MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - *R* is Roof Coating With Elastomeric Paint and Babysitting Weekend

Sorry!  I took a couple days off writing the blog. We were "preoccupied" with having a sweet little dumpling come to visit!   This is our youngest grandchild, and we took her over the weekend.  More pics down on the end of the blog....

Now back to the MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS BLOG POSTS:


I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes, we are up to the letter R now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER R

Roof Coating with Elastomeric Paint:

THIS MODIFICATION WAS DONE NINE YEARS AGO, IN 2009

On our 1996 Safari Serengeti, our filon fiberglass roof can be known to get tiny microscopic cracks and fissures after 10 years of age.... resulting in potential leaks! Although we don’t have any leaks yet, we decided it was a good idea to Git Er Dun! 

In 2006, we had already replaced the sealant tape at the front and rear caps with new layers of Eternabond, removing the OEM sealing tape that was on there.  We also used Eternabond around the sky light, and roof vents.  

These are common places for leaks to start, so we did the preventative thing and had sealed those too the first year owned the rig.  We use Dicor caulk for sealing up any areas around any things that could leak:

So, keeping in mind that we want this rig to last a looonggg time, we decided to take the advice of the guys on the Safari list with rigs the same vintage of ours.  They are all coating their entire roofs with a special elastomeric coating made for fiberglass roofs.... (similar to Kool-Seal, but we had to get the formula made for fiberglass roofs like on our rig) 

There are a lot of different brands of elastomeric coatings out there. You have to find one that works for your type of roof. (ours was fiberglass in this case). Read the cans and find something with a long warranty life. Ours said 7 years if you do two coats. 

Here is the brand we bought, called SealBest at Menards, a mid-west home improvement chain (like Home Depot or Lowes).

(DON'T use that fibered roof coating stuff that is used for mobile homes, it's very thick black tarry stuff that dries silver-- I did that on my old motorhome in the 90's ... not good, and not the right product for a flexing moving structure)

The roof surface on our rig is like a textured sheet of fiberglass that is laid on top of the substructure and sealed around the edges, but left loose in the middle to allow for expansion and contraction in temperature changes. 

But not being sealed down allows for any little leak around vents, AC units, or skylights to let in water and create horrible damages.   Thus the preventative care is very important. 

We checked the weather forecast and found three days in a row of nice 70-80 degree days and warm nights, without any rain in sight.  We hoped.

First,  Stevio scrubbed the roof really good with TSP, a heavy duty cleanser.  He then rinsed with a lot of hot water, and let it dry... Using blue painter’s tape, we taped off the sides where the white roof meets the blue colored sidewalls.

Whew, I sure don't like heights, but with adrenaline rushing and heart pounding, I joined him up there to work fast as a team effort to get it done! 


I sure was clutching that ladder!!!! I HATE heights.. but Steveio needed my help, so I bit the bullet and squeezed my eyes shut and did it. The worst part is when you reach the top of the ladder and have to swing your leg around to get ON the roof. 

Even with Steveio holding the ladder firmly down on the ground, I was still a scared silly mouse. Tee heeeee

I crawled around on my hands and knees, hand brushing liberal amounts around all the vents, air conditioners, skylight and antennas. 

Steveio rolled the remaining parts with a thick napped roller on a long handle. He got to stand, I was too scared to stand!  I built up around the vents with dicor and then coated with elastomeric paint. 

It was a beautiful day and we got the first coat on before noon.

AHHHHHHH
The first coat is all done! 

While the first coat was drying,

on the ground I took care of coating the Maxi Air roof vent covers

We used almost a full gallon with the first coat. 

This is a wide body motorhome almost 40 feet long. 

We waited until the next day after the dew was dry to roll the second coat. We used the second gallon and rolled it on as thick as we could. 

The warranty reads that you must put on 2 coats to comply with the 7 year warranty. There was still some left, so Steve got almost a full third coat done that afternoon before we ran out.

Whewww!

 It sure looked nice,

compared to how it was when we started.

Here we took off the blue tape,

we only coated up to the line where the silvery blue paint 

where the side walls start. 

It was a job well done.  

