RV/Camper roof replacement cost?
General Topic
Just wondering in the past few years if you had to replace your RV/camper roof what was the cost?
Also what was the length of your camper?
Lol no just a rubber roof that needs replacing
I replaced one on a 5th wheel about 7 years ago. I'd recommend getting another RV with less leaks/roof damage or cover it with a permanent type cover. It gets expensive. The guy that replaced mine said "if people got to see how these things are manufactured, they'd never buy one".
My next RV will be an Air Stream.
What was your cost to replace and how long was it Rick
I had a complete water line replacement and half of the front portion of the roof replaced (wood, insulation, wiring and telescoping antenna reset), , it was around $4500, if memory serves me right. This was on a 20 ft, 89' model 5th wheel. I got hosed. Personally, I'd buy another one or cover it.
Buy a few buckets of tar and go to town. Cost ya $50 bucks tops.
Kelly, There are companies that are spraying on a roof that is the same material or very close to pickup bed liner. On some of the rv forums there has been good reviews on it and it is about half the cost of a rubber roof if I remember correctly. Research it online.
35 foot aspen trail ...travel trailer..6000.00
Had a tree fall on my 28 foot toyhauler this spring in a windstorm. Insurance company advised me to take it a local dealer and get a quote. To replace the rubber roof, and fix the bent up fridge exhaust vent the quote was 8800.
I only paid 17k for the used 2009 Forest River Stealth. I talked to my agent, and got a check for the repair less my deductible. The roof had two tears in the rubber, went to the RV parts store and bought a roll of the sticky roof repair stuff. Cost me $10, and has worked great so far.
As a side note, we get summer hail storms here. RV dealership had a 6-8 month back log of hail damage repairs before they could work on mine, if I chose to go that route.
Go buy yourself some of that flex seal and roll it on.
Thanks guys I appreciate these comments.
I am not looking at having mine done and I plan on doing it myself.
As some of you know I've owned a roofing company for about 18 years now.
I was asking cost and length to look at what is being charged out there!
I am thinking of starting a RV roof repair/replace business.
Just like residential roofing there are many people who are afraid of heights or afraid of doing it wrong. So they hire folks like me to do it.
Example my cost in top of the line materials is around 100.00 per square in roofing so a roof that is 30 square or 3000sf materials is roughly 3000.00 but the average rate to replace a roof in Ohio is around 320.00 a square.
So material cost is 3000.00 but fee is 9000.00 after labor, taxes, and workers comp is paid the rest is profit$$$$
I was trying to see what kind of average price there was nationally per linear foot.
Anymore prices and lengths would be appreciated!
Somewhere in the $5000-$7000 range is realistic dependent on what may be damaged underneath of the rubber roof.
It is a requirement to replace the wood substrate that the rubber is glued to due to the way the glue cures. For those prices you should get new wood, new A/C seal, new skylights, new holding tank vents, new refrigerator vent, and metal trim pieces.
We do quite a few every year (just finished a 42'er), and I don't mind getting more in depth if you would like.
Kelly top of line roof here in my part of NY is about 240 a square. I had a small camper, 18 footer and had the roof replaced 5 years ago and it was 2200. My insurance company paid for it or I would of not had it done and would of attempted it myself. Shawn
Son did his 30' 5th wheel this past summer. Cut new rafters, redecked and new rubber. Not sure what it cost, but I'm betting it wasn't much, he's cheep. He has about 50' of roofing left on the roll if you're interested.
I took an early '80,s trailer thru a herd of elk one night. When I started the repair I discovered how much of the wood was mush. Ended up peeling both front and back to the mid part of the roof. Not pretty, but I ended up with a pretty solid camper thanks to liquid nail, scabbed in wood, and Torx screws. Took me a long time and only a retiree would want to even start.
Sort of like grabbing the tiny tail of a snake in your wood pile. You won't know how long or big the snake is until you get to the end.
Son had a large pop up with a slide out (25 ft). Had to replace the roof because the bike carrier on the roof started to leak from the screw penetrations. $1200 from our local dealer...but he is the only guy that would even quote. No other dealers wanted to touch it.
Pain in the A$$. I've done a 16' Scotty front clip plus part of the roof, and put a new floor in a ALiner pop up camper. They go way over board with the staple nailer!!! Thought the Aliner would come out of the garage after two weekends, ended up being 2 1/2 months. But only 900 dollars. LOL
I got an estimate last year for replacement of the decking and the EPDM skin on my 27' Wildwood. It was $4200. Didn't need the decking done and I researched re-coating the EPDM online, ordered the stuff and did it my self for about $150.
Kelly if you can do them at a reasonable rate you'll be swamped. My employer (State Health Department) just scrapped a mobile dental office trailer because of a roof leak. Repair wasn't cost effective.
Well I just finished with my roof I put a EDPM roof on it.
All together about 8 hours of labor! I used right at 6 gallons.
Cost was just at 700.00 I did it myself.
Kelly, Did you strip off the old membrane and then install the new EDPM? Please tell us how you went about it and prepped.
No I pressure washed the old membrane and literally hands and knees scrubbed the hell out of it. I washed it down 3 times. Two of those times scrubbing the roof with a medium bristle brush.
This camper sat under a walnut grove for the last three years. It was ungodly filthy!l
We removed the max vents and raised the antenna when we cleaned it.
That took I believe 3 3/4 hours. We let the roof dry for a week or two. Lol
Due to work schedule at 12.5 a day I wasn’t able to get to it until today.
I bought 7 gallons a 5 gallon bucket and 2 one gallon buckets.
I used a 1 gallon to cut in al the way around the edges and items on top the roof. I bought a 1 gallon kit it included a brush and a small mixer for a drill to mix the catalyst into the EDPM.
