Question abot a couple of small holes in the roof

I was washing the roof the other day and noticed that when I rubbed a tree branch, I put a couple of small tears in the roof, about 1/2 inch long. It seems to me that I could easily patch these, but the dealer said to turn it in to my insurance company and they will replace the whole roof. I am a little skeptical about that route. I don't know if they are trying to drum up some business or if is the best thing to do. They said patching will always fail. So I am giving this question to the people I trust will give me an honest answer. Should I patch it myself or call GEICO insurance? If I patch it myself, what is the best way to patch it?

Hi Jack and Evelyn,

There are two approaches: 1) replace the whole roof, 2) use a couple of pieces of Eternabond tape to repair the damage.

Pros and Cons:

Eternabond:

Pros: Repair is quick and inexpensive. You can do it yourself.
Cons: If you ever sell the unit, you'll scare away some possible buyers. On a trade, the valuation will be lower.

Full Roof Replacement:

Pros: Looks like new. The clock starts again on roof wear. No problem with buyers or trade-in.
Cons: High out of pocket cost (your deductible). Tech has to remove vents, A/C units, fans, ladder, etc. creating potential that something doesn't get put back right. New roofing will stop at the front and rear caps creating a new seam that will have to be carefully maintained.

A new roof for mine cost 4,200 which I claimed on my insurance because I had extensive damage. They settled my claim over the phone after I sent them pictures. The upside, I have a new roof. The downside, my insurance went up because of the claim. Personally, if you are not planning on trading or selling your rig for a couple of years, then I would go the eternabond route Dan mentioned. Half inch tears are minimal damage, but if you go the patch route make sure the area is thoroughly cleaned before applying the tape. I would not be concerned about it failing, but it is something that you should check periodically so you can catch any potential failure before it happens. If you are keeping your rig for a while, then there is always the chance that you could have another incident where it would not be patchable . . . .

No way would I get a new roof for a 1/2" scrape. Getting a new roof can open up a can of worms. Buy a 10oz tube of Dicor sealent and apply it to the cleaned area. The factory seals bigger gaps than that with Dicor during production.

I also had a fight with a tree and just used the spot repair tape mentioned. Don't worry about the depreciation scare, I'm sure dealers use this stuff all the time and the repair is easily explained with the quality of the repair tape. This stuff is super sticky and is already used on roof joints of the slide outs. It's not as good as a new roof, but are you going to replace the roof again if you have another tree fight? If the roof becomes an issue at resale time, then you can negotiate a deduction for the repair; I'll be it won't be in the thousands.

Dicor, the manufacturer of RV rubber membrane roofs, sells several "repair products". They have a thick sealant tape like eternabond, and elastometric paint. Here is a link:https://dicorproducts.com/catalog/roof-products/
See the other sections like "Restore", :Replace" and "Renew" for some of these products. Most are available at Camping World.

Thank you all for the feed back. I plan on keeping it a while so will do the patch for now, sounds like a safe route for now.

I've got two on mine knicked it when removing the AC, patched them 3yr ago and have not had a problem.

I also have had a couple of small tears over the years. used eterna bond tape and have never had a problem. I think if you tied to take it off you would probably tear a bigger hole than you had

I had several patches on my roof when I traded my old trailer in. Dealer never even looked at it. One patch, like yours, was put on at 3 months of age and lasted 9 years.