*added note: it is now 2018 - 

9 years later, 

and it still looks great!

since those photos were taken,

we added 500 watts of solar panels to the roof:

~~~~~~~

Back to the Babysitting! 

We enjoyed some warmth and sunshine out on the front porch. Here she is exploring the newest paperweight to my collection, from her great grandfather!  The grandkids love having the chance to play with something "glass" -- which is really pretty indestructible.  

We bundled her up to take a nice walk.

with her softy ensconced in the little red wagon.

Guess it was too comfy, 

she was asleep before we got to the end of the block! 

It was so much fun to have her all to ourselves.  We cherish our time with all of our Grandkids, and it's nice to take them one or two at a time. It lets us really get to know them without all of them clamoring for our attention.

We gated off the tv and all of the electronics,  This ain't this Granmuddah's first rodeo.  We de-kidderize before any of the grandkids get here.  The rest of the time is spent playing and having fun. No housework or errands or menial tasks are done when the wee ones visit.

Toys are rotated to keep the interest up,

but the Fisher Price Farm from MY Grandma Kafehl

(would be her GREAT GREAT Grandma)

is the number one toy and stays out all weekend. 

Both of our dogs are good with the little ones who come to visit. With adults, they often hide, but they seem to know the little ones mean no harm.  We do watch close for abrupt movements or eye poking etc.  Little Claire has 2 doggies in her own home and knows how to "play nice".

The dogs also enjoy the dropped Cheerios that get scattered about! 

I made this little You Tube from some time spent out in the sunny front porch:

The most favorite book 

for ALL of our Grandkids is 

Brown Bear Brown Bear:

All too soon, it was time for her to go home.  Her Mommy and Daddy picked her up, and the house is quiet again. 

We needed Monday to recover!  

(and take long naps)  

I think the dogs needed it too! 

Monday we also ran up to Green Bay to get our new phone.  After three replacement phones in the last 30 days from Verizon (refurbished ones of the same 2+ year old model each time) it has been determined that the old phone is unable to handle the newest software update.  With the help of our soninlaw, Waylen, I got a brand new phone now and am getting used to new features, set ups and apps that are on it.  I lost some of my contacts, not all, during the transfer, so if I don't call you, you will have to call me first! LOL


We are now facing a colder week in Wisconsin, with dull skies and cooler temps. It was down to the single digits last night, and we heard the furnace kick on quite a few times.  Guess it isn't Spring yet in Wisconsin!

Eternabond Tape and Washing Motorhome Roof

To start off this blog, I just wanted to mention today is a special anniversary. 22 years ago today, Steve and I had our first date!!  A friend from work had set us up and we had spoken on the phone for a few weeks, and finally decided to meet face-to-face.

I was a very busy single mom, selling real estate and handling all the advertising for the firm. It was rare that I could take off an hour or two on a Saturday in between open houses. Steve said he had to leave later that afternoon to pick up some new exhaust pipes for his motorcycle. So we only had about an hour or so to get together.

We arranged to meet at a little ice cream shop not too far from my house, called the Hansen's Dairy on Gray Street in Green Bay.  https://www.facebook.com/Hansens-Dairy-and-Deli-162993840386629/

I was delightfully surprised at this beautiful tall good-looking guy who seemed to be honest and sincere. Ya know, after my dating a few toads who didn't even turn into a frog, much less a prince, I kind of figured out this guy here was a real "Keeper".

He said he found me very easy to talk to and enjoyed the stories I told about camping and kids and dogs. He really loved camping too and we made a good pair.

Hansen's ice cream store was having a promotion with Stewart root beer and they were making root beer floats in these commemorative mason jars that they were giving away. We each saved our jars from that date and we still use them every year for a rootbeer float.

Guess what's for dessert tonight?

Here are some pics of what we looked like way back when----

~~~~~~~~~

Okay, enough of that love bird stuff. Now on to the topic of my blog. Back in 2009, we had coated our roof of our motorhome with a layer of elastomeric paint. Here is the blog post from that day.  Coating our RV Roof with Elastomeric Paint   At the same time we had sealed both end caps where the fiberglass meets the roof with a four inch wide swath of Eternabond tape

Sadly, this spring we went to investigate the motorhome after sitting out in the winter snow, and realized we had a roof leak!! Upon further examination Steve found two little areas that he felt the Eternabond tape had come loose or worn through with two little holes. I personally think it was from a tree branch somewhere last fall.

