bedroom and seamed to the main rubber roof with a metal strip of something. For some reason, this 4-foot patch was not glued down. Where we live are problem buzzards, that will tear the rubber off windshield wipers and window trim on a car, and when I saw that this part of the roof was wrinkly and not flat , I thought, if the buzzards ever land on this RV they would destroy it.

It only took about 2 weeks after it arrived for me to oversleep one day and go out at 8:30 am and find a flock of buzzards on the roof and the rubber ripped to shreds.

Right now that section is covered with a tarp and we have to tackle this repair. There is just a bare piece of chipboard that was under this rubber section – no glue or anything – I don’t know how it was attached, I will have to take another look later when we take that tarp that is taped down off.

My husband wants to replace this section of the roof with a single piece of metal rather than try to use another piece of rubber roof. I have been reading about RV roofs on the Internet and I cannot find where anyone ever replaced just a section of a roof. I have also read where coating a metal roof with liquid rubber extends its life.

I don’t want the roof to look funny, or leak. I would like it to match. I also wonder about joining the roof to the walls, and if you have to loosen the walls to get the rubber under them and then seal over them, or what. I haven not found anything that specifically deals with the walls.

What about putting a piece of metal over the wood and then coating the metal with the liquid rubber product to make it match the rest of the roof?

If this were you, what would you do to repair it?

Lynn Culver

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Robbie: Wow, in my 33 years of RV repairs I've never heard of buzzards eating the rubber off a roof, but if this is the case the only thing you can do is replace the area with metal. Coating with the rubber compound is an extra step and can be done after the roof is repaired.

To connect the roofing material to the side walls your husband will remove the side moldings and bend the metal over the sides and replace the molding over it. You can purchase the roof metal in any length you want.

If these buzzards destroyed the front section it seems like only a matter of time before they eat up the rest. I believe I would consider recovering the roof in one piece of metal and have it all protected from future damage. You've only had the RV for a short time and doing it right the first time is going to save in the long run. Send pictures of before and after and I'll post them for our readers to see.

Good luck,
Robbie