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RUBBER ROOF ENDS MOBILE HOME LEAK WOES

Bill and Ruth Bonney lived for 30 years in an 11-room home in Rehoboth, surrounded by 40 acres of land, two barns and a two-car garage.

When the Bonneys finished raising a family of four children, they decided the responsibility of a large house and property was getting to be too much and like many older couples, opted for the relative simplicity of a mobile home park.

No fuss...no problems...easy retirement living among contemporaries. That's what they thought, anyway.

"The big house had gotten to be too much work," said Bill, a retired salesman for Electrolux.

"We figured if we moved here, we wouldn't have as many problems," added his wife Ruth.

They purchased a second-hand seven-room mobile home that was 12 years old. There were water marks on the ceiling, but the owner told them a water leak had been fixed and just the ceiling tiles needed replacing, so he knocked a little off the selling price.

When the winter snows of 1986-87 arrived, followed by the torrential rains of spring, much to their chagrin the Bonneys found their roof wasn't as tight as they had been told.

The leak wasn't fixed and in fact, it seemed worse than ever.

"We had a leak in the bathroom, one in the dining room and one in the living room," lamented Ruth.

Mobile homes often develop roof leaks because of the flat surface and poor drainage, but Bill didn't want to apply a popular solution: an "A" roof built on top of the trailer.

"I thought that would be too much weight on a mobile home," he said, also citing the high cost of such a modification.

The park manager suggested they tar the roof every two years," but we couldn't find anybody to do the work for a reasonable price," Bill said.

He decided that a permanent solution to his problem would be a rubber roof. He called in three firms, including Ropac Roofing Company, Inc. of Middleboro.

One company's cost estimate was prohibitively high and a second was much lower but would involve laying a new rubber roof directly over the old leaky surface.

"We were worried that the old tar and nails would damage the rubber," he said.

The Ropac installation would include two inches of insulation under the Perma-Seal membrane.

The Bonneys were impressed with the "businesslike and professional" presentation made by Bob Carter of Ropac Roofing.

In addition, even before being awarded the job, Bob climbed onto the roof and was the only person able to locate and repair the original roof leak.

After selecting Ropac and its Perma-Seal EPDM membrane with a lifetime guarantee, the job was completed in just three days with minimal disruption to the occupants of the mobile home.

Perma-Seal EPDM is not a coating that must be spread on, it's a one-piece rubber membrane with vulcanized seams developed by Uniroyal.

"Ropac did a fine job," said Bill. "I like the way it's finished off."

"The people were friendly, they were good workers and left the place nice and neat," added Ruth.

With a Ropac rubber roofing job, the Bonneys were a step closer to their objective when they left Rehoboth: relaxed, maintenance-free living.

With the Perma-Seal system, sealants are unnecessary and the roof carries a lifetime no-leak guarantee.

The cost of a new roof for the Bonneys large mobile home turned out to be a bargain compared to the cost of an "A"-roof. Financing plans are available for even the most budget-conscious mobile home owner.

Another aspect that attracted the Bonneys was the fact that the EPDM rubber roofing has been used commercially for years.

Big corporations, like General Motors, Sears and AT&T, trust the Perma-Seal membrane to protect millions of square feet of roof space covering their investments.

The average mobile home owner has only 900 square feet of roof to worry about.

The Perma-Seal membrane won't crack or rupture no matter what the outside temperature. It also reduces wind-induced roof rumble, an annoying problem with many metal roofs.

In addition, the roof helps conserve energy and annual costs can be cut by at least 30 percent.

Tired of hearing that steady, damaging "drip...drip...drip?"

Want to know the best way to protect your mobile home from the ravages of the unpredictable New England weather?

Choose a Perma-Seal rubber roofing system by the Ropac Roofing Co.

Ask Bill and Ruth Bonney -- they'll tell you.