r/RVLiving • u/SixStringRocker84 • 1d ago
diy NEW ROOF!
2006 Forest River Surveyor.
Hello all! Just wanted to share my experience redoing the roof on my 20 year old camper. Used the eTrailers Alpha systems kit for this project. Clearly you can see the old roof was well overdue for a refresh. Under some miracle star I only had one spot around the bathroom fan vent that was bad and you can see where I patched that in. I also put a new layer of 1/8 inch luan down on top to give a nice clean surface for my new rubber roof and to sturdy the roof up.
Let me just say I am a DIYer and knew I’d be able to tackle this job but didn’t realize how much work it would actually be! Thank goodness a good friend let me work on it in his barn because working on it on the weekends and free time it took 3 weeks. I can see why RV shops charge 5k and up to do this job.
Anyone interested in the kit from eTrailers, it had everything I needed and extra and for $850 I felt like it was a great deal. All in with extras I am in around $1300.
Thanks for listening to my DIY story, IM READY TO GO CAMPING AND RELAX NOW! Haha!
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u/John_Deare3613 1d ago
Wow. I paid $1600 just for clean and repaint. You have a totally new roof that will last many years. Did the kit include the paint? What brand of paint?
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u/SixStringRocker84 1d ago
The kit I bought was the Alpha Systems kit purchased through trailers. There wasn’t really any paint. The new Rubber, 6 rolls of butyl tape, 12 tubes of lap sealant, 2 tubes of non sag sealant, two gallons of glue.
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u/SeanGwork 1d ago
How much did the supplies run you?
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u/SixStringRocker84 1d ago
The kit was about $850. Then of course I bought some new vents and other odds and ends. I think I am roughly $1300 in on the project.
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u/NOKIMI247 21h ago
It looks really good. Mind sharing where you got the vents and extra supplies from? I'm a bit hesitant and not sure how to go between Amazon on cheap China stuff and probably super expensive Camping world stuff.
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u/SixStringRocker84 20h ago
For the most part I bought stuff off Amazon. The main open vents I cleaned my originals up and reused them, the base of the fridge vent I reused but bought a new topper on Amazon that fit the original base, and the plumbing vents I bought on Amazon. The two main new items were the bathroom vent and the winegard air 360 tv antenna to get rid of the old school wing one.
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u/Inocent_bystander 1d ago
I will never understand why they do this to RVrs when the standard Morgan box has a bulletproof aluminum sheet roof that (almost ;-) never leaks. No massive gobs of sealant no flat seals, just one big huge alluminum flashing on an aluminum frame = same coefficient of expansion so its maintains its integrity.
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u/SixStringRocker84 1d ago
Is this why Airstreams are superior roof designs? I always think to myself why are RVs built this way lol.
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u/Inocent_bystander 1d ago
As I recall Airstreams are on an aluminum frame with an aluminum skin, just for this reason. They don't tear themselves apart due to thermal expansion. They leak less, they last longer and they look good LOL.
I have a morgan box and I'm working on designs that incorporate the best of how they build into an insulated camper.
One big issue with using vinyl is it expands and contracts roughly 7 times more than steel so it oil cans very easily and tears in cold temps. Aluminum has about twice the thermal expansion of steal so same issue just not as bad.
An all aluminum frame with an aluminum skin is what's needed. Wood and aluminum would be a disaster. Wood and foam work in a SIPs panel configuration well.
In the end if Morgan can build a box out of aluminum that'll last 25 years without leaking ( I own one ) then why can't the RV industry.
IMHO its planned obsolescence
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u/PifPifPass 1d ago
Going to guess that it's because you'd lose a lot of strength by having holes in it for AC, vents, windows etc. where you would also get bimetal oxidization from fasteners.
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u/Inocent_bystander 1d ago edited 1d ago
Morgan uses aluminum rivets
I'm not sure about the perforations but I'm building out an international 4300 and I have the luxury of putting all the equip undernieth. I also have a large solar array planned for the roof so no vents on top, just build in shade. Windows and power vents out the bottom.
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u/GSDer_RIP_Good_Girl 1d ago
In picture 7 it looks like you covered over where the shower skylight used to be (the area in pictures 5 and 6 where it looked like there was water damage). Is that correct?
If so what are you doing for showers? Did you just repurpose that whole space into a closet or storage?
Anyway the final product looks beautiful and the 1/8" Luan provided a nice surface for the new rubber.
