Mobile home roof????

[PonderosaQ]

My daughter's trailer roof really needs covering with a whole new structure. Has some cracks and leaks around the edges. Hubby won't be here to put a new roof over it till summer. What options are out there beyond plan old caulking and then roof coating? Seem to remember rubber coatings and other things being available. Any ideas on a reasonably priced "fix" till summer? Thanks.


PQ

[havellostmywings]

There is a product called SNO.... it is rubber coating.. and it fixes metal roofs really well...

You can get it at home depot

Hope that Helps..

Lynn in Texas

[comfortablynumb]

yea i had a bucket of that.. looks like thick white paint but it dries like a rubber coating.. works good.
rubber rofing is $$$$$$$$$$$$$ and it will last for a long time but... the paint is cheaper.
if you want to be super cheap, but still do the job get a 5 gal bucket of foundation coating, looks like black oil paint. it oozes and seals everything... and it dries out in a while and you can walk on it fine.
its also great to dip your fenceposts in to keep them from rotting.
also makes good undercoating for your car/truck...
I didnt think of it but it probably would keep the donkey from chewing the trees too...
THANKS!

[simpleman]

Mix n match metal roofing material is relatively inexpensive. Mix n match is usually sold at lumber companies and is odd and end lengths of different colors of aluminum roofing panels. Four fourteen foot pieces cost me $40.00 a few years ago in Missouri. I used them to make the roof for an A-frame outhouse. You could purchase something similar and screw them to the roof of your mobile home and they certainly would be easy to remove once your hubby gets time to build a "proper" roof.

Ernest

[joan from zone six]

cannot recommend liquid roof coatings - i used a top-grade white rubber-type liquid - guaranteed to not leak for 20 years - leaked after 4 years - any type of a permanent structural covering would be better

[East Texas Pine Rooter]

Koos Seal Is Another Product. Wash Roof Down Using A Liquid Dishwashing Soap. Let Dry, If It A Little Damp It Wont Matter, Because The Products Are Latex Based. To Start The First Process. It Has Two Parts Sold In 1-gallons, And 5-gallon. First Use The Patching (thick Stuff) To Go Around Flashings, That Go Thru The Roof Such As Soil Pipes, And Around Edges. Use A 6-inch Wide Cheap Paint Brush. If There Is Visible Cracks, They Have A 4-inch Wide Fiber Material With Small Open Squares. Cut A Piece To The Length You Need, And Press In Into The Patching Material Using The Paint Brush. Let The First Coat Dry Overnight. Wash Paint Brush With Plain Tap Water Out Of The Faucet. Second Step Is To Apply The Seal Coat, (liquid) As Thick Paint. Use A 12-inch Wide Cheap Roller, Pour Some Out On Roof, And Just Rool It Out. Have A Ladder At The Place You Want To Get Off Roof. Because The Material Is White, It Will Help Cut Down On Electric Bill For Air Conditioning In Summer. Kool Seal Is The Rubber Material Found On Concrete Around Swimming Pools. Is Feels Like Rubber To Walk On Barefoot, And Is Cool On The Feet, And Comes In Different Colors For Around Pools. Kool Seal Can Be Found At Lowes, And Lumber Yards. It Will Last For Several Years Before You Need To Do It Again. This Process It A Lot Cheeper Than A Roof Over.

[texican]

a quickie fix for any kind of roof is a tarp...I've done emergency fixes on folks homes and trailers during a storm. Will last long enough till proper repairs can be applied.

[Jolly]

Cool seal it is. Will work until you can do better.

Around here, it's very common to see a trailer house with a low-pitch gable style roof - a horizontal 2x running the length of the trailer, 2x4 rafters on a 4 on 12 pitch, with a 2x4 collar tie. Use 1x4 random to nail the metal roof to.

Lasts a long, long time.

[Kirk]

What caused the leaks in the first place? Could it be wind or snow damage? If the trailer is insured it might just be possible to get the insurance company to pay to fix it. My brother got a new roof on his doublewide after ice dams caused leaks.
Kirk

[jack_c-ville]

Last August, I had a 10,000 lb red oak fall on my house. Turned the roof into swiss cheese and totalled the chimney. As soon as a crane pulled all of the thing off the roof and most of it out of my attic, I had a quick fix that lasted 4 months through all kinds of wind, rain and several snowstorms. By the way, this was for a pitched roof on regular frame construction with 2 layers of old asphalt shingle.

