Will my Coachman roof take my weight?

[GD485]

Hi all,

I have a Coachman Vision 575/4 2015 and need to clean the roof and wax it.

Is it safe to crawl on the roof when waxing it?

I’m ok when washing the roof as I stand on my shed roof along side the van and use a long handled brush but wax & polish needs a bit more elbow grease to get the job done.

 

[Icaru5]

Hi all,

I have a Coachman Vision 575/4 2015 and need to clean the roof and wax it.

Is it safe to crawl on the roof when waxing it?

I’m ok when washing the roof as I stand on my shed roof along side the van and use a long handled brush but wax & polish needs a bit more elbow grease to get the job done.

Whether or not the roof can take your weight without catastrophic failure of the structure, I would not advise transferring any of your body weight onto the roof of your van. There are other options available which will allow you to access all areas of the roof, such as multi-purpose ladders and access platforms.

This topic has been covered numerous times, and I’m sure that after a quick search you will find that most seemed to be of the same opinion.

Hope this helps,

Ic.

 

[otherclive]

I would agree that whilst the roof may be strong enough to stand on, it is generally not recommended. What the adverts show and reality may not be the same. Waxing requires you to spend quite a long time kneeling in many different parts of the roof, which could lead to incipient damage to seals which may not be readily apparent.

Mind you this advice comes from someone who over all of my years of owning caravan I have resisted the temptation to wax a caravan roof. Regular washing with Fenwicks combined with Bobby Dazzler or similar wax shampoo seem to do the job for me. Anyway my own self esteem would be at risk from neighbours who think even owning a caravan is some form of "anorak' type of activity on par with train spotting.

 

[Craigyoung]

I'm like Clive & Lc , the whole van roof gets a good wash, the roof with a long brush and as much as I can with the Hand and sponge but never have I stood on the top or been on the top even if it's advertised that it can be done . You'll probably find that you can get most of it by leaning over , there may just be a small bit towards the middle bits that may not be able to be reached from the sides. However you plan to clean the roof just be careful as it is quite high up when on top of the steps !!

Craig

 

[LizziePope]

We'd definitely not advise standing on the roof of your caravan to clean it. It's not worth the risk and it's a long way to fall if something does go wrong. It may be worth investing in a work tower or step ladder, as we explain in our recent how to clean a caravan article. Hope that helps!

 

[GD485]

Thanks all for the replies.

I think I should have asked the question another way.

“How do you keep the roof of a caravan clean without killing yourself falling from a great height?”(ha ha)

From now on it’s a nice environmentally green roof for me !

 

[Craigyoung]

Green stirdy steps long brush and guts ! Simple ! Mines never been Green in this life , very rare mines dirty

 

[GD485]

I used do the same as you, CraigYoung but now I’m a bit concerned after all the predictions of my early demise.
Anyway, I like green it matches my teeth

 

[Damian]

As has been said, polishing the roof does carry some safety warnings, one about the possibility of sliding off and it being a long way down, and the other about possible damage to the roof.

Of course it depends on what construction the roof is as to what damage may occur.

On loose laid aluminium you can easily leave knee marks in the metal (or claw marks as you gracefully slide off ! )
On the bonded type the risks are less as they are a solid piece and less likely to be damaged.

It is advisable if you do intend to get up there to use a spreader board to take your weight and spread the load, then polish the centre section where you cannot reach from a ladder, then come off the roof and finish from a ladder or whatever the edges that you have left.

 

[DaveA1]

Green stirdy steps long brush and guts ! Simple ! Mines never been Green in this life , very rare mines dirty

+! My van roof gets a clean very two washes, usually just before we go away. Just use a good wash and wax shampoo, Looks OK

 

[GD485]

I’ll soon be safe now
http://img.izismile.com/img/img4/20110520/640/scaffold_fun_640_15.jpg

Thanks for all the replies, I take all the warnings on board.
I’ll go back to my long handled brush and some bobby dazzler
Thanks again

 

[xtrailman]

You can usually access most of the roof through the skylights.

My self I have never used wax on any caravan, just a good wash and wax shampoo works for me, a long brush bought for the job used from a specialist pair of steps is all I use.

 

[Parksy]

I wax my caravan twice a year so that grime washes off without the need to polish and I have to confess that the caravan roof has been waxed, but not very often and certainly not twice a year.
To do mine I did the edges that I could reach from my platform as normal and for the difficult to reach mid areas I used a spray auto wax which sprayed a mist of wax over the areas I wanted to reach. To rub the wax in I pinned a large microfiber cloth over a soft broom which sort of did the trick although it was awkward and hard work. The roof doesn't come up gleaming but it's protected enough to minimise black streaks running from the roof to the caravan sides, and grime washes off.
I didn't climb on the roof, it's too risky for me :woohoo:

 

[Raywood]

From a safety point of view I would not advise it. A fall from that height on a slippy wet surface is likely to be serious if not fatal.
Coachman make no promises about the weight the roof can take and I would doubt it is up to someone standing on it, but if you did any damage would be costly to repair.
Only Bailey have made any claims about the strength of the roof structure that I know of, and frankly I would not want to test that.

 

[xtrailman]

When Bailey advertised the strength with the car on the roof it was mounted on boards to distribute the weight.
It was probably just an empty shell as well.

Having owned one I wouldn't trust it to take my weight either, and I never felt that it was any stronger than my Senator, but I wouldn't expect everyone to agree.

From a safety point of view I would not advise it. A fall from that height on a slippy wet surface is likely to be serious if not fatal.
Coachman make no promises about the weight the roof can take and I would doubt it is up to someone standing on it, but if you did any damage would be costly to repair.
Only Bailey have made any claims about the strength of the roof structure that I know of, and frankly I would not want to test that.

 

[Martin24]

Yes it will take your weight and yes if you're careful then getting onto the roof for cleaning is a perfectly reasonable thing to do provided the construction is bonded. I think these days it's only really Lunar that have not got a bonded roof. I always used to go on the roof of our Coachman's.

 

[xtrailman]

Coachman caravans are now weight reduced, would you be happy going on the roof of a new one?

Yes it will take your weight and yes if you're careful then getting onto the roof for cleaning is a perfectly reasonable thing to do provided the construction is bonded. I think these days it's only really Lunar that have not got a bonded roof. I always used to go on the roof of our Coachman's.

 

[Martin24]

It's bonded, yes.

 

[Hutch]

Coachman caravans are now weight reduced, would you be happy going on the roof of a new one?

Yes it will take your weight and yes if you're careful then getting onto the roof for cleaning is a perfectly reasonable thing to do provided the construction is bonded. I think these days it's only really Lunar that have not got a bonded roof. I always used to go on the roof of our Coachman's.

It would take along ramp to get Martin onto the roof of his caravan in his Chariot.

 

[Craigyoung]

It would take along ramp to get Martin onto the roof of his caravan in his Chariot.

That's a bit harsh isn't it Hutch ! Hope he's got Michelin all weather tyres on !!!

 

[Hutch]

It would take along ramp to get Martin onto the roof of his caravan in his Chariot.

That's a bit harsh isn't it Hutch ! Hope he's got Michelin all weather tyres on !!!

I think Martin, does have M and S tyres as he managed the mud at Stratford last year.

 

[Raywood]

Even if it will take the weight I would not climb on the roof. Having been involved in investigating accidents I am well aware of how serious a fall from that height can be. I am afraid it is just plain dangerous.

 

[Martin24]

Is it MS or did I fall? Much better tyres on the proper chair that now, with the new car, comes everywhere with me. No stopping me.