Should I Cover An Emergency Soft Spot Patch With A Larger Piece Of Eternabond?

**RicknBobbie** · 08-12-2022, 03:33 PM

In the two months since my last roof inspection, a small cut perforated the roof TPO. Unfortunately, by the time I caught it, a large soft spot opened under the TPO membrane. I took it to a dealer I trust, who told me that, because the soft spot went as far as the edge of the camper, they would have to remove the awing to work on it, and that re-stretching it back in place would be something of a problem. He advised me to slap an Eeternabond patch on it, which I did. This has fixed the problem, but the patch is smaller than the soft spot.

Since the TPO over the soft spot has nothing supporting it, I have some concerns about it flapping loose as I tow.

The soft spot is about 8" x 9", with some degraded, but intact, OSB on either side; total run length of the affected area is about 15". I am thinking about running a 12" wide Eternabond patch over the whole thing to add some dimensional/armor stability to the TPO.

Is this a good idea? If so, I would appreciate any insight about installation, etc.

Thank you.

**dryfly** · 08-13-2022, 06:56 AM

I had a little experience like this in a previous trailer, but it was a larger area. I simply pulled back the TPO, replaced the damaged wood, and was able to salvage the existing TPO. Not a real difficult job.

Since the area of damage on your trailer is so small, is it possible to do the same? Seems like using a little larger piece of TPO that overlaps the area cut for repair, using adhesive, and securing on all 4 sides with Eternabond tape would work.

**RicknBobbie** · 08-13-2022, 07:31 AM

Thanks for the reply.

The actual soft spot is about 8 1/2" in diameter, and the affected area, including degraded OSB, is about 15" x 9". Since the affected area runs to the edge, where the TPO is overlapped by the gutter, I am afraid I will make matters worse if I try to remove/replace the underlayment and TPO. When I uploaded the photo as a pdf file, I didn't realize that it would not show both pages without a download. Attached is a photo of the actual damaged area. The first photo was to illustrate how such a small cut can create a lot of damage if not caught in time.