Toy Hauler Roof Recoating Advice

nzulmer

nzulmer

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I just purchased a used 2015 Forest River Stealth 2916 Toy Hauler (30ft). I cleaned the roof yesterday and am noticing that I should probably get it re-coated in the near future. I believe its an EPDM roof. I didn't see any other threads on here with this topic and I'd like to see if anyone from the forum has some experience with having to re-coat the roof of their rig. Here are some of my questions:

1. How much did it cost you? Either doing it yourself or having someone do it for you. 

2. If you had someone do it for you, who would you recommend? I'm in SoCal (Menifee). 

3. If you did it yourself, what product(s) did you use or do you recommend using. How much did you need to purchase? I am only aware of Dicor, haven't really seen anything else used.

4. If you did it yourself, my understanding below is the process. Am I missing anything or is anything incorrect?:

  • Remove trim, clean, address all sealant issues and tape off everything you don't want the coating on. 
  • Prep the surface with an agitator solution and let it dry. 
  • Apply 1st coat with a roller (brush for tight areas) and let it dry. 
  • Apply 2nd coat similar to previous step and let it dry.
  • Once fully dry, remove tape, re-install trim and DONE. 

5. Any long term issue or regrets with re-coating? 

Thank you in advance for any input. Just not trying to re-invent the wheel or do something I will totally regret. 

 
I just did my 35’ 5th wheel myself with the Dicor stuff. Was pretty easy. Pressure washed the crud off, picked the loose sealant off and resealed, primed then washed that off. 2 coats with a roller with the Dicor epdm paint nice and thick. Didn’t mask a damn thing. It was maybe $400 worth of product and took about a day. Happy with the results but can’t speak for the longevity since I sold it. Imagine the next guy was happy to start fresh though. Would do again.

 
I did my old fifth wheel roof with the Henry's Tropicool silicone roof coating.  I was really happy with the result and durability.  Had it for 5 more years after doing it before I sold the trailer and never had a leak or any issue with it.  It was still going strong the day I sold it.  I think I was out around $600 in materials, but required a couple days of my time for prep and application.

 
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BrapBraap said:
I just did my 35’ 5th wheel myself with the Dicor stuff. Was pretty easy. Pressure washed the crud off, picked the loose sealant off and resealed, primed then washed that off. 2 coats with a roller with the Dicor epdm paint nice and thick. Didn’t mask a damn thing. It was maybe $400 worth of product and took about a day. Happy with the results but can’t speak for the longevity since I sold it. Imagine the next guy was happy to start fresh though. Would do again.
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Right on, sounds like a no brainer to do it myself. Appreciate the input.

 
etdust said:
I did my old fifth wheel roof with the Henry's Tropicool silicone roof coating.  I was really happy with the result and durability.  Had it for 5 more years after doing it before I sold the trailer and never had a leak or any issue with it.  It was still going strong the day I sold it.  I think I was out around $600 in materials, but required a couple days of my time for prep and application.
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Thanks for the input! Did you have to do any special prep with a chemical for the Tropicool product? From what I have seen online, its mainly just cleaning and no special primer or cleaning agent was needed. 

 
nzulmer said:
Thanks for the input! Did you have to do any special prep with a chemical for the Tropicool product? From what I have seen online, its mainly just cleaning and no special primer or cleaning agent was needed. 
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Correct.  Part of the reason I went with it was no primer was needed.  I got a scrub brush and a pole and scrubbed the roof really good with dawn soap.  The pressure wash rinsed it really good and let it dry.  Then the next morning I got up and applied the product.

 
etdust said:
Correct.  Part of the reason I went with it was no primer was needed.  I got a scrub brush and a pole and scrubbed the roof really good with dawn soap.  The pressure wash rinsed it really good and let it dry.  Then the next morning I got up and applied the product.
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Sounds good. Thank you, this is super helpful! I think I will be heading down the tropicool route.

 
I did my 43' fifth wheel with Henry 887 Tropi-cool. It's fairly easy, all things considered.  The stuff goes on very thick, so expect to use a bunch of it.  It's also pretty expensive.  It's about $120 per gallon, or you can get a 4.75 gal bucket for $350.  If you have sealant falling off, then remove that.  Otherwise, you can but the stuff right over the sealant.  One thing to be aware of...it is silicone based, so nothing much will stick to it.  It you need to repair a spot or add a hole to your roof afterwards, you will need to seal that hole with more tropi-cool or Henry 884 Tropi-cool roof sealant caulk.  I've used that caulk and it sticks to the treated roof very well.  Let me know if you have any other questions, I went through the process a year or two ago.

