Roof material

[gbpack]

We just did a recent Tybee Island and Florida trip ourselves! Small world. We were on Tybee for a week in mid-January and then in Florida for 4 weeks after that. How about you! We are anxious to hear how this turns out for you. Sounds like a great idea!

[montedtrotter1]

Got it done today. Sorry for not knowing how this will turn out picture wise as this is my first post in a while attaching pictures. The max size is 1 MB so the pictures have to be resized. Needless to say, I am a novice but you can see the pictures I think. This is two coats of 100% silicone coating, about one gallon of material. I thought it would be much thicker but not. Today it got to 70 plus degrees in Athens GA. The side of the trailer is a charcoal/silver color. One could not hold your hand on the side of the trailer due to the heat buildup. Placing one's hand on the roof however was completely different, it was actually cool! Again this is a silicone rubber type material which is a sealant plus light reflector. I do not have any leaks but inside heat buildup and streaks down the side of the trailer due to rain/aluminum reaction are the problems trying to be solved. The sun reflectance is amazing and only time will tell later when temps hit 90 plus as to how much the sun reflectance helps. I will be watching closely to see if the rain streaks are improved.
I have a lot of material left over as the coating label indicates much more coating will be used. I could have purchased two gallons versus five and had plenty. I may add an extra coat later. Tapping on the roof indicates to me the sound deadening I had hoped for will be marginal. I did not do a sound test with iphone decibel app during a rain storm but should have, should do a lot of things that do not seem to happen.
Bottom line is I am very pleased with this mod so far. I have the advantage of an aluminum roof for durability and now a white roof for light reflectance and even more sealant on screws along the top edges where some folks have had leaking issues.

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[mitch]

I look forward to your follow-ups

[kycamper]

It looks like you applied the product over the sealant. Is that the case?? I like the idea of adding a reflective coating. Good luck with your mod.

[daplumbr]

I'm interested in a cooler roof, but a recent photo of our backyard from my wife's drone has me thinking the aluminum is ok for reflectance. Here is a shot from the air clearly showing the camper roof highly reflective; almost mirror-like. I can't help but think it was cooler than the surrounding things that were not reflective. 

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[tincan]

Going to Chime in.  I know you do not see it often but this is a real Air stream kind of topic.  Air Sream owners have coated, painted roofs for years to reduce the absorbed heat form the sun.  While bare metal like Aluminum may reflect a lot of light it absorbs a lot of the IR & UV (heat, heat and more heat).  The white coatings will help to reflect the IR & UV.

The silicon coating has some serious appeal. My main concern is what happens as the self leveling sealant begins to crack and need replacement.  Our Aluminum roofs have sealant 360 around the perimeter as well as all the fan, vent and shower bubbles.

Would it be advisable to leave a small 3/4 to 1 inch gap around the self leveling sealant?  In case you need to remove and replace?

[montedtrotter1]

Yes we did paint over the sealant. I see-it as extra protection against leaking. The silicone material when dry is very elastic and expands and contracts with heat/cold. Removing it from a seal will be the same as removing the dicor sealant, use a blade to cot the material and peel off.
Regarding the heat buildup and light reflectance questions, Have already tested with my hand the temperature change in coated and uncoated. Our roof last summer was so hot we could feel the heat radiating down through the ceiling, the primary reason for the coating, no way to hold your hand on the aluminum. . Two days ago when the temperature was near 70, the side of the trailer was so hot you could not hold your hand on the coating while the roof was actually cool, not warm but cool. Now I realize the side of the trailer is painted and not aluminum but I failed to get a temperature reading of the metal.  I now have a infrared laser temperature gauge and will post some temps when the weather improves.

Please note 100% silicone coating is pretty expensive compared to paint. I would start with one gallon possibly two at the most. I am going to put on another coat in the near future but have probably 3.5 gallons left over from the 5 gallon bucket I purchased.

