Sorry however, with all elastomeric coatings, it comes down to scraping. Great ol Recreational vehicles need excellent ol effort. Use a chemical paint stripper for around roofing fixtures and locations you can't get it all off. You could utilize it over the whole roof but, the concern is ... would you desire to? The things is just nasty to deal with and really unhealthy to breathe and do not let it get in contact with your skin.
Elastomeric Coating System Installation Guidelines
Site Here: roof inspection
If (like me) you are the type of person who applies caulk with the goal of getting professional-looking, smooth joints, then the application and appearance of lap sealant on a camper roof will throw you for a loop. Lap sealant looks more like someone was trying to put icing on a cupcake.
And if someone has actually recaulked a location, there are even more blobs on top of the older blobs. It appears counter-intuitive to the objective of preventing water invasion because the application does not necessarily motivate water to recede. Even an expertly applied application of lap sealant around an air vent looks more like a small retention pond after a rain.
If you need to recaulk on area on your camper's roofing, you initially have to clean all those unclean mounds and, per the manufacturer, apply more mounds of caulk on top of the old caulk instead of removing it. You are expected to inspect your roof at least as soon as a year and apply caulk as required.
The previous owner might not have actually cleaned up the old caulk before plopping more mounds of new caulk on top. We have actually eliminated old caulk that removed quickly due to the dirt and gunk below. We've found air pockets in between layers of caulk. We've even discovered caulk mounds that permeated out small water beads when pressed, presumably due to pinholes.
When you're all set to inspect your roof, start by offering the roofing and the caulk an excellent cleaning. Here's a link to our Do It Yourself roofing system cleaner. After washing whatever off, pay attention to where water may be pooling; especially around the caulk. Once it's dry, utilize chalk to draw a circle any areas that have bad drainage.
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Search for indications of brittleness, cracks, pinholes, little cratering, or edges that easily raise. Again, use the chalk to draw circle those locations that need attention. Air pockets, fractures and crevices within a number of layers of old lap sealantI choose to eliminate old caulk rather than blob more on top.
To avoid tearing a rubber roofing membrane or scratching an aluminum roofing system, shimmy the tool around the edge of the caulk until it begins to raise. It's most convenient to do this when outdoor temperature levels are above 80 degrees, otherwise you might utilize a hot air weapon or blow clothes dryer to thoroughly warm the caulk.
The is to get the old caulk as flush to the rubber surface area as possible. Have a little tub, denatured alcohol, and rags nearby to tidy up as you go. Shop the can and rags in the little tub. Avoid letting the denatured alcohol reach the rubber roofing system for too long.
Have a tub useful for all the old sealantOnce most of the old caulk has been eliminated and the surface area has actually been cleaned and dried, utilize painter's tape to define the boundary of the location to be caulked. All the old sealant has actually been removedSelf-leveling lap sealant truly does not level itself out to a good finish.
Being specific about how caulk looks, and that it promotes correct drain, I use a customized application process. It's good to understand beforehand how the caulk will behave. A tube of caulk that is more than one years of age can be harder to feed utilizing a caulk weapon and might not self-level as efficiently as a recently produced tube of caulk.
Less than 6 months is excellent. If there's no date, simply prevent the tubes that have dust on them or used bottom edges. Utilize a piece of cardboard and lay a small object like a screw or bolt in the middle of the cardboard to evaluate out your caulk. Apply a 3/8 inch bead of sealant in a straight line down the length of the cardboard, making certain to also cover the screw or bolt.
White Elastomeric Roof Coating
The sealant needs to start skinning over in 5 minutes. Older tubes of sealant might not self-level as nicely or they might skin over far more quickly. Repeat this test for each tube of sealant as you are prepared to use it. As soon as you understand the how your tube of sealant will perform after application and how rapidly it will develop a skim coat, you can begin using beads of sealant.
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Keep the sealant beads roughly 1/2 inch far from the painter's tape (or whatever distance your tube test spread indicated). Within 5 minutes of application, dip your fingers or a plastic putty knife into the water/Dawn mixture, then "help" direct the sealant leveling by utilizing light pressure to push the bead flow into the preferred slope or shape.
Utilize the same strategy to develop a feathered edge toward the painter's tape. As quickly as the sealant establishes a skin coat, remove the painter's tape. Lap Sealant Cure Time5 Minutes Skins over4 Hours Waterproof48 Hours 80% Cure30 Days 100% CureAnother alternative is to skip utilizing lap sealant completely and use roofing sealant tape rather.
The price of the tape is equivalent to utilizing lap sealant (and perhaps a little less costly). We utilized Beech Lane tape, which we got at Amazon for under $35 (here's the link if interested). Rubber Sealant Applied To Camper Roofing System CleanedAnd here's a photo after applying a fresh coat of rubber roof finishing.