Removing Liquid Applied Roof Coating (and other Roof Questions)

J

james wack

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Nov 8, 2017
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I'm getting my materials together for a total roof re-hab, including replacing and resetting vents, removal and resealing the roof to sidewall seam
covers, etc. PO did a fairly neat job of applying a liquid elastomeric coating to the roof. But now that coating is 20+ years old, cracking in
places and a grubby gray color. It is about 1/8"thick and very tough to scrape, even after applying heat with my Milwaukee heat gun. A wire cup
brush on a 4" mini-grinder made a lot of heat and polished the coating surface, but did not cut into it without applying a lot of pressure. Looks like
I have two ways to go: 1. Clean and then solvent wipe the existing surface and apply more goo (liquid EPDM?) anywhere the existing coating has
failed, or 2. remove the coating down to metal and then prime/paint with an automotive paint system (my preference). Has anyone done this? Is there
a chemical stripper specific to liquid applied EPDM? Are there better options? Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this matter.
--
Jim Wack - 1976 23' Crestmont
Baltimore, Maryland
 
Without any first hand experience at this, I would suggest trying a chemical stripper and see what it does to the elastomeric. You might have to
experiment with several brands/types of stripper to see which one works the best.

I always cringe when I hear about someone (usually on Facebook) talking about putting a rubberized or elastomeric roof coating on the top of a GMG.
It wouldn't be so bad except a large portion of the roof is visible from the ground.

It sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
 
I can assure you that it’s difficult.

I had to remove “Kool Seal” from the roof of my coach, and in the end, it was purely a mechanical process.

I bought a drum stripper device from Eastwood that was the best of what we tried.

Good luck. Wear a mask!

Dolph

DE AD0LF

Wheeling, West Virginia

1977 26’ ex-PalmBeach
Howell EFI & EBL, Reaction Arms, Manny Transmission

“The Aluminum and Fiberglass Mistress”

|[ ]~~~[][ ][] \
"--OO--[]---O-"

>
> Without any first hand experience at this, I would suggest trying a chemical stripper and see what it does to the elastomeric. You might have to
> experiment with several brands/types of stripper to see which one works the best.
>
> I always cringe when I hear about someone (usually on Facebook) talking about putting a rubberized or elastomeric roof coating on the top of a GMG.
> It wouldn't be so bad except a large portion of the roof is visible from the ground.
>
> It sounds like a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.
> --
> Carl Stouffer
> '75 ex Palm Beach
> Tucson, AZ.
> Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
> Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
 
New development. The mid-Atlantic sales rep from Drummond Chemical (Peel-Away line of paint & coating strippers) is dropping by tomorrow to apply
several of their products as a test case. He said they didn't have product performance data on these types of coatings and it would benefit him to
know if there is a potential market. Hoping for good results.
--
Jim Wack - 1976 23' Crestmont
Baltimore, Maryland
 
I've used Peel Away on a number of projects and I like the stuff. Hopefully it'll do the trick. Mechanically removing a rubberized coating would be
the opposite of fun. It's great that you've got the rep coming to provide free labor and materials.

Like John said, watch out for drips. Not sure which Peel Away product the rep will try but it might eat Imron.

Richard
--
'77 Birchaven TZE...777;
'76 Palm Beach with 18,477 verified miles;
‘76 Edgemonte
 
Yeah, I would definitely mask off the lower parts of the coach that you don't want the paint damaged on. Tape and plastic sheeting from the roof
down.
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member
 
Good point. The rest of the coach has a very serviceable paint job. Don't wan't to add more to my plate. In fact, I will probably go ahead and
remove the drip rail seam covers as well. Thanks!
--
Jim Wack - 1976 23' Crestmont
Baltimore, Maryland
 
Jim:

If you can come up with another way to seal those, I would.

It can be extremely difficult to get those loose.

I put “Eternabond” on mine. It takes paint quite well.

Dolph

DE AD0LF

Wheeling, West Virginia

1977 26’ ex-PalmBeach
Howell EFI & EBL, Reaction Arms, Manny Transmission

“The Aluminum and Fiberglass Mistress”

|[ ]~~~[][ ][] \
"--OO--[]---O-"

>
> Good point. The rest of the coach has a very serviceable paint job. Don't wan't to add more to my plate. In fact, I will probably go ahead and
> remove the drip rail seam covers as well. Thanks!
> --
> Jim Wack - 1976 23' Crestmont
> Baltimore, Maryland
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
 
In my old RV I was a believer in that elastometric roof coating.
The old RV originally had that crap aluminum roof coating, it cracked when the RV was moved a foot and then leaked.

The Elasto roof coating sealed all the leaks, and the cloth seam cover would allow movement when the RV moved.

THE BIG PLUS to that rubber coating, and probably why that PO applied it, is when it is clean, the Elasto rubber coating keeps the heat
out of the RV by an incredible factor. THE PROBLEM IS, the Elasto rubber roof has to be washed every year or so or it gets dirty and will lose the
ability to reject any heat.

My older RV's Elasto Rubber roof was 20 years old when I got rid of it and it still didn't leak.

That is not a bad roof, but on the GMC you can only use it where you cannot see it, which is up top, not on the curved roof sides.

That product is very hard to remove, it is intended for that purpose to protect the roof. I don't know of anything other than scraping and repainting
the roof, to get it all back off. That Elasto rubber roof is a tough product when it is new and the last time I had to deal with it when it was about
10 years old, it didn't give to removal at all.
--
GatsbysCruise. \
74GMC260 Former Glacier Model style. \
Waukegan, Illinois \ Keep those MiniDiscs Spinning \ MY GREYHOUND IS FASTER THAN YOUR HONOR ROLL STUDENT \ WindowsXP-Win7-Win8.1-UBUNTU STUDIO -
UBUNTU VOYAGER - Berzin Auto Center
 
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