+Marion Blair Thanks for the kind words. I'm blown away how much feedback i'm getting on this video. maybe i'll post a followup. Last summer I finished the rest and kept pecking away at the smaller parts. One day i'll be done! haha. Not really.
***** no problem.. glad it helped. I wish this job on on-one... didnt continue it until last week. it's grueling and un-rewarding :( At least now i'm at the point where it is watertight with AC's and trim so i can take my time with the rest and not have to untarp/retarp.
YOU did an awesome job!!! i've watched your video and loved it! i too am just your regular joe and this has got'n me over the fear of tackling my camper's roof repair in the spring! Thank you again!!
Thx for the video chris! I just bought a 78 motorhome and I have some soft spot that are going to have to be redone. This will be a big under taking for me but Im up to it as long as the weather stays nice this summer. I have no help so will be doing this on my own ;)
Chris, I have a 1994 Ford Royal. I need to replace my whole roof like this as well as the ceiling inside. I have to do a couple walls too :( . This made me have a little more conference to try and do it myself
cool glad it helped. if i had it to do over (and the proper budget) i'd love to have bought a pop up garage. tarping and untarping every day for months was terrible. but other than that if you don't mind the work it can be done and it didn't cost all that much. just alot of time and energy.
Nice job. I'm not surprised that you could do a better job than the 18 year old at the RV repair facility. I can just imagine how much you saved by DIY.
Very helpful Chris! I've patched up some issues in a recently acquired 2004 but believe I will do a full roof replacement this spring. Including how long it took you and the cost were very helpful in giving me some ideas of what I'm in for.
Any contractor or handyman capable of taking something like this on is going to charge anywhere from $25/hour to $50/hour. I had about 15 full days of labor and so that would be $3000 - $6000 in labor plus whatever it costs for materials in your case. My material cost @ $1500 was super cheap i could never believe how inexpensive that job was outside of the labor and I always knew i was de-valuing my time for this project but at least it got done.
oh yeah. i figure my labor on this was worth not a penny less than $10,000. The job sucked the soul out of me. Fortunately this rig belonged to my parents and after the work was complete they gave it to me. Still, 5 years later, i'm still running and maintaining a 25+ year old motorhome with all the little things you'd expect. kind of sucks.
Hi Chris, Amaaaaazing job! Looks so hard and difficult! I just bought a 1990 and discovered some mold walls that I didn´t expect... :o What kind of panels did you use for the ceiling? I need to replace some walls, would you use the same kind? I would really appreciate any info. Thanks for your help!
it all depends what you encounter once you start digging in. if you're going to try and re-use the exterior trim then you're going to have to keep the wall dimensions the same . for me 1/4" luan on both inside and outside worked well. but it wasnt enough structurally which was why i had to rely on the contact cement forming to the foam panels for the rigidity i was after.
Wow. 15 days of labor ! It's so nice, it's a shame to cut holes in it, no ? i just talked to a guy with a tioga that needs a new roof. It's smaller, and does not leak now, but one 18" section of plywood has delaminted and he tore off a 2 by 2 section of rubber hitting a tree branch. IDK.
Do you have any photos of what the roof looked like without the rubber membrane? I'm trying to see how the superstructure is built but the camera is moving so quickly and the shots cut so quickly that I can't get a good look. I'm about to do a similar repair myself and I want to know what to expect
can't you just pause it? at 1 minute 34 seconds that's about the best you're going to see. then there's another view from inside at 25 to 29 seconds. it's a quick pan but you should be able to pause it. watch it from a PC. smartphones can be quirky and hard to pause.
What did you use on the inside roof? Vinyl wall paper? What did you use for glue sprays? Seams inside? I think I will use the roll on rubber roof, but the ceiling has be stymied.
+Bill S Still haven't actually finished the interior. i found this soft/flexible spackle i'm going to use for the seams and then just paint the ceiling white with a good exterior rust-oleum. with the moisture and temperature variance i was told indoor paint really isn't going to cut it. didn't spray anything glue wise, i just used the Dap WeldWood Contact Cement and brushed it on. It was the green can, non-flammable version. the red was too thick and would eat the foam so you need to use the right stuff otherwise all the foam would be gone. really surprising and not exaggerating.
the rubber sheet? i dont quite know what you're asking. it's basic rv rubber roof material. i think i bought it on ebay, it was not anything name brand it was cheap.
