Crazed outer skin of polyester roof.

[68c]

My Pilote Galaxy roof had various bits of rubber matting glued to the top of the roof. Most of the matting was no longer secure so I have removed it all. After scraping off what looks like contact adhesive I found micro cracks or crazing where the matting had been. I cannot tell how deep the crazing is. We have no current damp issues despite all the recent rain.
My plan is to thoroughly clean the areas, wet and dry to smooth and paint over. Can anyone recommend a paint for this.

 

[Campervan_man]

Cromapol white paint.
It has fibreglass in the paint that span small cracks.
I have painted the entire roof of My Iveco Box Van with it .
See main roof pic of my ebay advert:-
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=163523144318

 

[Lenny HB]

I would have thought the best option would be to get roof re- gel coated.

 

[Diabalo]

I'm with Lenny on this one, it needs investigating and a proper job done. You may not have any visible damp internally but water may start wicking through which will lead to all sorts of problems IMHO

 

[Phill D]

yep I agree a re gel coat or the roof could be porous very quickly.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[68c]

Re: Gel Coated? I thought that applied to a fibreglass skin. However, I did put a couple of small fibreglass patches over some redundant holes that were under a removed top box, so I know fibreglass resin does not seem to damage the polyester skin. The Cromapol fibreglass paint seems interesting although takes a week to harden. I used a twin pack EDPM rubber across the roof of my old van, the only problem was difficult to get a flat smooth finish which means it looks bad when dirty, the roller and brush marks very visible. The EDPM rubber certainly sealed the roof and may have made the van less noisy in the rain.

 

[funflair]

So the rubber matting was obviously not waterproofing the roof so it is really no different with it removed than it was before, do you think it is crazing/cracks or has the gel just reacted to the extra heat generated by the matting and the glue. A close up picture might help and an indication of the size that needs treatment, if you are doing something it really would be just as easy to Gelcoat it but it will need MW wax solution adding to stop the surface staying tacky.

Martin

 

[funflair]

Re: Gel Coated? I thought that applied to a fibreglass skin. However, I did put a couple of small fibreglass patches over some redundant holes that were under a removed top box, so I know fibreglass resin does not seem to damage the polyester skin. The Cromapol fibreglass paint seems interesting although takes a week to harden. I used a twin pack EDPM rubber across the roof of my old van, the only problem was difficult to get a flat smooth finish which means it looks bad when dirty, the roller and brush marks very visible. The EDPM rubber certainly sealed the roof and may have made the van less noisy in the rain.

Standard Fibreglass resin is Polyester so yes it is compatible.

Martin

 

[68c]

So the rubber matting was obviously not waterproofing the roof so it is really no different with it removed than it was before, do you think it is crazing/cracks or has the gel just reacted to the extra heat generated by the matting and the glue. A close up picture might help and an indication of the size that needs treatment, if you are doing something it really would be just as easy to Gelcoat it but it will need MW wax solution adding to stop the surface staying tacky.

Martin

As you say the matting was not put on for waterproofing. The matting was blue plastic about 5mm thick with moulded buttons, similar to workshop non slip mats. I understand they were fitted about fifteen years ago to protect the roof when carrying a kayak. The individual cracks are about 3 to 6mm long. There are several areas about 300mm x 450mm. The cracks have slightly raised edges. I assume the solvents in the adhesive did the damage. I will try to get some better photos in daylight.

 

[funflair]

I guess the matting was non slip and protection if they were up there loading kayaks, I would say it certainly wasn’t offering any waterproofing recently but if you can see the crack I would say give it a good roughing back with a power sander and then mask off and Gelcoat the areas, get the gear and have a little practice and you will see it is easy enough, paint it on nice and thick and then stipple the finish with your brush, when it has cured you can go over with a 600 wet and dry to take off any sharp bits, take the masking off before the Gelcoat goes off and make sure the roof is dry but not a hot day as it will go off too quickly.

Martin

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}