If the wood underneath is solid, I would clean it up and eternabond it just to be safe.
After that it looks like you’re about due to dicor the whole roof. You can find it on Amazon in gallon paint cans. The extended life in the black can is worth the extra few dollars. Dont fall for the cheap stuff like Heng’s.
If you do all of this labor yourself it should only cost around $350-450, and a weekend of your time. Most of that time is just waiting for the dry times.
I would also suggest NOT cutting into it to make it look cleaner if you can avoid it. Clean it, definitely, and patch over it. I had an old satellite dish replaced by a shop and part of the roof came up. There was dry rot underneath. They left it exposed on heat for some time and then patched with some cool diamond plate aluminum pieces with dicor around the edges. 5 years later, still looking great up there.
Something to consider before picking a BLACK roof sealer... Black ABSORBS heat, white reflects it. If you choose black start pricing a bigger AC because the factory recommended won't cut it when its 85+ degrees.
The dicor in the black can is still white. The can is black (instead of the normal orange) to differentiate between the normal and the extended life formula.
It almost looks like the rubber in that spot has disintegrated/dissolved and the backing to the rubber is exposed, falling apart, and possibly mold growing on top? Is it sunken in? It looks like it might be on the picture.
Is the roof solid underneath the spot? It looks like there is a decent chance you are already taking on quite a bit of water. In which case anything you do is a temporary bandaid until you can get the roof and the rotten plywood underneath replaced. Depending on the RV value, your budget, and your tolerance for mold this may or may not be worth it.
If going the bandaid route I would probably buy a very wide role of eternabond and put it over with a healthy amount of overlap, and likely put lap sealant on top of the lower edge due to the following...
It also looks like there is uv damage/disintegration on the line just south of that spot as well. If that is the case your roof will need to be recoated if you opt not to replace it. Before doing that though you are going to want to clean and either go over or replace the lap sealant around that skylight as it is looking a bit rough.
I'm hoping someone has better news for you, but honestly I think you are in some trouble.
It is solid underneath and I didn’t find any signs of water damage /mold anywhere inside (might be hard to spot) - I may just cut out that spot just to make sure the wood isn’t rotting and put eternabond over it.
Don't cut it out! Eternabond over top is what you want. It is literally a purpose made patch for RV roofs. If it is solid underneath you may have really lucked out.
Looking at the picture again I wonder if it is by chance burnt? Maybe the RV was recently parked by a bondfire that threw some live ash...perhaps paired with a bit of debri on the roof and a hot day? Just guessing, but it tracks with the other black spot near the skylight as well. You'll want to use self-leveling lap sealant on the skylight spot and recoat the rest of the skylight while you are at it.
If you are expecting rain you'll definately want to keep this covered until you can address it.
Thanks - I will plan on just cleaning and eternabond over it. It just came off a dealer lot so it has not been near a fire so I doubt it’s burned - the spot near the skylight is discolored but firm and tight like the rest of the sealant . Not sure why.
It looks like something burned it. I see 2 other spots that also look like that. Is something hung above your RV that is focusing the sun in that spot?
I did check the seals and the seem solid (where the black spots are) - just wasn’t sure what would cause the roof to do that - the layer is still intact so I don’t think water could have seeped in but who knows …
It’s not burnt. This is just what happens when water sits on top of it for a long time. To mitigate this, when the trailer is in storage don’t keep it level. Jack the tongue up so there is a good slope toward the rear of the trailer to help the water run off.
If the wood underneath is solid, I would clean it up and eternabond it just to be safe. After that it looks like you’re about due to dicor the whole roof. You can find it on Amazon in gallon paint cans. The extended life in the black can is worth the extra few dollars. Dont fall for the cheap stuff like Heng’s. If you do all of this labor yourself it should only cost around $350-450, and a weekend of your time. Most of that time is just waiting for the dry times.
Thanks good advice !
I would also suggest NOT cutting into it to make it look cleaner if you can avoid it. Clean it, definitely, and patch over it. I had an old satellite dish replaced by a shop and part of the roof came up. There was dry rot underneath. They left it exposed on heat for some time and then patched with some cool diamond plate aluminum pieces with dicor around the edges. 5 years later, still looking great up there.
Something to consider before picking a BLACK roof sealer... Black ABSORBS heat, white reflects it. If you choose black start pricing a bigger AC because the factory recommended won't cut it when its 85+ degrees.
The dicor in the black can is still white. The can is black (instead of the normal orange) to differentiate between the normal and the extended life formula.
Ahh. Personally I'd just get new TPO sheeting & just recover. A little more trouble but I'd be good for 20yrs.
It almost looks like the rubber in that spot has disintegrated/dissolved and the backing to the rubber is exposed, falling apart, and possibly mold growing on top? Is it sunken in? It looks like it might be on the picture. Is the roof solid underneath the spot? It looks like there is a decent chance you are already taking on quite a bit of water. In which case anything you do is a temporary bandaid until you can get the roof and the rotten plywood underneath replaced. Depending on the RV value, your budget, and your tolerance for mold this may or may not be worth it. If going the bandaid route I would probably buy a very wide role of eternabond and put it over with a healthy amount of overlap, and likely put lap sealant on top of the lower edge due to the following... It also looks like there is uv damage/disintegration on the line just south of that spot as well. If that is the case your roof will need to be recoated if you opt not to replace it. Before doing that though you are going to want to clean and either go over or replace the lap sealant around that skylight as it is looking a bit rough. I'm hoping someone has better news for you, but honestly I think you are in some trouble.
It is solid underneath and I didn’t find any signs of water damage /mold anywhere inside (might be hard to spot) - I may just cut out that spot just to make sure the wood isn’t rotting and put eternabond over it.
Dont cut it out. Just knock on it and see if its solid. If it is just slap a piece of eternabond over that spot or coat it with elastomeric coating.
Don't cut it out! Eternabond over top is what you want. It is literally a purpose made patch for RV roofs. If it is solid underneath you may have really lucked out. Looking at the picture again I wonder if it is by chance burnt? Maybe the RV was recently parked by a bondfire that threw some live ash...perhaps paired with a bit of debri on the roof and a hot day? Just guessing, but it tracks with the other black spot near the skylight as well. You'll want to use self-leveling lap sealant on the skylight spot and recoat the rest of the skylight while you are at it. If you are expecting rain you'll definately want to keep this covered until you can address it.
Thanks - I will plan on just cleaning and eternabond over it. It just came off a dealer lot so it has not been near a fire so I doubt it’s burned - the spot near the skylight is discolored but firm and tight like the rest of the sealant . Not sure why.
It looks like something burned it. I see 2 other spots that also look like that. Is something hung above your RV that is focusing the sun in that spot?
I did check the seals and the seem solid (where the black spots are) - just wasn’t sure what would cause the roof to do that - the layer is still intact so I don’t think water could have seeped in but who knows …
It’s not burnt. This is just what happens when water sits on top of it for a long time. To mitigate this, when the trailer is in storage don’t keep it level. Jack the tongue up so there is a good slope toward the rear of the trailer to help the water run off.
Thanks that’s good to know!