roof. screwed, or meh?

[tiwing]

Hi all, just bought our trailer and during inspection I didn't spot any issues with the roof. But this past weekend I spent about 8 hours going through the trailer with my mechanic friend, planning to replace most of the aging "caulk" around the vents, holes, skylight, etc.

But we found a couple of roof areas that apparently had been leaking previously, and that the wood underneath was "crunchy" when you put any pressure on it. To me, indicating that it had been wet (and now, thankfully, is probably mostly dry. One area about 1 foot by 1 foot in front of the front stack, and a slightly smaller area around the rear stack near the bathroom skylight.

There is no smell, no signs of water penetration except for a VERY slight lifting of factory caulk in 2 places, and a couple of minor rips in other places that had been repaired with silicon (which are now repaired with this https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07...K6Y9EEQB&psc=1 .

All the old caulking has been removed and this used around the vents, skylight, stacks, and the corners of the roof where the sealant was "iffy".

We had an RV repair friend come by (his 9-5 is exactly diagnosing and repairing this stuff) and he said, the interior is amazingly good for what he feels on the roof. But that the whole roof should probably be replaced, wood and membrane.

Question for this group - if you have a few spongy areas on the roof but the membrane is intact and there are no interior issues, would you pull and replace the whole roof? Or, just accept that the roof now has a bunch of ugly black tape on it and carry on enjoying RV-ing for the next several years, while monitoring it year over year for getting worse. ?

[mark5w]

I would pull back, replace wood and reattach the roofing. If there is any rips or tears,
Eternabond tape is the answer. It comes in many widths.
Then keep an eye on it.

[Biggles607]

Ditto what mark5w said.

I recently replaced a 30" x 24" section of the roof 'wafer board' that had been saturated via a tiny crack in the factory 'Dicor' seam between the roof membrane and the front corrugated aluminum.

I was lucky it was on a front corner and could 'peel' back both the siding and the roof to expose the rotted wood. Once replaced everything went back as was, with NEW Dicor self levelling roof sealant over a mechanical joint. Once dried, I applied a 6" wide strip of Eternabond tape the full width for a 'belt and braces' approach to preventing further water intrusion.

[Tonyg2724]

Several things concern me:
1. “A slight lifting of caulk” could very well mean a lot of water intrusion.
2. Silicone should not be used for RV roof repairs so that’s a questionable area
3. Crunchy wood doesn’t sound good at all. It means wood rotted and is most likely moldy. just because you don’t smell any unusual odors doesn’t mean there is no mold. I’m a general contractor in my 9-5 and deal with wood rot all the time. Where there is rot there is almost always mold.
I feel like if you peel back a few areas to repair you’re going to find many more areas that need repair. For these reasons I’m inclined to agree with your RV repair friend. Yes, It’s a big job. But for ME anyway, I’d want the peace of mind that everything has been looked at fixed as needed. Hidden mold alone can cause all kinds of health problems. My 2 cents. Good luck with it and please let us know what you decided and how it turned out.