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Old 10-21-2018, 08:24 PM   #21
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The peel and stick roll roofing material available at any roof supply and I’m sure Home Depot if installed possibly from the back to the front with the front edge tucked under the front cap should get you home. My 2001 Journey had the roof edge come loose about mid section. I tucked the edge back in the side rail and used some self tapping screws to secure it to the alum rail and recaulked it. Just finished 6000 mile trip of the N/W with no roof problems. Got some other issues but the roof held.
Good luck!
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Old 10-21-2018, 09:35 PM   #22
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The fiberglass top ripped free leaving 1'-4' attached to the front cap by eternabond tape that I applied this spring and 1/2' attached to the rear cap. A layer of the 1/16"(?) ply appears to be gone and completely gone in a small area. I'm in a town without even an auto parts store. An Internet search reveals a cost of 10,000 to professionally replace the top. I'm in the midst of a repair with a local contractor. Fingers crossed. More later.
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Old 10-21-2018, 11:43 PM   #23
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I feel for you. 1 year and 1 week ago the same thing happened to me in my 2007 Sightseer. I had someone tape plastic down over the plywood roof in case of rain and I limped to Forest City, only to find out that they couldn't get to it until December. I'm a full-timer, so that was not going to work for me. And I didn't want to spend two snowy months in Forest City, and I was starting a new job 750 miles away in another 2 weeks. Insurance did not cover it and it was out of warranty.

A year later I am still angry, apparently if I would have shown proof of having the roof inspected every 6 months I would have been okay. I was really upset because it had been to several Winnebago dealers for oil changes and whatnot, and none of them ever said hey while it's in here we need to inspect the roof. When I bought it I was never told that I needed inspect the roof every 6 months. I looked through all of the owner's manual and it never said that I needed to inspect the roof every 6 months. I looked through all of my insurance papers and they never said that I needed to inspect the roof every 6 months.

I fought and fought the issue, I even went to my State's insurance commissioner, and I lost. In the end I just gave up on her, traded her in for pennies on the dollar and bought a new motor home. I was also upset because she was paid off, and now I have a long loan on my new rig. I lost tens of thousands of dollars, but I made the best decision for myself at the time.

I don't know why it's not a known maintenance thing to have your roof professionally inspected every 6 months. Nobody ever told me. I can't tell you how many people said to me that they had never heard of such a thing. It has been six months since my last roof inspection and I am scheduling it for next week. I'm so sorry. I know what you're going through.
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Old 10-22-2018, 08:20 AM   #24
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Sorry to see the damage to your roof, this type of thing is too common with Winnebago units. I can't recall the specifics but in other cases the repair estimates from Winny were very costly. On a 2000 model year rig I can imagine that many owners would balk at spending such a large sum. Then there is the costs to get to Forest City assuming you effect some temporary repair to keep water out. A local repair shop with a solid reputation may be the best bet, I hope that works out.

A few have mentioned the 10 year warranty on the roof which is really more marketing material than anything else. The requirement to have roof maintenance performed twice a year along with proof of having it done is something few owners would be able to satisfy. The net result is the company could refuse to honor the warranty in a great many of the cases.

Regular inspection of the sealant along the sidewall to roof joint is essential.

It is a shame the company uses this method to build roofs, clearly it is not in the customers best interest.
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Old 10-22-2018, 08:58 AM   #25
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Another terrible design by Winnebago. If you require a inspection every six months it’s because your product sucks. They should belly up to the bar and offer a fix at their cost. Total BS.
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Old 10-22-2018, 10:04 AM   #26
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Chris of RVRoofingSolutions.com

Our 2004 Chieftain had a goodly section of our roof tear off a couple of years ago.

We tarped it up (Oregon winters are rainy) and began a search for repairs.

Insurance wouldn't cover. Local was WOW expensive.

We ended up having Chris of www.rvroofingsolutions.com come visit us and do the repair.

