How and When to Walk on Your RV Roof
Dave SolbergDescription
People ask all the time if it’s safe for them to walk on their RV roof, and the truth is, there’s no clear-cut answer. Whether or not you can walk on your RV roof depends on the make and model of your vehicle, as well as the type of support the roof offers for one or more persons.
Sometimes, there may be something wrong with your roof vent or A/C unit, and it’s necessary to get up on the RV roof to diagnose the problem. In situations like this, it’s important to know whether you can walk safely on the RV roof or if you’ll need a ladder. In this lesson, we teach you when it’s okay to walk on your roof and talk about some of the ways you can do so safely without doing any damage to the components on your RV roof or the roof itself.
Tips for walking on an RV roof
So we know that being able to walk on an RV roof depends upon the kind of structural support the roof offers, but what separates a strong roof from a weak one? Dave Solberg discusses some of the differences, from the framework to the placement of components such as roof vents and A/C units. You’ll discover why it’s generally unadvised to walk on the RV roof of most cheaper models, and learn where to look for info on your specific model.
Once you’ve learned whether you can walk on your RV roof, Dave shows you how to go about navigating the weak points on a roof, especially spots around the edges of vents and other components. You don’t want to risk cracking supporting materials or splitting a seam in the roof, so pay attention to the way Dave avoids trouble areas as he walks from front to back of the RV. Utilize these expert tips the next time you walk on your RV roof, and you should have no trouble doing any maintenance work on your vehicle!
Quite often I get the question, Can I walk on the roof of my RV? And it really depends on the type of RV. The cheaper the units that are made with wood, are not going to have as much structure, or crossmembers up on the roof and you don't want to get up on top of those. A lot of those manufacturers will even have a sticker on the back that says nobody up on the roof or a limit of 100 or 150 pounds, or something like that. Now you do go to NASCAR races and see tons of people up on top of roofs and a lot of those will have them reinforced.
But what you want to be careful of is when you're walking up on a roof, first of all, it could be very slippery. You want to have good footing on it. It's not a good idea to walk on a wet roof but as also as you're walking around here, stay away from any of the vents because those are going to have cutouts, and they won't have a lot of support around it so you want to stay kind of out away from the vents. Don't get too close into here. Put too much weight there.
Stay on a little bit out to the outside. Now, You will have cross members generally along the edges of your air conditioner, but you can see here, I don't have a lot of support right here so I want to make sure I stay a little closer to the edge because I've got some support on there but not too close to the edge. And just as you come back to the back, you'll see some seams in here. And again, stay away from the vents. There are several units that you can walk around, up on the roof, but you need to be very careful and you need to know what that roof is made of.
i have a 2014 kodiak 276bhsl and it has a ladder on it. my question is what is the weight limit for the roof
Hardwood furniture has something extremely all natural concerning it. There is this sense of coziness, of nature and of luxury that can be actually be discovered in wood home furniture. Wood is actually birthed from the earth.
My fridge fell out of the wall, how do I fix this?
I have 2017 Breckenridge lakeview 340fk. I want to install roof went in my living room. How i can find right place to do it and can i walk on my roof I'm 240lb? Thx.
Is it safe to walk on the roof of a 2014 crossroads sunset trail super lite 300hb? I have a seal that needs repair but am unsure if walking on the roof will cause more damage.
I have a 2005 Keystone Outback 27RSDS camper. I would like to know if it is safe to walk on the roof? It does have a rubber roof and I have never been on top. I have only use a ladder and brush extension to clean the roof. However, I am having AC problems and need to get on top to check on. Thanks for your help!
Just looking.
Is it safe to walk on the roof of a 2016 MXT by KZ toyhauler?
Can you walk on a 2005 Rockwood 8317SS roof?
If your rv has a built-in ladder, and the wall it is attached to seems solid (no evidence of delamination) then go for it. I'd recommend going on hands and knees (with a set of nonrigid foam or cloth based knee pads) because that spreads the load out over 3 or 4 points of contact, rather than 1 or 2 with just your feet. You will need to get down on hands and knees anyway to inspect the condition of the caulk around all openings. Bases of skylights are particularly prone to issues. Recaulk anything that looks cracked, worn, has holes or gaps in it, or is aged to the point that it is no longer pliable. Look at the condition of the roof membrane itself too - EPDM or TPO rubber material should be firmly adhered to the plywood underneath, and not easily dislodged or scraped off. Any area of the roof that does not feel firm, or gives way when pressed is very likely a sign of rotted wood underneath and needs to be examined by an RV technician specializing in roof repair ASAP. Once water finds an opening, it will very quickly begin traveling through the interior ceiling and walls until it reaches the floor, progressively rotting through whatever wood it encounters along the way, often with no visible signs on the interior of the RV. In well constructed RVs, by the time damage is visible on the interior, the repair bill might cost more than the rv is worth. Inspect your roof 4 times a year or more, depending on rainfall, if necessary take it to an RV service center and have them perform a roof inspection. I wish I knew you could walk on the roof of your RV before I bought mine: would have saved me over a thousand dollars in materials alone and countless hours researching things on the internet and more than 2 weeks on the roof repairing it. And I was lucky - my roof repair was confined to a 2x2 square foot section that did not involve any structural members - these fortunately were made out of aluminum tubing.