DIY New Roof on 1970's Vintage Camper: Lifetime Guarantee, Bulletproof RV Roof

In this video, we tackle the ultimate roof makeover, bidding farewell to the disastrous hot mopped residential roofing tar and replacing it with a cutting-edge roof coat material that creates a bulletproof roof and offers a lifetime guarantee. Whether it lasts a lifetime remains to be seen but, with the poor condition of the existing roof, we felt that this was our best option to try to achieve a long-lasting weatherproof and watertight roof on this vintage motorhome.
Witness the transformation from start to finish, from the painstaking removal of the old, poorly applied coating to the application of Eterna-Kote silicone roof material along with Eternabond tape and Dicor sealant. Even if you don't have an RV, you may find yourself in need of a new roof for your travel trailer, camper, 5th wheel, caravan, tiny home, or even your porch roof at home.
Eterna-Kote Silicone Roof Coating (5 gal) - amzn.to/3OQXYR4
Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant - amzn.to/44nMx9e
RV Roof Tape - amzn.to/45Ecd2K
ProFlex RV Sealant - amzn.to/3qRFFTU
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Music Credits Freedom by Roa (royalty-free and used with permission) Music by Roa / roamusic

[@jerrytalley802]

OMG, I’ve never seen that stuff on a roof. It’s sad, because 99% of stuff for roofs does not work on rv roofs because of hot/cold and movement. You have a nightmare there to deal with. I think I would have removed the AC and vents and put a new roof over the old. Campers can be a nightmare to work with, especially when someone made such a mess of that roof. Wishing you well on your repairs.

[@retrorevivals]

Thanks so much for the comment! The roof was a beast! We researched and what we did seems to be working so far 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[@-miekeb-]

Love to see your disaster conversion, It's terrible and funny! But mostly worth watching because of you both being so positive and able to laugh about it 😉 Thank you for sharing and Concratulations with the new project!! Greetings from Amsterdam 👋

[@retrorevivals]

Thank you so much for watching and for your comment! The kids get so excited when comments come in from around the world (we do too, lol). Some of the things we're finding, we just have to laugh 😂

[@kevinjwhitley9343]

You could fill the inside of the "D" with bondo and that would give you more of a glue surface. You could also insert small bolts into the bondo lined up with the holes in the hood and put nuts on the bolts inside the hood.

[@retrorevivals]

That is a really great idea, we appreciate you sending it. We just ended up gluing down the G around the edges but I'm not sure how well that'll hold it. To replace the D, we'll consider your suggestion. Thanks for watching!

[@yvonnes4445]

You guys are so much fun to watch! My husband and I have been very discouraged with the camper "that doesn't leak", (boy did it ever) that we bought last year. What a nightmare!!! Thanks for the encouragement. Wish we had your talent!

[@retrorevivals]

Yvonne, your comment literally made our day yesterday. We appreciate you watching and glad we could be an encouragement to you as well. I'll let you in on a secret... we don't always know what we're doing, lol. Lots of research and KZbin and you can do anything. Good luck with your project. We're glad to have you along for the ride :-)

[@jerrytalley802]

When we were kids, we would have been up there scraping that mess off, not my Mom and Dad, lol. You really need to get it all scraped off. What a nightmare you have there, ugh! I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but unless you get every spec off, clean it with some kind of solvent down to metal, it will fail. I need to see how old this video is, and see if it worked. Glad you can still laugh through it all. I think you need to clean out that AC, lol

[@retrorevivals]

That was a year ago and it's still holding up. We haven't really put ol Harvey through the ringer much so time will tell! Thanks again for watching and commenting!

[@rd946]

Love watching your progress. Nice to see two handy people do it all themselves.

[@retrorevivals]

Aww, thank you so much. We appreciate you watching and taking the time to comment!

[@johnhicks1969]

Awesome job. You both inspire me to buy a RV and restore it

[@retrorevivals]

Thanks, John... just keep in mind that we have the power to edit out those moments where we want to burn the thing to the ground, lol!!! Really though, it has been a really fun project so far and we're looking forward to the day that we can take it on a trip :-)

[@therealjayseh]

Bedliner is the way to go. Expensive bedliner does great on RV roofs. Cheap works too , but be ready for issues lol

[@retrorevivals]

We're really hopeful this product will last! We've never used it though so we'll keep you guys updated on how it does. I don't think what we used was as expensive as bedliner but it wasn't cheap either, lol!

[@therealjayseh]

@@retrorevivals even if it gives you 5 good years without having to mess around with the roof you're not doing bad. Recoats and product removal is what concerns me when using roofing coatings. It's all hit-and-miss with anything & everything you buy these days!! You never know what you're gonna get as far as quality goes.