He travels the US and does whole roof repair replacements with his process. Guarantees for 10 years. Cost us about $5k which included a complete cleaning, sealing, and re-cover with polyester cloth and acrylic goo.

We're very happy with his work.

John L
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Old 10-22-2018, 10:50 AM   #27
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I guess I don't understand why insurance is not covering this loss?? What the heck.
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Old 10-22-2018, 12:32 PM   #28
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I guess I don't understand why insurance is not covering this loss?? What the heck.
The insurance companies don't pay for expenses resulting from poor design, workmanship quality, lack of maintenance or normal wear and tear.
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Old 10-22-2018, 03:11 PM   #29
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We bought our 2000 Itasca two years ago. It appears to have a rubber roof. The previous owner said he'd had the roof refinished. Do you think he replaced a fiberglass roof with rubber? Do all Winnebagos have fiberglass roofs?
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Old 10-22-2018, 03:51 PM   #30
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The insurance companies don't pay for expenses resulting from poor design, workmanship quality, lack of maintenance or normal wear and tear.
Yeah, I know they always try to weasel out of paying. But surely the burst of wind that causes most of these roof loses would come into play, the same as hail or other natural disaster. I don't have a fiberglass roof but I'm going to call my insurance agent and ask what the deal is.
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Old 10-22-2018, 06:31 PM   #31
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We bought our 2000 Itasca two years ago. It appears to have a rubber roof. The previous owner said he'd had the roof refinished. Do you think he replaced a fiberglass roof with rubber? Do all Winnebagos have fiberglass roofs?
A 2000 Itasca 33V definitely would have had a fiberglass roof. They probably just laid a rubber roof over the existing fiberglass roof. I think this would have been much less expensive than replacing the fiberglass roof.

As far as I know, all Winnebago motorhomes have fiberglass roofs. i know that at least some or maybe all of the recent vintage towables have rubber roofs.
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Old 10-23-2018, 08:43 AM   #32
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Quote:
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We bought our 2000 Itasca two years ago. It appears to have a rubber roof. The previous owner said he'd had the roof refinished. Do you think he replaced a fiberglass roof with rubber? Do all Winnebagos have fiberglass roofs?
For decades Winnebago took pride in offering fiberglass roofs on all of their motorized products. Unfortunately with new direction in Management they took a step to the cheap side last year and started putting rubber roofs on the entry level motorhomes (Class A - Intent) and (Class C - Outback).

The Winnebago fiberglass roof may require some extra care, but it is one of the strongest roof to wall joints in the industry, and overall fiberglass is far superior to the rubber, TPO, or PVC membrane roofs. I will never go back to the care required for a rubber roof!
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Old 10-23-2018, 09:31 AM   #33
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I agree in that I prefer the fiberglass roof but I wonder why they haven't developed a more secure method of securing the side edges of the roof. Of course, as with most things, the failure rate may be much lower than we think since no one posts that they haven't had a problem.

The PO of my 2002 Suncruiser 35U put screws in above the drip rail but, with no batten or even washers I doubt they'd add much, if any, security. I'm going the Eternabond route.
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Old 10-23-2018, 02:12 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meridian42e View Post
For decades Winnebago took pride in offering fiberglass roofs on all of their motorized products. Unfortunately with new direction in Management they took a step to the cheap side last year and started putting rubber roofs on the entry level motorhomes (Class A - Intent) and (Class C - Outback).

The Winnebago fiberglass roof may require some extra care, but it is one of the strongest roof to wall joints in the industry, and overall fiberglass is far superior to the rubber, TPO, or PVC membrane roofs. I will never go back to the care required for a rubber roof!
Just wondering what specific "care" you are referring to? We don't have fiberglass but all we do is check the caulking each year and our 7 year old roof still looks new.
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Old 10-23-2018, 06:19 PM   #35
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Just wondering what specific "care" you are referring to? We don't have fiberglass but all we do is check the caulking each year and our 7 year old roof still looks new.
Most Winnebago motorhome roofs are a large, single sheet of thin fiberglass that curves down about eight inches on the sides, slipping into an aluminum extrusion. There's a bead of caulking that secures it in a slot in the extrusion. It's also secured at the front and back under molded fiberglass caps.