I dont know what you mean by termination bar. there were strips of steel glued to the foam on mine so what i tried to do was install steel flashing to the top side of the lower sheet of the roof just to give the screws something more to bite into. havent had any problems. but if you have leaks in the corners i dont know how that info will help you. you need find and stop the water from entering.
Nothing special. razor blade and the PVC pipe was holding the rubber up tight in that spot. i just drug the razor around the 1/4" lip of the PVC then stretched it over the pipe and slid it down. you wind up creating a ton of holes in the roof anyway for screws, vents, etc... as long as you clean the rubber properly with denatured alcohol and then apply the dicor lap sealant you're good to go.
I tried to stagger the upper and lower seams so there was never and upper and lower one on the same cross member. all the way forward on top was only about a 12" panel, the mating one underneath was 4' and that kept it going sort of alternating top/bottom/top/bottom the rest of the way back. The framing was aluminum and one crossmember would in no way shape or form support a person's weight on its own. The strength came from that design and all the foam/plywood with construction adhesive. Kind of scary really. But it came out solid as hell.
well mine is off and I basically going to span the 92" across and just cut each piece for as wide of a run I can make to the next steel frame stud center than take off and do it again as far as I can reach to next steel center...yeah scary looking, gluing in the new headliner luan seems as though it will be tricky as well lol...the luan on top was so worn the ac's had dipped where the frame was so I propped each opening up to get a small arc otherwise I could see the water pooling.. I am using 1" stainless self drilling screws to attach the 11/32 plywood to the steel structure... my fears were a seam of plywood with no support under it
yeah but the thing is can you really rely on the steel for the strength?? I propped it up from the inside to keep the curve, screwed up the luan to the aluminum, then glued down the styrofoam panels with an adequate amount of weight and let sit for several days to fully cure. then only after that's done the top panel got glued down the same way. Take two panels of luan and glue them sandwich style over a piece of foam. you'd be amazed how strong it is. Unless your roof is vastly different design wise that's where your strength is coming from.
Good Morning Chris Iverson. Yes, your video has been helpful. I need to know what wood you used when you replace the rood, was it 3/4 " or 1/2" ? I'm 60 years old and my husband passed away on Aug 26, 2016. It's been heart breaking to say the least. I have to replace the entire roof on my 42' Fifth Wheel. The roof is spongy and I have been patching it with Henrys Rubberized Wet Patch, which apparently only comes in black. Anyway, Did you put down a moisture barrior? if so, at what point? I know the membrane is going to cost me at least $750.00 plus shipping. I also couldn't make out what type of adhesive you used? Please help me, if you can. I am dealing with a real mess. Thank You Chris
Cheryl, I'll try and answer all of your questions - the wood was the super thin 1/4" thick Luan. It had to match what was used previously. Keep in mind that may not apply to the design of your roof. For mine the strength was obtained by gluing the luan to the pre-formed foam panels that were re-used. no way would i have been able to use the blue foam insulation boards they sell in the big box hardware stores.
The glue i used was Dap Weldwood Contact cement. brushed it on and then used weight to form a best effort 'press fit'. be careful on the glues/adhesives you use. some are solvent based and will completely deteriorate styrofoam. sounds silly, i thought so too, but i tested this and the solvent types will turn a 1" foam board to a paper thin glob of mess.
There really was no moisture barrier. I felt the rubber membrane needed to be glued directly to the rough wood surface to adhere properly. That's a judgement call i suppose.
I could have sworn that you said, you clamped some Styrofoam together, or with something else. I'm such a mess right now, I'm sure I'm not making much sense at all. Thank You for your time Chris Iverson
Dap Weldwood Contact cement. The Low solvent version. the regular version and alot of other glues will melt the styrofoam - no joke. tested it and it just disintegrates. I'd pour some on and then use a paintbrush to spread it out.
Thanks bud' I have all the ceiling tore down and the Styrofoam is all there in good shape (kinda) and the roof the plywood is just pealing off so gonna try and glue the luan to the ceiling then take off the roof .
scub man out of all the work involved covering and uncovering was a big chunk of it. I bought a thick heavy 40 foot tarp and at the end of each day it had to be tied down again. Throughout the 3+ mos of working on it it had to sustain some pretty windy storms so it was like an hour just to get it tied down properly and weighted on top just in case.
