Super cheap Slide Drip edge

[EllsworthToohey]

Having found some soft rotted spots in my living rm slide I studied many a vid on you tube about floor repair. But the major common cause of all these damaged floors was that the way the slide is built it allows rain water to wick into and under the edges of the exposed floor. Eventually water does get in and it is so easy to prevent. You can buy expensive plastic ski's that fix the issue, but you can also use a couple pennies worth of Blue Painters tape and just stick it to the visible edge of the floor that you can see on the ends of the slide underneath. I have about 1/4 inch showing and so just ran a length of tape along there and let the 3/4' just hang in open air below the floor. Here is a 20 sec video showing the result. If you are camping and its time to slide in, just peel off the tape and dispose of it. Easy peasy fixaroonie.

Guess I can only post a link to the vid on my Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rkG...ew?usp=sharing

BTW, the 12 ton bottle jack in the video is just holding a piece of 2x6 beneath the place where water damaged the wood at this end. After studying a lot of ways to fix these floors, I have decided to try my own original method which you may find utter madness... I'll post more about my method in its own thread, when i am done.

[Carl n Susan]

I am not authorized to view your Google Drive. The YouTube video link will work here. Many others have posted links to YouTube videos.


The Topic "Forum Posting 101 and Account Help" Located *HERE* addresses adding YouTube videos in Post#19

[Jeff n Susan]

I do not have access either. I am very interested in seeing this!

[EllsworthToohey]

Yikes! Sorry folks. I did not notice the restriction setting. The new vid link should work for anyone with the link. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rkG...ew?usp=sharing

I will edit original message with this "anyone link"

[Butchl]

Great tip, thanks, I'll be looking at my edges soon

[EllsworthToohey]

Butch what amazes me is that this is a well known problem that is incredibly easy to fix, yet they continued to make models year afyer year after year the same way. I've seen the plastic skis that many people spend $100 to get and then have to do a moderately laborious installation. These plastic skis which provide a better drip edge should be standard for a decade. Oh well. I found a few pennies of painters tape solved a very destructive problem.

Wait till you see how I repaired my floors!!!

[Jeff n Susan]

Great info here. Thanks for the tip!

[DutchmenSport]

I love it when simple solutions fix complex problems! Thanks for sharing!

[JBS]

Originally Posted by EllsworthToohey

Having found some soft rotted spots in my living rm slide I studied many a vid on you tube about floor repair. But the major common cause of all these damaged floors was that the way the slide is built it allows rain water to wick into and under the edges of the exposed floor. Eventually water does get in and it is so easy to prevent. You can buy expensive plastic ski's that fix the issue, but you can also use a couple pennies worth of Blue Painters tape and just stick it to the visible edge of the floor that you can see on the ends of the slide underneath. I have about 1/4 inch showing and so just ran a length of tape along there and let the 3/4' just hang in open air below the floor. Here is a 20 sec video showing the result. If you are camping and its time to slide in, just peel off the tape and dispose of it. Easy peasy fixaroonie.

Guess I can only post a link to the vid on my Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rkG...ew?usp=sharing

BTW, the 12 ton bottle jack in the video is just holding a piece of 2x6 beneath the place where water damaged the wood at this end. After studying a lot of ways to fix these floors, I have decided to try my own original method which you may find utter madness... I'll post more about my method in its own thread, when i am done.

Hope you dont leave bottle jack under slide all the time cause settling camper puts undo strain on slide

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by EllsworthToohey

Having found some soft rotted spots in my living rm slide I studied many a vid on you tube about floor repair. But the major common cause of all these damaged floors was that the way the slide is built it allows rain water to wick into and under the edges of the exposed floor. Eventually water does get in and it is so easy to prevent. You can buy expensive plastic ski's that fix the issue, but you can also use a couple pennies worth of Blue Painters tape and just stick it to the visible edge of the floor that you can see on the ends of the slide underneath. I have about 1/4 inch showing and so just ran a length of tape along there and let the 3/4' just hang in open air below the floor. Here is a 20 sec video showing the result. If you are camping and its time to slide in, just peel off the tape and dispose of it. Easy peasy fixaroonie.

Guess I can only post a link to the vid on my Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rkG...ew?usp=sharing

BTW, the 12 ton bottle jack in the video is just holding a piece of 2x6 beneath the place where water damaged the wood at this end. After studying a lot of ways to fix these floors, I have decided to try my own original method which you may find utter madness... I'll post more about my method in its own thread, when i am done.

