DIY Slide Out Covers

[Billhorn]

Our slides only get pulled in for the winter storage. I recently cleaned them off and thought what a rough life they have being basically flat. They were covered with wet leaves and twigs. The summer sun has to be brutal. Slide Out Awnings (Toppers) would be an option but expensive and unnecessarily complicated. I did some online research and on another forum I found

"What I did was have a canvas man custom make me toppers that slide into a track and snap tite over the leading edge of the slide. They do not hold any water and are not noisy in the wind. I love them and work great,much cheaper too."

Anybody ever see such a thing. Sounds like it would work. I'd only put them on in the spring and remove in the fall.

[jcurtis934]

Sounds like a great idea to me as well. Easy to put snap posts on the top outside of the slide/s. Thanks for the post.

[Igoo65]

That is a great idea. Do you have any pictures of the installation and who made them for you.

Thanks,
Igoo65

[Billhorn]

That's just it, I haven't done it yet ,I copied the idea from another forum. I had hoped somebody here would come up with some pictures that I could show a canvas guy. It seems like some company would offer this type of a cover in a kit form with a made to order size. Awning rail, keder rail, I've been researching the idea. (Amazon)

[Daryles]

My slide toppers end at the edge of the slide. I wish they were 2" longer at each end so they covered the slide. When it rains they collect water then eventually it runs off.
When you make your covers, make them longer than the slide. Maybe use a couple of pool noodles under them to prevent rain water buildup.

[MidMOTraveler]

Sounds like a lot of effort to crawl up a ladder with slides in then again with slides out. Maybe you could snap them on before putting slides out?
My experience with canvas is it shrinks and deteriorates much faster than awning materials. Canvas is cotton and had to be treated periodically to maintain water resistance.

[Billhorn]

Good Point, Awning material probably would be the way to go. It looks to me that if it was made with Keder rails the fabric would slide in pretty easy and could be installed easily with the slides out. I just replaced our awning that uses a metal awning rail and it wasn't all that easy but came out nice.

[Ohioken7]

Interesting. If you are putting away for storage, maybe a second set of snaps could be installed half way down the slide so you could keep the canvas in the tray and snap further down during storage. You wouldn’t lose them and they could provide a bit more protection.