RV Roof Repair

Looks like I missed posting one of my earlier articles, so I am doing it here:

REPAIR OF RV ROOF

John had been noticing for two years already that the roof of our fifth wheel trailer was becoming spongy around the area of the air conditioning unit. It was high time we got it fixed, or at least start getting quotes to get it fixed.

A guy in Beaumont quoted a minimum of $7,000 and he needed the trailer for 3 weeks. At Orange, where we had bought the RV, the quote was $5,500. The New Iberia RV dealer said he could fix it for $7,000, with another $700 for metal. At that point, John was thinking metal might be the way to go instead of rubber because he thought it would last longer. Then, along the road through our RV Park came a truck marked “Fun in the Sun Mobile R.V. Repair”. John tracked him down and Melvin came over to check out our roof. His diagnosis was that the air conditioning unit had probably been leaking since the factory and that some of the rafters may need replacing. He did not recommend metal, as it was more difficult to put on and not as flexible as rubber.

We indicated that we were under some time constraints, as we were leaving New Iberia at the end of the month and he said that if we could get it to his place on Sunday, February 20th, he could have it done by Wednesday, the 23rd. We somehow got the impression that we could live in it while he was working on it, but that plan fizzled out when we learned later that he lived on an acreage at Cecelia, north of Breaux Bridge, some 40 minutes away! His quote was $4,500, possibly $5,000, depending on what he found when he opened it up. He also advised that he would be putting on a layer of ¼ inch marine plywood underneath the new rubber top.

Now this was something that required serious consideration, when we hear there are all kinds of fly-by-night operators around. The campground owners said they had never heard anything but good comments about his work and pricing. Accordingly, we took the RV up to Melvin’s place and left it for the three days. We moved what we needed into the motel across the highway from our RV Park. It was not a fancy motel by a long shot ($39.99 a night), but it was adequate and clean, and we only had to kill four cockroaches… They are a fact of life down there, and the motel has all the rooms sprayed with an organic pesticide once a month. Our room was sprayed the last day we were there.

An old friend from Fort McLeod had told us the story of a holiday trip they had taken in Southern Louisiana some years ago. She had told us that she particularly LOVED the New Iberia/Breaux Bridge area. I can honestly say that New Iberia itself did not impress me in any way, shape or form. However, when driving up the road to Breaux Bridge from New Iberia, we witnessed what she was talking about. It is an absolutely gorgeous drive, with huge ancient oak trees overhanging the road for miles, branches meeting in the middle, with lush acreages on either side. As John wanted to see the open roof and how things were going at Melvin’s acreage, we enjoyed the scenery one extra time...

At that time, it was also quite obvious it would not have been convenient for anyone to be living in the unit as it was being repaired! Each of the ceiling vents and both sky lights, as well as the air conditioning unit, had to be removed. All of the gaskets and flashing were replaced and a new skylight was installed in the bathroom.

When we picked up the RV on Wednesday at 5 p.m., we were more than satisfied with the result. What a breath of fresh air when the final bill came to $4,500! John had one of his handy dandy bee keepers bars with him and gave it to Melvin as a bonus. It is a tool that he would not be without, and when Melvin looked at it, he could see that it would be something he could certainly use.