Either way, it let the ice and water get into a little gap which left a huge stain on the ceiling of our motorhome. Steve immediately sealed the gap on the roof with some Dicor brand RV caulk and that took care of the leak. On the inside I spritzed the ceiling with the Fantastic/Scrubbing Bubbles/Oxy Power solution, scrubbed with hot water and white terrycloth rags, and the stain faded away to almost nothing.

(best stuff EVER for removing roof leak stains from white carpeted RV ceilings!) 

But just to be sure this didn't happen again, we ordered a wider roll of the Eternabond tape to go over the existing layer.  6" x 10 feet ordered from Walmart for $35.90 plus $4.50 shipping.

It came the other day, and Steve decided it was time to scrub the roof really well before applying the Eternabond. Using TSP cleaner, and a good stiff brush, he scrubbed the roof from one end to the other. He uses our pressure washer to spray it off, but not under heavy pressure. He sets it very light. Also he uses hot water from the house in the hose. He had added a valve in the basement to turn our outside water spigot from cold to hot if need be. Very handy~

Here is all of his equipment getting set up on the ground. He said there was really no need for me to go up on the roof with him, although I did help with the initial application of the elastomeric paint years ago. This time I just got to stand on the ground and hand him things as needed.

He loves his telescoping ladder and keeps it in the storage compartment on the motorhome. He has two foam blocks that are used for hauling canoes or kayaks on the rooftop of a car. He puts them on each side of the ladder so it does not mark up the painted fiberglass of the motorhome. This kinda grips it and doesn't let it slide from side to side either.

Yep, this is the before picture. What a filthy mess! I gave Steve the camera to take these pictures up there. The paint is flaking off our Maxi Air vent covers. I asked him to remove those now so I can take off the rest of the chipping paint. Maybe some fingernail polish remover acetone will do it?

Yes, those are our solar panels up there. We have five 100 watt panels which adequately provide us plenty of power for the for deep cycle batteries that we use when boondocking.

Just look at how filthy dirty this thing is,

 and all the dirt running down the side of off the roof.

 

So here is my guy up there working hard in the morning before it got too hot out.  The temps were in the mid 70's and there was a nice breeze too.

Once he gets the roof done, he has to quickly drop down and wash the sides before the TSP leaves streaky marks.

Steve uses an automotive car wash solution in his bucket for the sides of the motorhome. We do not use Dawn dish soap because it can strip off our finish. 

Our motorhome sides never needs any wax. It's never been waxed in the 21 years since it was made. It has a special Mercedes paint, with layers of clear coat over it. All it needs is automotive car wash soap and a little light brushing and a rinse---  Voila it's done.

The stainless steel door panels on the lower portion must never ever be scrubbed or polished with anything, There is a protective coating on it. Once you accidentally strip that coating off, then you always have to clean them with scouring stainless steel cleaners. Other people with the same type of motorhome found out the hard way to never remove that coating.  Now they have to polish it all of the time. So we are very careful to never remove the coating on our stainless steel doors.

I went up on our back shaker porch and snapped this picture when he was done. It looks pretty clean from here and he said it was like night and day as he scrubbed off the roof.

Here is the area of the two little holes that were in the old tape. I think something poked through there, or rubbed it down to the horizontal seam you can see. That is where we think the water intruded and froze and left a gap over the winter. The few times we went in the rig during the winter we didn't see any evidence of a roof leak, so I think it just leaked this spring after the ice melted

Here is the new roll of the wide Eternabond that we bought. I snapped a picture of the label but we will store the label and receipt away because there is a 25-year warranty on it. This is some of the best stuff out there and almost any RV repair place will recommend Eternabond sealing products.

Steve waited until the roof was good and dry later in the afternoon. He came back from one of his old fart party bus runs and went back up on the roof to apply the Eternabond.

Look what a nice neat job he did! He rolled over it with a small wooden wallpaper roller. He applied a lot of pressure. The more you squish as you roll the tape, the more it mixes the chemicals inside the tape material to create a good bond. Now they also include a little tube of sealant with the Eternabond tape to go around all of the edges. He did that too,

What a great job, and thanks to Steve
we can now rest assured that we will not have
 another roof leak
hopefully ever again.

While I was relaxing out in the backyard in my chaise lounge (watching Steve work) I shot this little film of our silly dogs. They so totally enjoy their "Big Backyard". Just watch them race around. Those are some really happy dogs:

It looks like our weekend is not going to contain any camping. Steve is helping his brother today with building a retaining wall with some big stones that were delivered at his new house he just built. Then we are going to be helping out with some items over at the Calumet County Historical Museum before the big opening for the season on Sunday.