I also bought a large turbo mixer for the 5 gallon bucket.
My camper is 34 or 36 feet long?
When I got to the camper today I took a new straw broom and swept the entire roof there wasn’t much on it except a fixed or so helicopter seeds.
I will say this in the future I will wear 1 size to small latex gloves.
The directions said to pour out and squeegee then roll. After watching 20 YouTube videos I decided to not use the squeegee and just use a roller.
I used a cloth roller ($9.50) and just dipped it in the 5 gallon bucket the pushed and pulled the material across the roof.
The edges when I was cutting in I saw where the old membrane was pulling up from the side hold down brackets.
So I applied a heavy coat over those edges.
I used frog tape to tape off all the way around the camper so I had a good clean line from the aluminum to the EDPM roof. I will use the blue tape next time to see if it doesn’t stick so much.
This was going to be a 2 man job but ended up being one except for about 45 minutes of pressure washing the roof.
It took about 3 hours to complete this evening. So a total of 7-8 hours?
I am sore as hell. I do blue collar work in a brewery but this was a tad rough! Lol
Items purchased to do this entire job.
Dawn dishwashing liquid EDPM chemical Paint roller bracket Paint roller pad Frog tape New cheap gym shoes so no dirt EDPM 1 gallon kit included 1 gallon and mixers.
I am definitely going to get into this business of doing these roofs.
Looks like I can come in way under the market here in the Cincinnati area including material at $120.00LF and if any bowsiters want me to do theirs I will do it for $70.00LF or if you live near Cincinnati lol. Or you can fly me out to your place ;0)
Owning a roofing company for last 18 years sure made this easier and I learned a bunch on just this one job.
I’ve done plenty of EDPM roofs on actual residential and business roof tops but this I will say was a lot different. It took much more finesse than a regular roof.
The biggest thing I can stress is taping off your camper so everything has a professional clean look to it.
I will get more photos in a day or two when the sun is high in the sky.
That’s all black walnut funk!
That’s all black walnut funk!
Very interesting tread here thanks for sharing.
I guess we have two choices. 1. Haul our RVs to Kelly 2. Make sure insurance is paid up and torch it.
Lol DL you can fly me out to you as well
Here is the weather forecast.
I will say this the manufacturer of the EDPM says you have a 3.5 to 4 hour window to get this product down.
I seriously doubt you will have 4 hours and 2 minutes maximum to get it down. At a cost of almost $700.00 you better make sure you know what your doing and the weather and everything is on your side!!!
That’s a lot of money to not throw away.
I will have more to come on this thread as how I plan on getting all of the moisture out that got into the camper.
There isn’t much as the roof wasn’t mush but I know some got in.
One of my best friends owns US Flood Team and he told me how to get this camper 100% dry in a few easy steps.
I forgot to mention it takes 24 hours for the skin to develop and 72 hours until you can walk on it.
Just to make sure it’s done and cured well I am going to wait 7 days until I climb on roof and re-install the Max air vents!
I have done two of them like Kelly did... A few things I did a little different. after pressure washing, no real scrubing (only a little here and there) I gently wiped it down with acetone. I used the squeegee and it worked great for quick spreading, then roll it smooth. I also taped off my sides so I wouldn't get any drips, and it looks great! I didn't remove my vents, I just opened them, it worked fine. A heavier cut in around all edges seems to work very well. I also used an EPDM caulking and tape if I felt there was any real bad spots on the roof. That worked out great and only added a little bit of labor. If I was going to do it for someone else for a 20-22 footer, I would probably charge $600.00 labor or so and go up from there. That's still way cheaper than full replacement. Or, I'll do the labor and pay for materials, then you take me hunting:)
The roof installed by
roof repair experts looks great, they have done great work on it.
Don't forget the last step. Re-weigh the trailer when you're done, especially if adding membrane over the existing roof. From my observations traveling extensively over the past few summers, I strongly suspect most rigs are overloaded already. I know I was surprised the first time I put mine (new, ready for travel) on the scales.
I suppose if I wanted to get all the moisture out of a room (or camper)....I'd put a few dehumidifiers in there and let them do the work.
You guys would do a lot better by maintaining your equipment. As expensive as RV roofs are, proper care would go along way to saving money. They need to be cleaned and treated at least twice a year. More if they are left out in the open all the time. That's also a good time to inspect it for any damage and to check the sealant condition. Mine is parked under a high carport roof that keeps most rain off and, except for a few hours in the morning, shades it. Snow does drift onto it, so I broom that off also. I clean and treat it when winterizing it and again when de-winterizing. Neglecting a roof like the photos Kelly posted is just asking for expensive repairs.
How’s the hunting up there Kelly???
This is why I built an addition on my shed for my camper when I bought it. It’s completely under roof with walls on 3 sides. I know how much damage the sun can do.
Had the same thought mule power. Never met him, but always thought he would be great to share a camp with. Again Rest In Peace Kelly
RIP, Kelly!
I'm about to install a rubber roof coating on mine. The folks I trust at my local RV place said it will add 10 years to a roof. A gallon costs about $95 but will do my camper, and I figure it's a good investment even if it only adds half that time.
I see this thread is a bit old, but I thought I'd chime in on the RV/camper roof replacement question. The cost depends on the length of your camper and the type of roof you're looking to replace. If you're not sure where to start, I highly recommend reaching out to
https://www.theroofersofportstlucie.com/ . They're experts when it comes to roofs and can give you a better idea of what you're looking at in terms of cost. Plus, they can help you make sure you're using the best materials for the job and that the replacement is done right. So don't hesitate to give them a call if you're in need of some roof replacement advice.