[@ocn2u]

I'm glad you listen to the song and the problem was people just confused Springsteen and Springfield and they were both popular around the same time

[@retrorevivals]

Seriously, that crazy song has been stuck in my head now for a week. We were cracking up when we heard it. Thanks again for watching and for the comment!

[@ocn2u]

@@retrorevivals are you guys going to have another video soon or what and we would like to see you continue on the same camper that you started with and then going to the other one

[@retrorevivals]

@@ocn2u Thanks for the reply! We released a couple since the roof video but we're a little delayed on the next one. Our two oldest kids are graduating this week so we haven't had as much time to work. We're hoping to have one out within the next week 👍👍

[@heartslessons6243]

Oscillating tool works great taking that stuff off.

[@retrorevivals]

Ahhh! We should have tried that! Great suggestion. Thanks for watching!

[@siddembowski2844]

Talk about bonding you and the roof a tremendous amount of work.

[@retrorevivals]

We were dreading the roof project and it turned out to be just about as much work as we pictured it being. So glad it's finished now fingers crossed we don't have any more leaks! Thanks for watching!

[@markcooley5681]

I used to have a mobile home and once a year the roof had to be coated. sooo It turned out I was afraid of heights. LOL. I did overcome with the help of some really cold cans of adult beverages. Looks great you guys keep moving forward. loved the video ty. Can't wait till the next.

[@retrorevivals]

Thanks again, Mark! We're glad you enjoyed the video and, you're right, it is a little nerve wracking up there! We'd definitely fall off if adult beverages were involved 😂

[@markcooley5681]

@@retrorevivals BTW Happy Mother's day!!

[@rvgalpals7245]

Wow, I’m going to quite whining about my roof. At least I only had “ mystery coating” around the vents. That’s the first time I’ve seen a roof like that. Hopefully your treatment does the trick🤞🏻 Cheers!

[@retrorevivals]

Thanks so much for watching and for the comment! Yes, the roof was a basic disaster. We didn't really look close enough when we were buying it but probably should have. Although, we most likely would have bought it anyway, lol. Stay tuned to check out our new travel trailer project too!

[@rvgalpals7245]

@@retrorevivals oh don’t worry, I’ve been watching your channel regularly. You 2 are a genuine, regular parents fixing up old RVs with humour, and a touch tiny of sarcasm😉. Your doing an excellent job! PS…..Don’t get sucked into the great toilet paper debate though…just don’t do it🫣😆

[@retrorevivals]

@@rvgalpals7245 Oh my gosh, that's so funny 🤣 Have you seen how crazy everyone gets when you mention the word FlexSeal? 🤯

[@rvgalpals7245]

@@retrorevivals yep…yet another trigger word. It’s kind of fun to scroll through, but don’t engage😂

[@catherinemorgan2741]

Seen roofers use ice pick tool to scrap off old roofs shingles and flat roof tar

[@retrorevivals]

Thank you for that suggestion! We ended up leaving a lot of that asphalt up on the roof (as you probably saw)... it was stuck down pretty solid in most areas. We appreciate you watching our videos :-)

[@catherinemorgan2741]

@@retrorevivals YW throw an idea at you

[@AndyandRachel]

Any update on the roof holding up? We have a '75 that we're about to do the same thing to! Thanks!

[@retrorevivals]

We need to do a thorough examination but, overall, we really like the Eternakote so far. We noticed some cracking where we used eternabond tape under the rubber coating so we would not use the tape if we were going to do it again. We patched over the cracks with Eternakote patch and mesh tape and looks good so far.

[@glennbrooks9933]

Hi you 2,I'm brand new to your channel, I was just giving a 1972 ????? Looks like a holiday rambler and now I'm going to tackle the roof but it would be nice to know exactly what product to use on this aluminum tin roof that has no plywood. Keep up with your great videos. Thanks ❤

[@retrorevivals]

We just did ours two days ago! New video should be out on Wednesday so check it out. On Harvey, we used Eternakote, we really like it. This camper we used Henry's Tropicool. Seems like a good product too 👍🏼👍🏼 Thanks for watching! Good luck on your project 🎉

[@glennbrooks9933]

@@retrorevivals thanks for your reply and new videos.

[@gregndebbieglass3887]

I plan on doing the same type roof sealing process on my RV as well. My roof is covered with the aluminum just like yours and the aluminum doesn't feel like it's attached to anything. When you walk on it, it feels like it's just loose. Just wondering if yours felt the same way? Great progress on the roof, hope it's sealed👍

[@retrorevivals]

There were parts that didn't feel connected to the ceiling underneath, particularly up toward the vent in front and in the very back. We ended up adding some screws in the back into our new 2x3s but left the front the way it was. It seems like in the original construction, the paneling on the outside of the walls was glued to the aluminum. If it's not attached to the aluminum anymore, that paneling probably isn't in the best shape but, it's weird to us that they used a layer of thin paneling between the foam and aluminum anyway... doesn't seem like it stood much of a chance of holding up. I hope that helps if what I said made any sense, lol. Good luck with your project! So far, we feel like the Eterna-kote is going to be the right choice. Thanks for watching!

