New BF owner...holes in roof

[Kajun]

Hello everyone! ..I’m a new owner of a 1998 BF 24 rear bath ...I’m coming from an Airstream B190 Class B which I totally remodeled, I love all the extra room I now have before I can start camping My BF needs alil work ..It had an old delta tv antenna( was leaking) and old winguard satellite ...I removed both of them which has left me some holes , 2 go completely through roof, rest are old screw holes ...I’m experienced in fiberglass/composite repair so what I’m looking for is the consensus of the group on which would be the best way to fill and repair these holes...before I start grinding off gel coat

My idea was going to be grind down gelcoat to expose fiberglass and then fill large holes with a wooden plug using 3M 5200 to secure it in place, then fiberglass over area ...at that point roll a roof coating on top of entire roof like a Henry’s tropic-cool or a silicone based roof coating ..

Is there a better way? Or preferred method? Thanks in advance ..look forward to participating in this group and sharing my BF journey

[KevinVT]

Hello and welcome!

Let me start by saying I think you have more experience that me in this area, I have never worked with fiberglass... but I will share my experience since I just removed my Delta about 2 weeks ago. I have a 2003 24RB.

I used a product called Thiox Thickened Epoxy Adhesive, something a boat builder friend of mine suggested. First I used a check of insulation foam to plug the hole, the kind of stuff you get in sheets at Lowes/Home Depot that is green or pick. I cut a round plug and jammed it in the larger hole good and left it inserted a bit so I could see the fiberglass level. On the inside I has some softer foam (like you might find in a puck and form hard device case) and I placed that over the hole and held it with some tape. I then bought a $18 LED light (battery operated) from Amazon and mounted it just to cover up the place the old antenna crank was located. And now I have a cool multi color LED that lights up the interior on 3 C batteries.. so I can save a little on the coach batteries.

The Thiox once hard can be sanded, drilled, painted, etc. Its easy to work with and appears to be pretty solid. I have used it a few other places on the fiberglass to fix minor issues. My plan is to sand a little more (I did a 2nd coat since the images to make sure I was overlapping the seam) and paint... I might even coat the area with some Dicor EPDM Self-Leveling Lap Sealant in the end (which would just be overkill but give a little safety), but so far I have not seen any evidence of leaking from the Thiox. I plan to maybe install a solar panel here in the future... and not too many folks climb on the roof so I didn't think it needed to look perfect. Here are a few images:













I hope this helps.

[perleys]

Great job and very creative!

[Kajun]

Thanks for the reply Kevin! Your repair seems to be a sound one .. I’m probably gonna go the fiberglass route.. I just got my new maxxair fan in and I removed the old fantastic fan today .. should be a fun week

[Alpenliter]

I would hesitate to use any type of the coatings you described. The fiberglass roof is a very low maintenance
Roof. Having just recoated my 33’ fifth wheel, I can attest to the ease of maintenance of the BF. If you coat it, the nature of the coatings is to attract dirt and pollen and other pollutants. Now you have a chore. The nature of fiberglass pretty much eliminates that chore. Good luck on your repair!