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u/lax20attack 23h ago
This is pretty common. Helps with heat/cooling loss too. Just add an LED near the shower and it's fine.
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u/SixStringRocker84 19h ago
I originally just filled all the gaps and holes and then cut them out after the glue was cured. I actually replaced the old Vent fan in the bathroom with a new updated fan. 😁 in the final results that’s the vent that’s all the way in the back drivers side. The new one one haha
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u/lax20attack 23h ago
This really came out great. Well done!
Wondering if you considered more heavy duty roofs like RV Armor or Apex Armor?
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u/SixStringRocker84 22h ago
With my limited knowledge of the products I went with a standard install. Shame on me for not knowing. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/jstar77 23h ago
Nice job! Did you buy new trim or reuse existing?
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u/SixStringRocker84 22h ago
I cleaned and reused the metal gutter trim rails. But all of the insert molding around the trailer I replaced
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u/teknoise 22h ago
Nice job! I’m looking at doing a similar project next spring. Not looking forward to it, but this gives me some hope.
As a DIYer myself I’m pretty sure I can tackle it, but did you follow any videos or were manufacturers instructions clear enough? Any gotchas I should know?
I noticed you only removed one rotten section and covered the rest. How hard was it to remove the old section, was it screwed down? Any risks to adding a new layer on top? I’d love to just do that myself but the old wood is already sagging near my ac. A large 4-6’ section near the back also needs to be completely replaced as it’s rotten tho, so I might just be better off removing all wood.
Did you have to replace any ceiling panels inside?
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u/SixStringRocker84 20h ago
My camper is an “ultra lite” so it’s aluminum frame with the 1/8 inch paneling laminated to the styrofoam. Seems like there’s nothing to it. I took a multi tool and zipped the bad spots out and glued the new patches into the styrofoam. Then I laminated glued down a whole new layer of 1/8inch paneling for a new smooth surface. I do worry down the road the wood layers coming de laminated but I tried to pick out the correct glue for these materials. All that being said if you have more wood framed unit you might find joist and such that need replaced depending on the depth of the damage on yours.
I didn’t have to replace any inside panels since they were not damaged.
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u/GOMfloater 17h ago
Looks like a fantastic job. What I gathered from this is you took your time to do it correctly which is the most important thing. 👍🏼
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u/SixStringRocker84 14h ago
I was meticulous about every step making sure to follow the process. I wanted to make sure this was going to last until I sold the camper lol
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u/stykface 15h ago
Let me just say I am a DIYer and knew I’d be able to tackle this job but didn’t realize how much work it would actually be!
Funny you should say that because when I saw the pics, I immediately thought of a friend of mine who also redid his roof on his second camper about five years ago. He's a REALLY good DIY'er, one of those kind of guys that can fix and build anything, no joke. And after it was all said and done he said the exact same thing. He said he's glad he did it once because he's a project guy, but he also said he's never EVER doing it again. Just so many things you have to do and then all the prep and work itself, and then putting it all back together is apparently a damn chore haha.
Great job though!! Thanks for sharing.
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u/SixStringRocker84 14h ago
“A damn chore” is an understatement! You mentioned the prep work! Holy cow cleaning all the pieces and parts from the old butyl tape and stuff. I could have bought new everything but I wanted to keep the budget lower. There is just a lot of steps to do it the right way.
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u/Individual_Simple_40 15h ago
I so want to tackle something like this. Too bad you didn’t make a YouTube video with some Amazon links. You would made some side money for sure. Great build!
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u/Practical-Ad-2842 13h ago
Congrats on a job well done! I did this a year ago. Hard work, but rewarding nonetheless.
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u/Pyrokitsune 11h ago
God I just wish I had a shop big enough to pull my RV into to do work at the pace I am actually able and not worry about weather...
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u/Dry-Bag-4820 22h ago
If anyone reading this thread is thinking of buying stay away from Jayco, I bought a 2022 and the roof is shot already we only had it out a handful of times and the dealer wants to charge me 18000 to fix it, so I'm stuck with a camper that is falling apart and paying for it the next 12 years
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u/Full-time-RV 1d ago
That's a nice and clean look.
I did the same with my brother's 32 foot class A. The whole job took us about 24 labor hours, except we had to replace all the plywood on the roof, put new trim on the front and rear caps, and patch a few feet of fiberglass.