If this edge caulking isn't kept sound, and an edge slips out of the extrusion, wind can get under the edge and gradually or suddenly lift the entire edge and, in catastrophic cases like the one in this thread, rip off the whole roof.

Here's a video showing the construction and maintenance:

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Old 10-23-2018, 09:05 PM   #36
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Fiberglass Roof Repair Replacement

Here's a couple more videos.

Installing the Fiberglass Cove/Radius

Finishing the Roof
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Old 10-23-2018, 10:27 PM   #37
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Here's a couple more videos.
Hmmm, links don't seem to be working and I can't edit my post either.
So here they are again.




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Old 10-23-2018, 10:38 PM   #38
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Most Winnebago motorhome roofs are a large, single sheet of thin fiberglass that curves down about eight inches on the sides, slipping into an aluminum extrusion. There's a bead of caulking that secures it in a slot in the extrusion. It's also secured at the front and back under molded fiberglass caps.
I'm aware of the fiberglass roofs on Winnebagos. I was asking what "special" care is needed for the rubber roofs that was referred to in the post I quoted.
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Old 10-24-2018, 05:39 AM   #39
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Have you found a solution yet to get you to your destination until you can get this replaced?

Check out Home Depot Henry's Elastomeric roof coating. I think it would waterproof your roof and seal it enough to keep more of the luan from blowing away as you travel. Not a permanent solution but enough protection for the drive.

Good luck. I own an Itasca and had no idea this was an issue. Mine is a 2004 and I check the roof and seal the seams or anything else that looks iffy twice a year. No guarantees I guess.
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Old 10-24-2018, 08:49 AM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meridian42e View Post
For decades Winnebago took pride in offering fiberglass roofs on all of their motorized products. Unfortunately with new direction in Management they took a step to the cheap side last year and started putting rubber roofs on the entry level motorhomes (Class A - Intent) and (Class C - Outback).

The Winnebago fiberglass roof may require some extra care, but it is one of the strongest roof to wall joints in the industry, and overall fiberglass is far superior to the rubber, TPO, or PVC membrane roofs. I will never go back to the care required for a rubber roof!
Not to be argumentative but if you watch the second youtube video BobC added in post #10 above you see a pretty good view of the structure. The roof to wall joint connection is probably the best part of the structure. To me that is little consolation when the Filon portion which prevents water intrusion is mostly gone.

Also, looking at the 4 photos in post#8 from Idiotasca we see that probably 80% of the Filon is gone. It can be difficult to make a perfect diagnosis based on a couple photos but it appears that there was not much of a bond between the Filon and plywood in many areas. Where the plywood is damaged and or missing it is more likely the Filon was adhered better. If that is true the poorly adhered Filon was probably flapping a bit as the OP drove down the highway at 60 mph or so. Who knows how long the tucked edge of Filon would remain in the channel with only a small bead of sealant (not adhesive) preventing it from lifting out?

Someone asked how Winn. can continue to use this method? To me, the answer is it is cheap for materials and quick to assemble. A thin piece of Filon is relatively inexpensive and the guy in the factory walks along the unit with his special tool and inserts the edge into the channel. Walk behind that a second time with the sealant and it is done. Look at the Winnebago factory tour video and this is shown. It would take more money to produce a molded fiberglass roof part of a more reasonable thickness and with the radius molded in so it does not have to be bent to connect to the wall joint. There is also additional labor to install a part like this but the end result is much more secure. There are other manufacturers that use this method.

I'm not bashing Winnebago because I have a grudge or something, in fact I am relatively satisfied with my Aspect. There are times when all manufacturers cut corners to save costs and stay competitive. I get that but doing it when the end result is this serious and extremely costly is not at all good for the customer.
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