My friend lost his fiber roof on a 15 yr. old Itaska.

[tenn_vol_]

I had replaced the original sealant on my winnie
years ago with 3M Marine sealant years ago.
And never did anything after that, as it stuck to
everything but the aluminum gutter.

But after his cost 10,000 dllars, I just went back
with an inch and half of ETERNABOND along the edge
of the whole roof. so everyone with a glass roof
check it again. I hope this helps someone...tenn

[tenn_vol_]

I cleaned out the old sealant in 03/04 most likely, cleaned the channel
good with solvent and appied the 3M with a 4/6 inch putty knife.
I forced as much tween the alum gutter and the soft glass roof,
and trying to leave a slope on the roof down to the alum gutter.
In the many years I have checked it maybe half dozen times when I
am on a ladder.The 3M did NOT stick to the alum. but sucked up
to the fiber roof.

Have never done anything sense then till I just applied the
Eternabond, this pass wk. After my friends flying roof.
I got scared,10K would be hard to put in a MH that is 14 yrs.
old that is worth maybe 25/30K....tenn

[J-Rooster]

I own a Winnebago with a fiberglass roof, my coach is 12 years old I bought it new. I thank you for the info I'll check the roof out!

[Hikerdogs]

tenn.vol. wrote:
I had replaced the original sealant on my winnie
years ago with 3M Marine sealant years ago.
And never did anything after that, as it stuck to
everything but the aluminum gutter.

But after his cost 10,000 dllars, I just went back
with an inch and half of ETERNABOND along the edge
of the whole roof. so everyone with a glass roof
check it again. I hope this helps someone...tenn

In the 15 years the coach has been on the road how many times has the seal been inspected and/or been replaced. Winnebago recommends it be inspected at least twice a year and replaced s necessary.

We had our 2001 Adventurer over 12 years and put well over 100,000 miles on it without ever having a problem with the roof. Then again we followed the service recommendations and inspected it regularly. In the 12+ years we replaced about 6' of sealant. That's not too bad when you consider there's roughly 80' of sealant on a 32' motorhome.

[Bruce_Brown]

Thats not an uncommon deal with Winnies - and it seems to still be an issue today;

2015 Winnebago Vista Equipment Adaptive Service Bulletin 381914

Action Number: 10057526
Service Bulletin Number: 381914 Report Date: May 11, 2015
Component: Equipment Adaptive
Summary: Winnebago: see document search button for owner letter. To prevent and/or protect the champagne sidewalls from failed sealants or cracks, eternabond tape seal is applied over roof sidewall joint. Model 2015 vista, itasca, sunstar.

And sure enough, right from Winnies own web site;

How To Seal Your Roof

You'd think after how many years and how many failures they would have come up with something better by now. Apparently they don't see this as a problem. Oh wait...yes they do, see the TSB above.

When it comes to buying a new MH we all have choices - I know one I wouldn't choose.

[mike_brez]

Winni had a terrible roof to wall design

[msmith1199]

I recently did the Eternabond tape on the front seal on my fiberglass roof. One thing I noticed as I removed the old trim is that most of the screws had been stripped. Also they had used self tapping sheet metal screws and those screws were only attached to the wood underlayment. So basically the only thing holding the front of the fiberglass roof down was the self leveling sealant put across the front seam. Now mine was pretty secure, but I can see how it would have been possible, had I left it alone, for the sealant to have eventually given away and air to get in under the roof and work to pull it up.

When I screw it back down, I threw away the only sheet metal trim piece, and bought a pretty thick piece of flat aluminum that stretched all the way across the rood. I drilled holes in it and used those to screw it back down. But before I did that I got up behind the TV and I was able to get access to about four feet of the underlayment, so I attached some pieces of white oak up there. Then I screwed the aluminum piece all the way through the underlayment and into that white oak. So now at least that center four feet of the front of the roof is screwed all the way down into that hardwood and is going nowhere. Then I sealed over the top of all that with the etrnabond tape.

[garyemunson]

I hear that has happened a lot. Is this just a problem on 10-15 year old Winnebago products or does it continue to this day?

[gbopp]

How did your friend lose a roof?