Hello Everyone,

My wife and I recently bought a 50' 1983 Westfab Houseboat that needs some major repairs (it does float though!). One of the biggest problems for us right now is the roof which the previous owners did nothing to repair.

The roof is vinyl and about a quarter inch thick and has many tears in it. We have been trying to patch up what we can with "Snow Roof" but we know the whole roof needs to be replaced. One of the ideas I have for replacing the roof is to use the rubbery compound paint (thats used primarily on mobile homes not sure of name). Before I make any decisions I wanted to hear what others have done or may suggest.

On another note I like to do something about the siding, which is aluminum and also in pretty good shape (although it needs paint bad). The siding is a completely cosmetic issue and really there is nothing wrong with it. Since the siding makes the boat look like an old mobile home on pontoons I had an idea about covering it with 4'x8' 1/4" thick sheets of HDPE (or similiar) plastic to give it a smooth newer look like most newer houseboats. I think I'd be able to simply screw the sheets up or bond them with some sort of glue or bonding compound. If anyone could give me there suggestions, concerns or advice on that I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks so much in advance for helping out, and I look forward to sharing ideas and advice with you all.

Thanks

Chris

Maybe just some light polishing compound and buffing on the siding will do the job. As far as the roof I'd do a permanent fix. I'm not familiar with vinyl used for a roof. You did say that is was 1/4 in ply under it. If it(vinyl) can be stripped off. I would put another _layer_ of 3/8-1/2 ply over it ,especially if you can or intend to be on the roof area. Then I'd glass it

as far as painting the siding which is what i did. use a product called eazy-pox. can get it at west marine. when rolled on looks like spray painted. use a high density roller from the home depot. the more prep and tapeing u do the better the job.

I, too, am in a similar predicament. We have checked all over regarding putting up new siding vs. painting. Several sources have suggested not to mess with old siding, especially removing it, unless you are willing to take the chance at having to re-build the cabin entirely. I have also checked into the spray-on siding, which I was told by a factory rep not to do to a marine vessel. I have checked into putting siding up over the existing and cautioned that there would be more of a chance of leaking due to additional screws. There also would be a problem with that in our boat as our windows are flush mount to the siding. I think we are about at the point of re-painting and dealing with the rectangularness of our "old" boat. If anyone else has a better solution, let me know!

"FIRE"