I think it was 32' of rubber and the roof portion was 30' for a 35' overall length RV. nothing beats a measurement. you're going to want 12" of excess on the front and rear.
I also noticed that the original rubber went underneath the front and rear shell and probably dangled. interesting design so if your front or rear seam failed water would run off the roof anyway. i was unwilling to remove the fiberglass caps so i just cut it to length and plan to re-seal the seams as needed
+Prepper Mountain (Prepper Mountain MD) You have no idea.. haha. They build these things like total crap. necessary for weight savings but really annoying to rebuild relying so much on foam, thin plywood, and contact cement for integrity. The aluminum cross members by them selves would not even hold me and I'm only 165 lbs.
it's hard to compare the two. i'd say yes this is worse. floor pans you gotta what - take out seats, carpet, etc... cut the metal, weld new in? sounds like a few weekends of work whereas this was an entire summer working nights and weekends, with lots of time off work. it's not a metalworking process or a woodworking one either it's kind of it's own animal.
i do go over that in my commentary and yes i agree. this job was crazy, only take it on if you have a similar insanity going on in your head. the plywood was super thin and you had foam panels sandwiched in-between. I used 1/4" Luan which was the closest fit, it worked perfectly. but you have to realize - first and foremost - the aluminum and wood WILL NOT hold the structure. i used dap weldwood contact cement. i went through several gallons. you cant use just anything, many adhesives will melt the styrofoam and i saw this first had while testing. the dap weldwood held up well.
Also, i'm happy to report it's holding up great. the vehicle goes down the road completely differently. it was like a loose shoe box before and now the whole thing feels solid. it was a night and day difference i couldn't believe the first time i drove it. now we're 3 years later i'm im still happily running it. no issues with the roof repair it doesnt leak and is still very strong.
So once you have removed roof and have exposed the metal beams running across rv. And you added ply wood roof down what are you screwing the plywood roof into? Those metal beams?I guess my actual question is what is securing the plywood roof down.
I need materials to build cabinets for my RV, I don't want to use white and I can't find wood grain stuff anywhere... Solid wood is too heavy... I'm wondering what to do about this but the cabinets in my RV are trash, they got wet and are disintegrating.
that's a tough one. i'm sure big box stores wont know, they only know item numbers of what they carry for homes. you might try a local cabinet retailer who does custom stuff, they may be able to point you in the right direction for where to buy the materials. how about places like camping world??
it was 1/4" luan from Lowe's. would have loved to have gone thicker but you had the cabinets and the upper trim there and had to maintain an exact dimension. this is why the glue and foam 'bridge' structure is so important. idk what your roof's design is. every application will be different.
It makes one wonder for as much engineering that goes into one of these motor homes- Why didn't they do it right the first time at the factory? Mine is a 90 model and has seams in the roof everywhere. To me, a seam in the roof is invitation to failure and the engineering dept. should have known a stupid idea when they see one. A roof should me engineered properly and built with proper materials with out any seams.
+Robby Gee Agreed... However when my parents purchased this RV brand new in 1992 this one was ~$55,000 and the so called 'properly built' ones were $200k on up to $650k. Proper chassis allows for the weight capacity for the proper materials to do it right. And so on to higher paid engineers, staff, attention to detail. you get what you pay for. Nobody in the middle class could ever justify a several hundred thousand dollar rig so you buy the cheap one and make due. And at that, fwiw, it does the job. If we kept up on the rubber this job would never have been necessary.
100% correct. At any rate, I looked up this video for a reason, and it helped me immensely. I now know what I am in for. This project is now properly engineered without the degree. LOL!
Just sharing how I removed my travel trailer slide out for a repair - in my driveway and without heavy equipment. ua-cam.com/video/DIJdIUpae3M/v-deo.html
+Chris Iversen I'm very impressed by your patience and the quality of your work. I had to do extensive work on an RV once, and it was quite difficult. Kudos to you. Most RV's are junk in various stages of decay. And I've always shied away from motorhomes because of the added complexity. cheers.
cost of ownership and operation on this one is dramatically lower vs payments on a new/used RV. I'm also the type of person that needs a project to keep busy and, well, this certainly was a project... $$ investment was minimal though. couple thousand dollars is nothing on a project like that. it was all labor. Bottom line though - I still have an RV to enjoy and if i junked it it'd probably be a decade before i could replace it financially.
