1986 Boler Roof Sag

[smyth26]

Hello, I have been following this group for a while and recently purchased a 1986 Boler 13ft. I noticed the roof is sagging around the vent and wondering if anyone can direct me in the right direction? Trying to not loose the original head room but want it to be solid. The roof can easily be pushed back into form but will not stay to the original shape. There are no cracks in the fiberglass. I attached pictures to show the problem.

[Phoneman]

I'm new to fixing fiberglass, but this issue needs to be addressed. I would guess the paint is hiding the cracks. If this was my trailer I would carefully pull down the inside cover and inspect for cracks. If there are some there or not this roof still has to be strengthened. I'm sure you will get a lot of more valuable advice from this site, but if it were me, I would consider fiberglassing a thin piece of plywood all around the vent on the inside of the trailer, as far over as to where the roof starts to dip down. My boler has a raised portion to the roof and I'm sure yours must have one too. I just can't see it from your photo. Good luck on this project. I'll be watching closely what is suggested because I'm sure my 1973 boler will need this fix someday.

[Trill136]

My Trillium had significant roof sag around its vent and in the area toward the rear. About 3/4" IIRC.

The way that I repaired mine was from the outside. I wanted to keep as much clearance inside as possible, plus mu ensolite was still in decent shape.

I 'shored' the roof up into the correct curvature and then applied 3/16" plywood strips to the outside. Fastened down with System 3 epoxy and then 'clothed and glassed' over.

It has held up so far and I am surprised at how much weight the roof can actually hold now.

[k0wtz]

min very good info


thanks


bob

[CasitaInFL]

I had a similar problem on my Casita. Because I have no interior in my camper, I used an adjustable extension pole to brace the roof from the bottom and hold it in place to where it should be. I then took some fiberglass resin and cloth and fiber glassed the bottom side of the roof (maybe 2ft by 2ft) with the extension pole still in place holding the roof where it needed to be. Waited for the fiberglass to dry, removed the brace, and the roof didn't move a bit. Roof dent perfectly flat and I didn't use up more than a 1/16th of an inch on the inside. Of course if you camper has interior in it, this probably won't be possible.

[smyth26]

I have been looking at different options and this one of a previous modification appears the best without loosing head room. I was thinking of having a brace hold the roof in the correct position. I would then use a quick setting 2 part epoxy while holding the aluminum stock in place until cured. I would then glass over the aluminum. Anyone see any negative in doing this ?


"Then I glassed in a piece of flat aluminimum stock - can't remember the width - maybe 3"? And it was probably 1/8" thick. I'm not in danger of hitting the roof with my head, but I didn't want to be able to see the alum bar when I covered it. Glassing this in over my head sucked, especially since I'm no pro at it. But it went in and I glassed in a few layers over about a weeks time"





Attached Thumbnails

[smyth26]

Well, I followed the fix from another member (LukeP) for the sag in my Boler roof. Here are the steps and tools needed after removing the glued carpet interior.

1. Bought 2 aluminum stocks 1/8" x 2"x 3ft from Canadian Tire that I cut to the right width. I bonded these to the fiberglass with ClearWeld Quick Setting Epoxy, held in place by adjustable support rods from Princess Auto.
2. I then applied two layers of fiberglass(Bondo Fiberglass Resin + Mesh) extending 2" on either side of the aluminum stock.

3. Took the adjustable support rods down and finished the fiberglass in those areas. Light sanding and done!

The aluminum stocks are placed 6" away from the roof vent on either side. No more sag and roof is much stronger. Should be even stronger once roof vent is installed. Fix might be 1/4" thick so doesn't affect headroom.

[k0wtz]

you are overloading my brain!!

bob

[Jay H]

That looks like a great fix!
It looks like you don't have cabinet supports on your kitchen side. Are you thinking about adding some too? I always wonder if that would also help with the roof support.
Either way you have done some nice work.

[Butsky]

Cabinet supports are always a great idea! Most Bolers have them.

[smyth26]

Yes will definitely be adding the cabinet supports once I finish the reno. This 86 Boler had no original support which I think was a bad idea and probably contributed to the roof sag.

[Jay H]

I'm in the same situation Greg! My Boler has never had cabinet supports either. On my list for winter projects. In fact, I had contemplated a very similar roof fix but tried something different (not that it didn't work but it didn't really solve my sag issue). I'll keep following your thread to see what else you do.
Jay