Roof Replacement - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Norton Rider · 10-20-2015, 04:06 PM

Last year I noticed a few small corroded spots on the roof of my 2408T. The spots were around 1/8" in diameter and were concentrated in about three areas. The aluminum was corroding from the underside. I patched the areas with Eternabond tape. Unfortunately, the corrosion continued getting worse. The pits under the tape were getting larger, and pits started appearing in other areas.

Not having the time to patch it or re-roof it, I took the trailer to a local RV place. They ended up removing all the aluminum roof and plywood underlayment. The replaced the underlayment with marine plywood and they are almost finished replacing the metal with a rubber roof. Next they will cut the holes for the vents, AC, etc, and will install those.

Attached are a couple of photos of the underside of the metal roof that the shop removed from my Hi-Lo.

hilltool · 10-20-2015, 05:23 PM

Thanks for the update but sorry for your mess. Any insight as to what caused the corrosion??

Rick

Norton Rider · 10-20-2015, 05:40 PM

From what the RV tech and I could figure out the corrosion was due to wetness in the lauan wood panel underneath the aluminum. It looks like the water was coming in along the edges of the roof and was getting wicked-in by the wood.

RichR · 10-20-2015, 05:54 PM

There was a problem with the screws holding the plywood contacting the aluminum which caused corrosion of the roof. Yours may have been one of them.

Norton Rider · 10-21-2015, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

There was a problem with the screws holding the plywood contacting the aluminum which caused corrosion of the roof. Yours may have been one of them.

That's what I thought the issue was, but there were no screws protruding in the corroded areas. Moreover, there were no rust spots in the wood. This would have been an indication of steel slivers from shop operations collecting on the top of the wood, before the aluminum was put down.

The corrosion on the aluminum looked like exfoliation corrosion. This happens because of flaws in the aluminum grain structure, combined with moisture.

RichR · 10-21-2015, 12:43 PM

That's an interesting point. It did look like it was started from the interior?

Norton Rider · 10-21-2015, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichR

That's an interesting point. It did look like it was started from the interior?

It definitely started on underside of the aluminum sheets. In some areas the exterior surface of the aluminum looks fine, while the underside is starting to corrode.

If you look carefully at the two photos, you will notice moisture discoloration on the wood. Some of the discolored areas were under corrosion that had not penetrated all the way through. Others were under areas that had pinholes in the aluminum, but I had patched them with Eternabond tape. In other words, the cause was not the roof leaking from the top. Water was wicking in from the edges of the roof.

The sad part is that Hi-Lo did not prime or paint the underside of the aluminum. If they had I would be fixing water seepage at the edges instead of replacing the roof.

hilltool · 10-21-2015, 07:36 PM

Well- you have just made me nervous. Thanks for the heads- up------man! so, y0u think where it is screwed along the edge? Not much to do preventive but re-caulk everything for those of us doing preventitve----but if it has started then it will be closing the barn door a little late.....

Rick

sam · 10-21-2015, 11:05 PM

Raul,Thanks for posting the pictures. My friend also has a leaking metal roof on their 1995HiLo. The water also ruined some interior walls. Good choice to go with a rubber roof.