You are a better man than I, Chris. That is a major undertaking but you saved the old motorhome's life. Nice job.
+Marion Blair Thanks for the kind words. I'm blown away how much feedback i'm getting on this video. maybe i'll post a followup. Last summer I finished the rest and kept pecking away at the smaller parts. One day i'll be done! haha. Not really.
Wow I know this video is old but thank you for making it. I never would’ve thought it would’ve cost that much
Tearing the roof off the camper due to a major leak. This really helped to see what I'm getting into. Thank you!
***** no problem.. glad it helped. I wish this job on on-one... didnt continue it until last week. it's grueling and un-rewarding :( At least now i'm at the point where it is watertight with AC's and trim so i can take my time with the rest and not have to untarp/retarp.
YOU did an awesome job!!! i've watched your video and loved it! i too am just your regular joe and this has got'n me over the fear of tackling my camper's roof repair in the spring! Thank you again!!
Thx for the video chris! I just bought a 78 motorhome and I have some soft spot that are going to have to be redone. This will be a big under taking for me but Im up to it as long as the weather stays nice this summer. I have no help so will be doing this on my own ;)
Chris, I have a 1994 Ford Royal. I need to replace my whole roof like this as well as the ceiling inside. I have to do a couple walls too :( . This made me have a little more conference to try and do it myself
cool glad it helped. if i had it to do over (and the proper budget) i'd love to have bought a pop up garage. tarping and untarping every day for months was terrible. but other than that if you don't mind the work it can be done and it didn't cost all that much. just alot of time and energy.
My 1978 wilderness is having to be redone because of major hail damage. This video will be very useful. Thank you.
You worked hard and now it is worth it. I hope. Thanks. I am about to do the same to my 1992 30 foot rv
You did do one hell of a bang up job !! Awesome work.
your deck help you a lot and park next to house. great job
Thank you... I may be up against something similar. Well done on keeping on point.
Really good job. I hope you have been able to enjoy many trips going forward from this repair.
Nice job. I'm not surprised that you could do a better job than the 18 year old at the RV repair facility. I can just imagine how much you saved by DIY.
Very helpful Chris! I've patched up some issues in a recently acquired 2004 but believe I will do a full roof replacement this spring. Including how long it took you and the cost were very helpful in giving me some ideas of what I'm in for.
thanks I redid a 4x8 section thanks to your example. cost 180 and my time
Excellent work. Nice job.....real patient craftsmanship.
Thanks for the video, it was informative so at least I know what I am getting into!
Awsome job.i am getting ready to rip into inside of roof on mine.thank you
Very useful video! I have a roof or part of a roof to replace or repair. How do you take the existing/old roofing material off?
Great video Chris!
Great effort and video tho. Thanks for the tips
This video is very useful you think you can do this kind of job or somebody else and how much will it cost?
Any contractor or handyman capable of taking something like this on is going to charge anywhere from $25/hour to $50/hour. I had about 15 full days of labor and so that would be $3000 - $6000 in labor plus whatever it costs for materials in your case. My material cost @ $1500 was super cheap i could never believe how inexpensive that job was outside of the labor and I always knew i was de-valuing my time for this project but at least it got done.
Very nice work!
I'm agreeing with Chelsea Faye! & I am finding it extremely helpful! I plan to tear down & reframe my Class C.
Great video, would be better if you could slow down pans. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Certainly cured me of the thought that I might purchase an RV that has water damage and try to fix it myself 😖
oh yeah. i figure my labor on this was worth not a penny less than $10,000. The job sucked the soul out of me. Fortunately this rig belonged to my parents and after the work was complete they gave it to me. Still, 5 years later, i'm still running and maintaining a 25+ year old motorhome with all the little things you'd expect. kind of sucks.
@@mtnhillsman how's that going for you now?
