Rubber Roof Repair & Maintenance

DIY RV Maintenance & Upgrades

This information is for a RUBBER ROOF

If you have a metal roof, please click here to read the appropriate information.

Before you start repairing the roof, make sure you don’t have any structural damage that needs repaired. Verify there’s not mold or rot or you’ll just be sealing it inside and you will have to come back and fix it later.

We highly suggest Dicor! That’s what we’ve used on both the roofs we repaired. I’ve listed the products you need and put a link to a great video at the bottom. Roofing a trailer is easy, it’s just multiple steps and waiting for things to dry or set up in between. Plan on a whole weekend to complete the project. It’s nice because you won’t spend the entire time working on it, but you need the time between steps.

Quick Guide

  1. Clean the roof with activating cleaner
  2. Scrape old sealant from vents
  3. Reseal vents
  4. Seal Roof

We don’t have a great before photo. This was before we had a website and were documenting more carefully. You can see the cracked seals on the front edge and also around the vent though. This was before we washed the roof in the condition that we bought her.

Roof Cleaner This is great. It’s a cleaner and activator and you can also use it on your owning. Be aware that the roof will get very slick. I suggest being barefoot and being aware!

Here is the 5’er roof after washing,
but before the resealing.

Plastic Putty Knife Get a couple of these to scrape the old seal from around the vents. The metal ones can puncture the roof so stick with plastic.

Self Leveling Sealant Use this around any vents you have. Make sure you remove the old and let the new dry before you recoat the roof.

Rubber Roof Sealer (In the rubber stuff this went much farther than it said it would. I can’t give you first hand experience with the metal roof, but I wouldn’t order extra.

And she’s beautiful. After they are resealed it’s a little brutal to stand on them in the sun. They are SO bright!

Eternabond Tape We love it! Be warned that  it doesn’t move after it sticks so be careful with it, When we replaced the slide wall in the 5er we used Eternabond on the side seams of the roof and also the wall and corner seams. We sealed over the end that was on top of the roof and it help beautifully. A neighbor used it to fix a whole in the roof of their pop up. It’s great stuff! If you are worried about leaking in a specific area you might invest in some of it too.

Pro Tip:
You’ll need a tray and a roller as well as an extender to do the sealing. Plan to toss the tray and the roller after you finish. It’s brutal to try and wash the stuff out.

Here’s a quick video about how to.

Make sure you tag us in any photos if you redo your roof. We’d love to see them! And if you have other questions just let us know. We are happy to help!