[slinamen]

While getting ready to camping a few weeks ago our camper got hit directly by lightning. It hit the radio ant. and put a hole the size of a baseball in the wood. We did a quick fix eternabond patch job. It doesn't leak but I want to repair the wood. I have read up as much as I could find. Most info is just leaks at seams or large rot problems.

Any input would be great. Here is what I plan to do:

Cut a flap in the rubber roofing to access the wood/ damaged area. Cut out and replace the wood from brace to brace ( not sure how far between the alum. braces) as small an area as possible. Then seal around the patched wood with some type of liquid roofing. Lay rubber roof flap back down and seal with Eternabond on all seams I cut.

How does that sound?

The camper is a 2005 Kodiak. The rubber roof is in very good condition.

 

[jackw]

Just out of curiosity, since it was a lightning hit, would that not be covered by insurance so you could have it done professionally. According to my agent, my travel trailer when parked at my house is an extension of my house so it is covered for such incidents.

May be something to look at.

Jack

 

[slinamen]

it was covered by insurance. The local RV shop wanted the replace the entire rubber roof and a small piece of wood. I don't want to have all the trim pulled, AC unit, vents, etc... and hope its all put back right without leaks. I have no leaks now, just want to repair the small hole. under the patch I put on.

I have since decided that since the hole is small to fiberglass it instead of cutting a bigger piece of wood and larger seam to seal in the rubber roof with Eternabond tape. I will take pics and do a post on the repair.

 

[mailfire99]

Interested to see this and how it goes. A bigger piece of wood would be ideal, however a lot of work if the hole can be patched like you say with fiberglass or something and not be prone to sinking under load or pressure from rain etc... You could end up cutting a lot of roof to replace a section of wood.

 

[slinamen]

I was unable to take pics.

The roof wood is only 1/4 paneling with 2" on foam attached. I was shocked to see such a thin layer. The edges of the wood sat on 2" square alum. tube braces. The hole was only about 4" x 6". I cut a three sided flap about 12" x 18" and folded it towards the front of the camper. I filled missing foam with the foam that came with the new TV I had to replace. I made sure it was below level. I cut a total of 6 pieces of fiberglass cloth. 2 were the size of the hole and the remaining were larger. Each piece of the larger cloth was larger than the one under it to help taper it and for each piece to attach to the existing roof. Once the resin set up, I used a fiberglass enforced filler, duraglass, to finish the surface. I sanded with 80 grit and then finished off with 220 grit with my DA.

I used some spray glue to hold the rubber roof flap back down. The manufacturer used some type of sticky lite glue. I them sealed the cut seam with 4" eternabond tape. I found a 50' roll for $59 shipped. All the local shops wanted $90-$100 for the same roll. The repaired section is solid, smooth and besides the tape , you would not know there was a hole there. Total cost of repair was around $150, a savings of $5200!!!