Highly unlikely that is the source since for it to happen you would have to be parked on very uneven ground so that the natural slide droop is overtaken by the entire rig tilted in the other direction. I have heard of our cheaper cousins (Cougars) having a problem due to no drip edge so the water literally wraps around the edge end in. Can't happen on a recent Montana with a drip edge.

[R.S.O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by bcrvman

Highly unlikely that is the source since for it to happen you would have to be parked on very uneven ground so that the natural slide droop is overtaken by the entire rig tilted in the other direction. I have heard of our cheaper cousins (Cougars) having a problem due to no drip edge so the water literally wraps around the edge end in. Can't happen on a recent Montana with a drip edge.

When did they start installing drip edge?

Our 2020 model does't have it and the water does cling to the bottom and run underneath. We have toppers so not much comes down the sides but it's on my list to rectify.

Some of my research so far:

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...g/1/page/2.cfm

[Jim in Halifax]

Remove the metal strip along the bottom of the slide.....Install another piece of aluminum about 4"" wide and then replace the original piece apply lots of wax

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by R.S.O'Donnell

When did they start installing drip edge?

Our 2020 model does't have it and the water does cling to the bottom and run underneath. We have toppers so not much comes down the sides but it's on my list to rectify.

Some of my research so far:

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...g/1/page/2.cfm

Mine is a 2018 model. There is a huge gap (1/2" or more) between the floor wrapped in that black material and the sidewall. the water flows down the wall, may wrap around the bottom edge then when it hits the gap it falls to the ground (drip edge)

[GrahamLock]

Originally Posted by EllsworthToohey

Having found some soft rotted spots in my living rm slide I studied many a vid on you tube about floor repair. But the major common cause of all these damaged floors was that the way the slide is built it allows rain water to wick into and under the edges of the exposed floor. Eventually water does get in and it is so easy to prevent. You can buy expensive plastic ski's that fix the issue, but you can also use a couple pennies worth of Blue Painters tape and just stick it to the visible edge of the floor that you can see on the ends of the slide underneath. I have about 1/4 inch showing and so just ran a length of tape along there and let the 3/4' just hang in open air below the floor. Here is a 20 sec video showing the result. If you are camping and its time to slide in, just peel off the tape and dispose of it. Easy peasy fixaroonie.

Guess I can only post a link to the vid on my Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rkG...ew?usp=sharing




BTW, the 12 ton bottle jack in the video is just holding a piece of 2x6 beneath the place where water damaged the wood at this end. After studying a lot of ways to fix these floors, I have decided to try my own original method which you may find utter madness... I'll post more about my method in its own thread, when i am done.

Is there a site to see what the ski drip edge looks like?

[Jim in Halifax]

Originally Posted by Jim in Halifax

Remove the metal strip along the bottom of the slide.....Install another piece of aluminum about 4"" wide and then replace the original piece apply lots of wax

Most slides have an area about 1/2" to 3/8 " of the floor edge exposed and that is the starting point.......I have been there and fixed the problem with my suggestion!!!

[R.S.O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by bcrvman

Mine is a 2018 model. There is a huge gap (1/2" or more) between the floor wrapped in that black material and the sidewall. the water flows down the wall, may wrap around the bottom edge then when it hits the gap it falls to the ground (drip edge)

Mine definitely doesn't work that well. Going to go the blue tape route until I can do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SrQ2xIMxds

Picture of mine taken just this morning:

[JimKrieger]

How about coating the plywood edges with a thin layer of any kind of caulk?

[EllsworthToohey]

JBS wrote: Hope you don't leave bottle jack under slide all the time cause settling camper puts undo strain on slide"

The jacks are just holding a board under the floor to prevent the epoxy resin I am using to repair the floors does not cause the black plastic wrap to sag. WHAT ??!!! yeah.. instead of building stilts to support the slide while disconnecting the slide mechanism to allow the floor to be dropped out the bottom, after removing a dozen of more screws and bolts which are mostly rusty.... I have decided to innovate a liquid solution to these rot areas. I will make another thread to describe this. I am NOT recommending it though, but for me it is working better than I ever hoped.

So the jacks will come out after this last pour in the biggest area. (I can see some of you shaking your heads. I don't blame you. It sounds nutty.)

[R.S.O'Donnell]

Originally Posted by JimKrieger

How about coating the plywood edges with a thin layer of any kind of caulk?

I thought of that but I don't think it would keep it from tracking back under the slide floor.

[Andy Smith]

I would think the same thing. If you did it outside of the darco wrap, it's not really going to add too much benefit other than just on the edge, and it will still track up towards the interior. And removing the darco and sealing the entire board seems like a lot of work bandaiding a bigger problem.