Basically I took some 4 mil plastic (left over from making an emergency passenger window for my truck) and cut patches 12" bigger than each hole. Those patches were fastened with 2 beads of exterior caulk all the way around and then I put some rubber-gasketed roofing nails around the edge just in case. After covering all the holes and open cracks with those, I took a couple of big blue tarps and laid them over the whole thing. It's important to have the tarps go over the ridge even if the leaks are all on one side. Those tarps were also given a bead of caulk all the way around. Then I put a roofing nail in every 6 inches around the perimeter, plus a good number of them in the middle to limit any kind of 'parachute effect' should the wind get under an edge. Total cost of materials was about $100, mostly because of the enormous tarps. My homeowners insurance company reimbursed me.

This emergency repair job held up just fine through Hurricane Isabelle, which pounded us pretty good here in Virginia and destroyed some of my neighbors roofs.

[ed/IL]

I used the elastomeric (sp) brand thick patch (gallon) with a membrane that you buy in a roll. Put some down then roll some membrane over it and cover with more thick patching compound. I like it better then tar and membrane because it stretches not crack like tar. There is a fair amount of expansion and contraction in aluminum roofing and very little in tar roofing cement. Mobile homes do get condensation from cooking, showers and bad ventilation. This is often mistaken for roof leaks. The elastomeric and cool roof products sold at Lows and Home depot have less solids then they did a few years ago making them more profitable to sell and less effective to use.

[PonderosaQ]

Thanks for all your replies. Going out this morning to see which of the products you mentioned are available here. Kirk, no idea what caused the leaks except years of neglect and maybe a tree limb or two. We just purchased the property. At this point I don't have access to running water to wash the roof with detergent and neither am I brave enough to get up on it. The builder working on my place advised against getting on it. Of course he wants to build an $8,000 roof over it...dream on! We are on the side of a mountain so one side of trailer is way above ground and I'm not good with heights like that. So I'll see what I can get and just what I can do with it till DH gets here.

Thanks again.

[hankzzz]

I have an older mobile home (1968) that has a curved standard roof. I just purchased it and there is no evidence of leakage after a couple of thundershowers. It has the white elastomeric coating which was last done 2 years ago. Just to be on the safe side I'd like to do it again. The trailer has a roof over the front deck. I definately wouldn't walk on that without laying down some plywood to walk on. That roof is disentegrating over the deck, but I have no concerns for that as over a wooden deck that will be painted.

My concern is putting a coating on the trailer itself. I can get an extension pole and try and reach it from the sides and the re-inforced deck roof; however I was wondering if anyone ever walked atop such a trailer? I am very dubious about doing this or having anyone else walk on the roof! However, the trailer is quite high from the ground. I think I should pay someone to do this work if there is no way to acces the roof by getting atop it. The coating that is on there needs to be scrubbed and it would be hard to get this done from the sides, not to mention applying the new coating.

[agmantoo]

Hankzzz,
All you need to do to be able to walk on the roof without creating damage is to get a few walk boards cut from a 1/2 inch sheet of plywood. Stand on one board and walk it to where you need to transfer to another board and lay the second board down and proceed after picking up the board you just exited. A sheet of plywood will make 3 each 16 inch wide by 8 ft walk boards.

[countrygrrrl]

Ponderosa, if there's any way you can put a metal roof on, I'd do it. simpleman's right about the ability to find mix and match for relatively inexpensively.

I went with a tin roof, all one color, on this mobile and am so, so pleased I did. Not only does it look good, but it's extremely energy efficient (I have reflective insulation beneath it) and will last forever, with some basic maintenance.

And it sounds heavenly in the rain.

At this site ( CLICK HERE!! ), they have complete instructions on how to install a nice looking metal roof for pretty inexpensively.

I'd spend a bit more now and save a lot in the long run.

[hankzzz]

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Hankzzz,
All you need to do to be able to walk on the roof without creating damage is to get a few walk boards cut from a 1/2 inch sheet of plywood. Stand on one board and walk it to where you need to transfer to another board and lay the second board down and proceed after picking up the board you just exited. A sheet of plywood will make 3 each 16 inch wide by 8 ft walk boards.

Thanks. I'll carefully try this with a couple of pieces of plywood I already have cut. I appreciate the advice anyway

[PonderosaQ]

Since my post has reappeared I thought I'd update you. We sealed the roof with Kool Seal, including the patching material they make. As people suggested wood up there to walk on, or in my case lay on, works fine.
This is not planned as a permanent fix. It's just till my husband finally gets here and we can put a permanent structure over the existing roof.
I also used Kool Seal on my house roof as a temporary measure and it worked fine over shingles! The white is trifle obvious on a rust coloered roof but we'll be reroofing soon anyway and in the mean time the damge has been stopped.

PQ

[Ozarkguy]

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Glad that Kool Seal is working for you! When hubby gets around to a permanent repair, have him glance at these photos first. Might give you folks some additional ideas.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

How to "Overroof" a mobile home...

gotta love those hills.....

Ozarkguy

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