[@greggv8]

If there's one thing you're going to splurge $ on, get a low profile DC rooftop air conditioner, especially if you install solar panels and lithium-iron-phosphate batteries.

[@retrorevivals]

We're so torn on what to do for the A/C. We would like to reuse the one we have if it still works but don't love the thought of putting it back up there just to have it fail right away because it's truly ancient. Probably should splurge on a new one... might wait to see how much $$$ we're going to need to pour into the engine before we decide about the air conditioning. Thanks for the comment!

[@greggv8]

@@retrorevivals another point in favor of a new AC is the old one will be using R12 or R22 refrigerant, or it might have some odd substitute if someone did a DIY refill on it. People have used propane, cans of electronic dusting spray and various other non-approved gasses to keep old air conditioning going when they can't get the old refrigerants. If it has its original refrigerant type, should it need service it will be very expensive or impossible to get the old refrigerant. It would definitely be good for peace of mind (and efficiency) to install a new one that should last a long time before needing service.

[@retrorevivals]

@@greggv8 Ooh, dang, you're making a lot of sense. That does sound like the way to go. We just need to get @RecProUSA to sponsor us!

[@johnnymack8442]

Grinder and wire wheel. face shield. And get it done.

[@retrorevivals]

Oohhh, we actually didn't consider a grinder with wire wheel. That may have worked although even when we just used a wire brush, it would start to melt. I bet wire wheeling it would have been effective but a huge mess! Thanks for watching and for your comment 😁

[@greggv8]

Black goop or the silver goop, which is just black goop with a lot of powdered aluminum in it, is junk. All of them (tar based or synthetic "plastic") will eventually dry up and crack and leave the roof worse than before it was put on. Coatings like you've used or even the one step elastomeric white coatings are better because they remain flexible and reflect light. The other, lower cost, coatings are a false economy. The only thing better than any of the coatings is solid flexible sheet, especially a type that can be glued down. But those aren't ideal for an old, beat up roof. It would be messy and take a bunch of time, but I'd have gone over it carefully with an angle grinder with a flap wheel to at least smooth off the crackled tar and ensure that every bit that's loose from the metal was removed.

[@retrorevivals]

We're hoping this coating does the trick! We didn't really think about going over it with an angle grinder but that would have been a good idea. Someone else just suggested something similar. Although, just wire brushing a couple areas by hand started to liquify some of that old black stuff so we may have created a big mess doing that. Anyway, we really appreciate you watching and for the comment!

[@greggv8]

@@retrorevivals hopefully it lasts a long time.

[@user-oh6gk8bk3o]

Доброго времени суток. Республика Карелия на связи. Каждый раз забываю что в Америке градусы по Фаренгейту у нас то по Цельсию и когда говорят что температура 60 градусов то для нас это слишком жарко. М не вот очень интересно почему ремонтом автодома занимаются только родители почему нет помощи от детей. У нас есть поговорка любишь кататься люби и саночки таскать. Жду продолжения. Здоровья вам и семье.

[@retrorevivals]

Thank you for watching and again taking the time to comment on our videos. It's so cool to us to see people around the world enjoying what we do. It looks like 60 degrees for us is about 15.5 degrees Celsius - that would make a big difference 😂 We would like to get the kids more involved but we don't want to force them just because we're crazy and decided to take on this project. I think that once we get into the "fun" part of putting it back together inside, our youngest daughter will want to help more; we'll see! Thanks again for watching.

[@coco9004]

Did you tried bedliner raptor or liner x for the roof?

[@retrorevivals]

We didn't try either of those. We've heard of people using those with success though. Thanks for watching!

[@stewartgorley2523]

New video

[@retrorevivals]

👍🏻😉

[@therealjayseh]

Stuff like that on any RV roof is never okay. Just an FYI

[@retrorevivals]

Thanks for the comment. You mean the black stuff?

[@therealjayseh]

@@retrorevivals yes, never ever tar or asphalt on RVs, buses or travel trailer roofs.. EVER! LOL Mobilehomes either, but people do what people do.

[@jerrytalley802]

It’s where Ladybugs go to die, ugh!

[@retrorevivals]

🤮

[@robertdomanski8862]

Will you stop talking and start scrapping 10:47

[@retrorevivals]

Sir, yes, sir ✌️