Installing A New Aluminum Roof On Our Class C Motorhome

Removing The Old Rubber Roof From The RV

First step was to remove all of the old vents and the luggage rack.  Then I had to strip the old rubber roofing material off.  This wasn’t easy because it was still glued down really well in several spots, especially on the back half of the motorhome.  My dad was a huge help at getting this part done.  Once it was off, most of the front half was all exposed, but since I hadn’t removed the inside ceiling in the back, the back half remained.

I left the styrofoam insulation in the back roof section, but I removed the plywood from it so that it wouldn’t interfere with the installation of the new luan.  I then went around with a 4-inch wire wheel on my drill and cleaned all of the upper surfaces of the aluminum so that the adhesive would have a good clean surface to adhere to.

Dad removing the Aluminum Roof Extrusions

Roof removed from RV. Wooden beams installed.

A Note About The Wooden Beams

So my first idea was to try and repair the aluminum extrusions that had been cut.  Ordering new 2in x 3in aluminum extrusions was too expensive.  So my first idea was to mill some oak that was just the right size to slide into the extrusions and repair the cut parts.  But I wasn’t impressed with the results of the first one I did.  So I decided to instead mill some oak down and laminate two boards together so that they would be more stable and very strong.  This was the least expensive option and would add a LOT of strength back to this section of the roof, which is where it’s really needed.  I coated the beams with polyurethane to help seal the wood and then used Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive and exterior screws to install them in place of the old aluminum beams.  I didn’t recreate the frame for the roof A/C because I had no intention on re-installing another A/C on the roof.

Once this was all done, it was time to start installing the new luan for the roof …