Hi Chris,
Amaaaaazing job! Looks so hard and difficult! I just bought a 1990 and discovered some mold walls that I didn´t expect... :o What kind of panels did you use for the ceiling? I need to replace some walls, would you use the same kind? I would really appreciate any info. Thanks for your help!
it all depends what you encounter once you start digging in. if you're going to try and re-use the exterior trim then you're going to have to keep the wall dimensions the same . for me 1/4" luan on both inside and outside worked well. but it wasnt enough structurally which was why i had to rely on the contact cement forming to the foam panels for the rigidity i was after.
great job thanks for the video
Wow. 15 days of labor ! It's so nice, it's a shame to cut holes in it, no ? i just talked to a guy with a tioga that needs a new roof. It's smaller, and does not leak now, but one 18" section of plywood has delaminted and he tore off a 2 by 2 section of rubber hitting a tree branch. IDK.
After watching so many videos I still haven't figure out if the roof frame of a camper trailer is metal or wood. LOL
Always check the inside and outside of you're roof ,always. !
Do you have any photos of what the roof looked like without the rubber membrane? I'm trying to see how the superstructure is built but the camera is moving so quickly and the shots cut so quickly that I can't get a good look. I'm about to do a similar repair myself and I want to know what to expect
can't you just pause it? at 1 minute 34 seconds that's about the best you're going to see. then there's another view from inside at 25 to 29 seconds. it's a quick pan but you should be able to pause it. watch it from a PC. smartphones can be quirky and hard to pause.
What kind of tools do you need for a job like this?
What did you use on the inside roof? Vinyl wall paper? What did you use for glue sprays?
Seams inside?
I think I will use the roll on rubber roof, but the ceiling has be stymied.
+Bill S Still haven't actually finished the interior. i found this soft/flexible spackle i'm going to use for the seams and then just paint the ceiling white with a good exterior rust-oleum. with the moisture and temperature variance i was told indoor paint really isn't going to cut it.
didn't spray anything glue wise, i just used the Dap WeldWood Contact Cement and brushed it on. It was the green can, non-flammable version. the red was too thick and would eat the foam so you need to use the right stuff otherwise all the foam would be gone. really surprising and not exaggerating.
Nice job....What is the big roll that you put at the end for to cover the roff? company
brand? I need to buy. Thanks.
the rubber sheet? i dont quite know what you're asking. it's basic rv rubber roof material. i think i bought it on ebay, it was not anything name brand it was cheap.
Hi I was wondering where the cabinets screwed into termination bar or the roof because my rv gets leaks from the coners of my cabanits .
I dont know what you mean by termination bar. there were strips of steel glued to the foam on mine so what i tried to do was install steel flashing to the top side of the lower sheet of the roof just to give the screws something more to bite into. havent had any problems. but if you have leaks in the corners i dont know how that info will help you. you need find and stop the water from entering.
Thank you very much for trying to answer my question
You can see how cheaply made they are but they're sold for thousands of dollars
what is the best way to cut for the sewage vent? yours looks very flush what is the method you used?
Nothing special. razor blade and the PVC pipe was holding the rubber up tight in that spot. i just drug the razor around the 1/4" lip of the PVC then stretched it over the pipe and slid it down. you wind up creating a ton of holes in the roof anyway for screws, vents, etc... as long as you clean the rubber properly with denatured alcohol and then apply the dicor lap sealant you're good to go.
What kind of wood is that? Plywood? Waterproof?
it's your basic cheap luan 1/4" sheets. Nothing else really would have worked without re-doing the edge trim and moving down the cabinets.
How did you account for the steel grid not being spaced for 4' or 8' centers?
I tried to stagger the upper and lower seams so there was never and upper and lower one on the same cross member. all the way forward on top was only about a 12" panel, the mating one underneath was 4' and that kept it going sort of alternating top/bottom/top/bottom the rest of the way back. The framing was aluminum and one crossmember would in no way shape or form support a person's weight on its own. The strength came from that design and all the foam/plywood with construction adhesive. Kind of scary really. But it came out solid as hell.