[montedtrotter1]

Tincan is correct about the coating of AS roofs. I went to several forums and roof coatings are a major topic, aluminum vs rubber, coatings etc.  

I also looked up heat conductivity of aluminum and this subject will give you a headache!  There are many grades and finishes but aluminum is a great heat conductor, think pots and pans etc. it disappates heat and cold rapidly ( think beer cans). Forums indicate metal roofs leak more than rubber but rubber does not last as long. Maybe our aluminum roof with a silicone coating is the best of both!

[tincan]

Montedtrotter1,

One Question:

The exact product you used.  Gardner Gibson sells several silicon roof coatings.  below are names and links to the products.  I am considering doing this to my camper in a month once it warms a few degrees here in KY.

[a href="http://www.gardner-gibson.com/products/cool-roof-coatings-repairs/white-silicone-roof-coating/eterna-kote-5570-1-30"]Eterna-Kote s-100+ 5570-1-30 [/a]

[a href="http://www.gardner-gibson.com/products/cool-roof-coatings-repairs/white-silicone-roof-coating/black-jack-5576-1-30"]BlackJack premium silicon waterproofing coating 5576-1-30[/a]

Both by Gardner Gibson.  I apologize if you posted this elsewhere, I looked but could find the exact name of the product you used.
Thanks

[montedtrotter1]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Eterna-Kote-5-Gal-S-100-Silicone-Roof-Coating-5570-1-30/205314046

Eterna-Kote s-100 + 5570-1-30.. This is the 5 gallon bucket version but I think you can also get it by the gallon. I have 3 plus gallons left over and plan to put another coat on in a week or so. The site on Home Depot actually gives more information than the Gardner site. Also, take a look at Henry Company's Tropical Seal also via HD, basically the same stuff but more expensive.

[montedtrotter1]

Should have said Henry Company Tropi-Cool not seal. Just type in Henry Tropi-Cool via home depot and it will come up for a comparison.

[gnies]

I'm interested in a cooler roof, but a recent photo of our backyard from my wife's drone has me thinking the aluminum is ok for reflectance. Here is a shot from the air clearly showing the camper roof highly reflective; almost mirror-like. I can't help but think it was cooler than the surrounding things that were not reflective. 

Wow drone take amazing pictures!

[pjcd]

Did you have to prep the roof? You stated that you have streaking from using this?

[montedtrotter1]

Actually, I cheated, I got a quote from an independent bed liner company, Better X, that did my pickup. He quoted me $1300 for a white pick up liner for the top of the trailer roof; too much for me since I am not throwing tool boxes etc. on the roof! I asked him for a price to use my supplied coating since he had a building where he could coat it inside.  He would not give me a price due to not knowing how much prep and issues with the coating might be. So yes he simply wiped down the aluminum with acetone, it was not terribly dirty since it is only 11 months old. His final bill was $150 for two coats. I plan to put on another coat and will wipe everything down with acetone. I really do not think it is an issue covering the existing Dicor sealant, just more protection against ultraviolet light.

On another note, black paint is beginning to come off the front painted black diamond aluminum plating. In a year or two,  I will get Better X to put a pickup liner coating on this area (all the painted black areas) to solve this problem once and for all. This coating is virtually bullet proof!

The streaking is from the chemical reaction of rain and the aluminum on top of the trailer, then running down the side of the trailer. It has been raining for 4-5 hours today and we are headed to TN on Sunday. I will get the trailer out of storage and see how it looks on Saturday.

The coating companies say you have to power wash the surface etc since they are guaranteeing the coating for 50 years or life. It's just common sense to clean any really dirty areas before painting something to make sure the coating adheres. If the surface is extremely smooth you need to scuff it up a little bit with sand paper to create a surface the coating can stick to.

[montedtrotter1]

Hey, no problem with staying with an uncoated aluminum roof! I am sure there are folks that do not make any changes to their trailer which is fine with me. That is the beauty of this forum, pick and choose and get all kinds of ideas!