 
kazuaki said:
I did my 43' fifth wheel with Henry 887 Tropi-cool. It's fairly easy, all things considered.  The stuff goes on very thick, so expect to use a bunch of it.  It's also pretty expensive.  It's about $120 per gallon, or you can get a 4.75 gal bucket for $350.  If you have sealant falling off, then remove that.  Otherwise, you can but the stuff right over the sealant.  One thing to be aware of...it is silicone based, so nothing much will stick to it.  It you need to repair a spot or add a hole to your roof afterwards, you will need to seal that hole with more tropi-cool or Henry 884 Tropi-cool roof sealant caulk.  I've used that caulk and it sticks to the treated roof very well.  Let me know if you have any other questions, I went through the process a year or two ago.
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Thanks for the heads up. I started to read up on the tropicool yesterday and it didnt click in my head that other sealants wont stick to it since its silicone based. Makes sense though. Sounds like its best to deal with any penetration or bad/flaking sealant issues before I coat the roof with Tropicool. Good stuff! 

How much did you end up having to purchase for your 43' 5th wheel? I am thinking I will need two 4.75 gal buckets to be safe and return the 2nd one if not used. Seeing that (1) 4.75 gal bucket only covers 320 SQFT per its data sheet and my TH is 30ft long (240 SQFT roughly not including the items on the roof) and will need two coats.

 
With the dicor stuff on my 35’ I used about 2.5 gal to get 2 coats with a roller. If I could go back I’d probably roll the edges to keep from dripping and then squeegee on the broad areas so it went down super thick. 

 
nzulmer said:
Thanks for the heads up. I started to read up on the tropicool yesterday and it didnt click in my head that other sealants wont stick to it since its silicone based. Makes sense though. Sounds like its best to deal with any penetration or bad/flaking sealant issues before I coat the roof with Tropicool. Good stuff! 

How much did you end up having to purchase for your 43' 5th wheel? I am thinking I will need two 4.75 gal buckets to be safe and return the 2nd one if not used. Seeing that (1) 4.75 gal bucket only covers 320 SQFT per its data sheet and my TH is 30ft long (240 SQFT roughly not including the items on the roof) and will need two coats.
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I did my 40 ft with 5 gallons on a single coat.

 
nzulmer said:
Thanks for the heads up. I started to read up on the tropicool yesterday and it didnt click in my head that other sealants wont stick to it since its silicone based. Makes sense though. Sounds like its best to deal with any penetration or bad/flaking sealant issues before I coat the roof with Tropicool. Good stuff! 

How much did you end up having to purchase for your 43' 5th wheel? I am thinking I will need two 4.75 gal buckets to be safe and return the 2nd one if not used. Seeing that (1) 4.75 gal bucket only covers 320 SQFT per its data sheet and my TH is 30ft long (240 SQFT roughly not including the items on the roof) and will need two coats.
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I think I only used 3-4 gallons total, but my roof was in decent shape to start with.  The first coat will go on thick, then the second won't take as much since the roof is already coated. at least that was my experience. You can buy the stuff at Home Depot and they should take returns of any unopened product.  I used a brush to apply mine around the edges and any rooftop objects, then used a paint roller and broom with long handle for the rest. 

 
I used the Home Depot Acrylic based stuff since I don't have silicone based roof.  3 coats.  Has held up nicely all summer with no white streaks anymore.

 
I used this on my 38 foot 5th wheel. I didn’t have any leaks prior but the roof needed a new coating. I used the Green Simple green and a sturdy bristle broom to clean the roof. I just poured the Simple Green onto the roof and started brushing. I just used a regular garden hose to clean the Simple Green off. 
 

Make sure you continue cleaning off the side of the RV as this will slide down the sides and can create streaks.  
 

Once dry I used Eternabond tape and used it all around the edges, around the sky light and anything else where there is caulking. 
 

Once that dries I used a roller to apply the Hengs roof coating. I didn’t use a primer and can’t recall if it asked for a primer. 
 

Used 3 gallons for 2 coats. 

Still looked new a couple of years later when I sold it. 
 

Remove AC cover and whatever else that can be removed so that you can add the coating and or eternabond tape. 
 

IMG_1215.png

 
Sinverguenza said:
I used this on my 38 foot 5th wheel. I didn’t have any leaks prior but the roof needed a new coating. I used the Green Simple green and a sturdy bristle broom to clean the roof. I just poured the Simple Green onto the roof and started brushing. I just used a regular garden hose to clean the Simple Green off. 
 

Make sure you continue cleaning off the side of the RV as this will slide down the sides and can create streaks.  
 

Once dry I used Eternabond tape and used it all around the edges, around the sky light and anything else where there is caulking. 
 

Once that dries I used a roller to apply the Hengs roof coating. I didn’t use a primer and can’t recall if it asked for a primer. 
 

Used 3 gallons for 2 coats. 

Still looked new a couple of years later when I sold it. 
 

Remove AC cover and whatever else that can be removed so that you can add the coating and or eternabond tape. 
 

View attachment 78219
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Awesome, thanks for the input! 

 
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