well mine is off and I basically going to span the 92" across and just cut each piece for as wide of a run I can make to the next steel frame stud center than take off and do it again as far as I can reach to next steel center...yeah scary looking, gluing in the new headliner luan seems as though it will be tricky as well lol...the luan on top was so worn the ac's had dipped where the frame was so I propped each opening up to get a small arc otherwise I could see the water pooling.. I am using 1" stainless self drilling screws to attach the 11/32 plywood to the steel structure... my fears were a seam of plywood with no support under it
yeah but the thing is can you really rely on the steel for the strength?? I propped it up from the inside to keep the curve, screwed up the luan to the aluminum, then glued down the styrofoam panels with an adequate amount of weight and let sit for several days to fully cure. then only after that's done the top panel got glued down the same way. Take two panels of luan and glue them sandwich style over a piece of foam. you'd be amazed how strong it is. Unless your roof is vastly different design wise that's where your strength is coming from.
thanks so much BIG help
hat adhesive did you use on the Styrofoam?
Good Morning Chris Iverson. Yes, your video has been helpful. I need to know what wood you used when you replace the rood, was it 3/4 " or 1/2" ? I'm 60 years old and my husband passed away on Aug 26, 2016. It's been heart breaking to say the least. I have to replace the entire roof on my 42' Fifth Wheel. The roof is spongy and I have been patching it with Henrys Rubberized Wet Patch, which apparently only comes in black. Anyway, Did you put down a moisture barrior? if so, at what point? I know the membrane is going to cost me at least $750.00 plus shipping. I also couldn't make out what type of adhesive you used? Please help me, if you can. I am dealing with a real mess. Thank You Chris
Cheryl, I'll try and answer all of your questions - the wood was the super thin 1/4" thick Luan. It had to match what was used previously. Keep in mind that may not apply to the design of your roof. For mine the strength was obtained by gluing the luan to the pre-formed foam panels that were re-used. no way would i have been able to use the blue foam insulation boards they sell in the big box hardware stores.
The glue i used was Dap Weldwood Contact cement. brushed it on and then used weight to form a best effort 'press fit'. be careful on the glues/adhesives you use. some are solvent based and will completely deteriorate styrofoam. sounds silly, i thought so too, but i tested this and the solvent types will turn a 1" foam board to a paper thin glob of mess.
There really was no moisture barrier. I felt the rubber membrane needed to be glued directly to the rough wood surface to adhere properly. That's a judgement call i suppose.
I could have sworn that you said, you clamped some Styrofoam together, or with something else. I'm such a mess right now, I'm sure I'm not making much sense at all. Thank You for your time Chris Iverson
What kind of glue did you use to glue the Luan to the form and the steel braces? Do you roll it on with a roller to both surfaces ?
Dap Weldwood Contact cement. The Low solvent version. the regular version and alot of other glues will melt the styrofoam - no joke. tested it and it just disintegrates. I'd pour some on and then use a paintbrush to spread it out.
Thanks bud' I have all the ceiling tore down and the Styrofoam is all there in good shape (kinda) and the roof the plywood is just pealing off so gonna try and glue the luan to the ceiling then take off the roof .
How keep the rain out in between working on it?
scub man out of all the work involved covering and uncovering was a big chunk of it. I bought a thick heavy 40 foot tarp and at the end of each day it had to be tied down again. Throughout the 3+ mos of working on it it had to sustain some pretty windy storms so it was like an hour just to get it tied down properly and weighted on top just in case.
What was the length and width of the rubber roof material you ordered, the reason for asking is I have the same Rv.
I think it was 32' of rubber and the roof portion was 30' for a 35' overall length RV. nothing beats a measurement. you're going to want 12" of excess on the front and rear.
I also noticed that the original rubber went underneath the front and rear shell and probably dangled. interesting design so if your front or rear seam failed water would run off the roof anyway. i was unwilling to remove the fiberglass caps so i just cut it to length and plan to re-seal the seams as needed
Hi Chris. Can you tell me how long this took? Thank you.
I think i counted like 8 full days off work. over a 3 month period it was nights and weekends practically nonstop in addition to 8 full days off work.
Decent Commentary, That means you cussed like hell when you were trying to figure out how they attached all that stuff!!!
+Prepper Mountain (Prepper Mountain MD) You have no idea.. haha. They build these things like total crap. necessary for weight savings but really annoying to rebuild relying so much on foam, thin plywood, and contact cement for integrity. The aluminum cross members by them selves would not even hold me and I'm only 165 lbs.
how much did it cost overall
Under $2000. I think it was around $1500 actually. I go over costs at the end of the video.
