Roof Material Coming Un-Glued

I was up on the roof of my 2010 3580 Big Horn today and found some real problems. In several places it looks like the roof material is coming unglued from the plywood underneath. Some of the places are 3-4 feet long and 10 to 18 inches wide. They are not all located in one place.

I spoke to Heartland Customer service and they won't help. I am out of the one year warranty. I certainly understand thier one year warranty but man - o - man seems to me that you should be able to rely on your roof for more than one or two years. Evedently only the roof rubber material is warrantied for a longer period of time.

The wife and I were looking at Landmarks but that is now off the table. I am extremely disapointed, especially when you spend so much time maintaining a unit to keep it in tip top condition.

The rubber membrane is not glued to the plywood roof sheathing. Exactly what are you seeing? Can you post a pic?

This link shows rubber roof installation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhzwprW8GpY

A question to Heartland customer service or one of the experts here may chime in to clarify if Heartlands have glued EPDM roofs. Or a question in ATF.

I beleive the EPDM (rubber roof) material is glued to the plywood sheathing; however where the sheathing joints are located it is not uncommon for the EPDM material to be loose. I think this may be caused by moisture/breathing coming up from the coach at the seams in the sheathing.

In general this does not cause any problem as the area where the EPDM is not bonded does not cause any problem for billowing or tearing (small areas). The roof is still fine as long as there is no openings, rips, or cuts in the EPDM.

Where the EPDM unbonds from the sheating in large areas this will causing billowing while you are travelling down the highway (requires someone behind seeing the EPDM material lift up and inflate like a balloon or sheet billowing in the wind). This is of concern because the EPDM material can rip or tear.

My father had SOB 5th require a full roof repair (removal and new EPDM material glued down) due to billowing. His insurance covered the repair.

Hope this helps.

Take care,
Brian

Unless they've changed their methods, the roof is definitely glued down...several years ago we had a tour during work hours and watched a roof membrane installed on a Bighorn or a Landmark, can't remember which...they completely coated the roof sheating with glue and applied the rubber roof over it.

That video sure looks like an adhesive of some kind is "painted" onto the wood substrate. Obviously not a contact cement type, since the applicators were able to lift it to remove some debris. But, since it's broomed on, it may be possible that the adhesive was not uniformly applied. If you have the roof recovered/repaired, it might be possible to document if the adhesive was spread where it was supposed to be.

WE are also having a similar problem. Our 305RW toy hauler which is 11 months old has the roof material peeling back at the front seam. It apparently was not glued and the screws aren't holding it in place. The caulking has completely peeled away. Fortunately we are still under warranty but shouldn't be having this kind of problem. We had a Keystone Mountaineer for 6 years and never had the problems we are having with this unit. It goes in for service tomorrow. but it is going to an outside repair shop as we have not had good experiences with Heartland dealers. Also, watch your shower installation. Ours is coming lose from the wall. We are hoping Heartland will honor their warranty and make us happy by making sure that all the needed repairs are taken care of. Good luck and please let us know if your roof gets repaired satisfactorily.

olgreynag said:

WE are also having a similar problem. Our 305RW toy hauler which is 11 months old has the roof material peeling back at the front seam. It apparently was not glued and the screws aren't holding it in place. The caulking has completely peeled away. Fortunately we are still under warranty but shouldn't be having this kind of problem. We had a Keystone Mountaineer for 6 years and never had the problems we are having with this unit. It goes in for service tomorrow. but it is going to an outside repair shop as we have not had good experiences with Heartland dealers. Also, watch your shower installation. Ours is coming lose from the wall. We are hoping Heartland will honor their warranty and make us happy by making sure that all the needed repairs are taken care of. Good luck and please let us know if your roof gets repaired satisfactorily.

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Before you do anything you'll regret later, you will probably need to get Heartland's approval before you have the warranty work by someone other than a Heartland dealer, to amke sure they will honor the warranty work.

We did work through Heartland Customer service and after 2 weeks the whole process fell apart. We picked up our RV and now it is at Heartland dealer. But please note that not only did the Rubber roof come lose but that the screws attaching the plastic nose to the roof has come apart due to the screws shearing in half. And of course there has now been several rain storms in our area so I am now concerned about water damage because of the gap that is now between the nose and roof. But of course I am sure that Heartland will make every effort to ensure that this will not be an issue. I would really hate to learn that we have a water damage issue or mold issue because of a structural problem. And I am sure Heartland would be happy to take care of that as well.

It is in fact glued down and there is a fiberglass mesh along the edges. I, unfortunately, learned this the hard way . . .