RV Repair: rubber roof, fleetwood southwind, southwind storm

Question
I HAVE A 1994 FLEETWOOD SOUTHWIND STORM 30' WITH A RUBBER ROOF.WHEN I BROUGHT THIS RV 9 MONTHS AGO THE OWNERS TOLD ME THAT THEY PAINTED A COATING ON THE WHOLE ROOF AND THEY SAID I SHOULD DO THIS ABOUT EVERY 5 YEARS.WHEN I TOOK IT TO THE SHOP THEY TOLD ME ALL MY SEAMS NEEDED SEALING WHICH I LET THEM DO.THEY TOLD ME THAT ALL I NEED TO DO IS SEAL THE SEAMS AND NOT PAINT A COATING ON IT.I ASKED THEM WHY THE PAINT WAS PEELING OFF BY THE VENT FOR THE FRIDGE AND WHAT I SHOULD DO.THEY SAID DONT WORRY ABOUT IT,YOU DON'T NEED IT ON THERE.WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON ALL OF THIS AND WHAT MAINT.NEEDS TO BE DONE AND HOW OFTEN.THANKS A LOT

Answer
Jeffery, Well whenever someone coats the complete roof I tend to think they were having leaking trouble. Then it depends on what they covered the roof with. Rubber has only 2 things that can be put on and allowed by the rubber manufactures that doesn't affect any warranty. These are Dicor (also known under the name of Carlisle) and Liquid rubber. If what they put on is peeling then I guess it is ok to let it continue. That is to a point anyhow. The shop you took it to is also right in saying that you only need to seal around the vents and anything else that is cut out or mounted to the roof. It may be a skylight or even horns. Now as long as the leak that they had was around something like this everything will be fine as well. But now if they covered the roof because they had things penetrating the rubber like maybe pine cones or something similar then it will need to be fully coated. The best thing I can say is for you to (if possible) get on the roof and evaluate what is really going on and look for small imperfections that may be holes or rips. Also check to see how hard it would be to get off what they put on. When you have this determined then you can decide whether you will need it sealed better. Let me know what you think and we can go from there. Thanks, Bill