I've replaced entire floor pans in cars, is this worse?
it's hard to compare the two. i'd say yes this is worse. floor pans you gotta what - take out seats, carpet, etc... cut the metal, weld new in? sounds like a few weekends of work whereas this was an entire summer working nights and weekends, with lots of time off work. it's not a metalworking process or a woodworking one either it's kind of it's own animal.
copykon yes! Lol
what were all the materials involved? glue type, where you got materials and hows it holding up? only crazy ppl like us do this type of work lol
i do go over that in my commentary and yes i agree. this job was crazy, only take it on if you have a similar insanity going on in your head. the plywood was super thin and you had foam panels sandwiched in-between. I used 1/4" Luan which was the closest fit, it worked perfectly. but you have to realize - first and foremost - the aluminum and wood WILL NOT hold the structure. i used dap weldwood contact cement. i went through several gallons. you cant use just anything, many adhesives will melt the styrofoam and i saw this first had while testing. the dap weldwood held up well.
Also, i'm happy to report it's holding up great. the vehicle goes down the road completely differently. it was like a loose shoe box before and now the whole thing feels solid. it was a night and day difference i couldn't believe the first time i drove it. now we're 3 years later i'm im still happily running it. no issues with the roof repair it doesnt leak and is still very strong.
So once you have removed roof and have exposed the metal beams running across rv. And you added ply wood roof down what are you screwing the plywood roof into? Those metal beams?I guess my actual question is what is securing the plywood roof down.
Thank you.
I need materials to build cabinets for my RV, I don't want to use white and I can't find wood grain stuff anywhere... Solid wood is too heavy... I'm wondering what to do about this but the cabinets in my RV are trash, they got wet and are disintegrating.
that's a tough one. i'm sure big box stores wont know, they only know item numbers of what they carry for homes. you might try a local cabinet retailer who does custom stuff, they may be able to point you in the right direction for where to buy the materials. how about places like camping world??
thank you
what kind of plywood did you use would birch be good to use
it was 1/4" luan from Lowe's. would have loved to have gone thicker but you had the cabinets and the upper trim there and had to maintain an exact dimension. this is why the glue and foam 'bridge' structure is so important. idk what your roof's design is. every application will be different.
YOU ~ ROCK ! !
Omg! What a NIGHTMARE! D:
Thank you for the video
It makes one wonder for as much engineering that goes into one of these motor homes- Why didn't they do it right the first time at the factory? Mine is a 90 model and has seams in the roof everywhere. To me, a seam in the roof is invitation to failure and the engineering dept. should have known a stupid idea when they see one. A roof should me engineered properly and built with proper materials with out any seams.
+Robby Gee Agreed... However when my parents purchased this RV brand new in 1992 this one was ~$55,000 and the so called 'properly built' ones were $200k on up to $650k. Proper chassis allows for the weight capacity for the proper materials to do it right. And so on to higher paid engineers, staff, attention to detail. you get what you pay for. Nobody in the middle class could ever justify a several hundred thousand dollar rig so you buy the cheap one and make due. And at that, fwiw, it does the job. If we kept up on the rubber this job would never have been necessary.
100% correct. At any rate, I looked up this video for a reason, and it helped me immensely. I now know what I am in for. This project is now properly engineered without the degree. LOL!
Just sharing how I removed my travel trailer slide out for a repair - in my driveway and without heavy equipment. ua-cam.com/video/DIJdIUpae3M/v-deo.html
OMG!!! A fire would have been so much easier.
+Paul Darling Haha.. believe me my mind continues to wander in that direction.
+Chris Iversen I'm very impressed by your patience and the quality of your work. I had to do extensive work on an RV once, and it was quite difficult. Kudos to you. Most RV's are junk in various stages of decay. And I've always shied away from motorhomes because of the added complexity. cheers.
slow down pans
why would anyone spend so much time and money on a$1,000 RV
cost of ownership and operation on this one is dramatically lower vs payments on a new/used RV. I'm also the type of person that needs a project to keep busy and, well, this certainly was a project... $$ investment was minimal though. couple thousand dollars is nothing on a project like that. it was all labor. Bottom line though - I still have an RV to enjoy and if i junked it it'd probably be a decade before i could replace it financially.