Also, I am working today on a donation quilt for the Wisconsin Sheltie rescue. We adopted our Shelties from this great organization. This year is their 20th year in existence and they are having a reunion in June. I usually donate a couple items for the silent auction to help with fundraising.

This year I found some really cute doggie material in prints and I am working on some blocks. I'm almost ready to start putting them together with blue strips in between. I only have two weeks to get it done so I better get my butt in gear.

I think I'm going to toss a couple steaks and baked taters on the grill tonight, and of course we will have our anniversary root beer floats in our little mason jars.

What a lucky girl I was to find this wonderful man 22 years ago, and I think if you asked him, he would say the same thing too!

REDUX - MOTORHOME MODIFICATION - Coating our Fiberglass Roof on the Motorhome

Since it's the boring winter months, and we are not travelling yet, I thought I would do some repeats of my most-read blog posts on RV repairs.  This one had over 6,500 views when I first posted it. We coated our roof on October 7, 2009

Coating our Fiberglass Roof on the Motorhome

On our 1996 Safari Serengeti, our filon fiberglass roof can be known to get tiny microscopic cracks and fissures after 10 years of age.... resulting in potential leaks! Although we don’t have any leaks yet, we decided it was a good idea to Git Er Dun! 

3 years ago, we had already replaced the sealant tape at the front and rear caps with new layers of Eternabond, removing the OEM sealing tape that was on there.  We also used Eternabond around the sky light, and roof vents.  

These are common places for leaks to start, so we did the preventative thing and had sealed those too the first year owned the rig.  

So, keeping in mind that we want this rig to last a looonggg time, we decided to take the advice of the guys on the Safari list with rigs the same vintage of ours.  They are all coating their roofs with a special elastomeric coating made for fiberglass roofs.... (similar to Kool-Seal, but we had to get the formula made for fiberglass roofs like on our rig) 

The roof surface on our rig is like a textured sheet of fiberglass that is laid on top of the substructure and sealed around the edges, but left loose in the middle to allow for expansion and contraction in temperature changes. 

But not being sealed down allows for any little leak around vents, AC units, or skylights to let in water and create horrible damages.   
Thus the preventative care is very important. 


We checked the weather forecast and found three days in a row of nice 70-80 degree days and warm nights, without any rain in sight.  We hoped.

First,  Stevio scrubbed the roof really good with TSP, a heavy duty cleanser.  He then rinsed with a lot of hot water, and let it dry... 

The next day after work at 3pm, we both got up there and got busy!

Whew, I sure don't like heights, but with adrenaline rushing and heart pounding, I joined him up there to work fast as a team effort to get it done! 


I sure was clutching that ladder!!!! I HATE heights.. but Steveio needed my help, so I bit the bullet and squeezed my eyes shut and did it. The worst part is when you reach the top of the ladder and have to swing your leg around to get ON the roof. 

Even with Steveio holding the ladder firmly down on the ground, I was still a scared silly mouse. Tee heeeee

Using blue painter’s tape, we taped off the sides where the white roof meets the blue colored sidewalls. 
 
I crawled around on my hands and knees, hand brushing liberal amounts around all the vents, air conditioners, skylight and antennas. 

Steveio rolled the remaining parts with a thick napped roller on a long handle. 
He got to stand, I was too scared to stand! 

 There are a lot of different brands of elastomeric coatings out there. 
You have to find one that works for your type of roof. (ours was fiberglass in this case) 
Read the cans and find something with a long warranty life. 
Ours said 7 years if you do two coats. 

Here is the brand we bought, called SealBest at Menards, a mid-west home improvement chain. 

 
(DON'T use that fibered roof coating stuff that is used for mobile homes, it's very thick black tarry stuff that dries silver-- I did that on my old motorhome in the 90's ... not good, and not the right product for a flexing moving structure)

We used almost a full gallon with the first coat. 
This is a wide body motorhome almost 40 feet long. 
We used the second gallon and rolled it on as thick as we could. 

The warranty reads that you must put on 2 coats to comply with the 7 year warranty. There was still some left, so Steve got almost a full third coat done before we ran out.


Whewww!

  

It was a job well done.  

Wonder what the next project is going to be???

*added note: it is now 2016 - 

8 and a half years later, 

and it still looks great!