I recently had my fiver towed to the company that manufactured it, for evaluation before sale (Nuwa Co.). They report that the 2 of the slides show some damage on the bottom portions due to water intrusion. Now, I'm taking their word for it. I know that the rug in the slide areas has never been wet (I've checked after every heavy rain). Since the bottom portion of the slides are never exposed to rain, I'm wondering how they could possibly incur water damage? Could rain have seeped in through any of the windows located on the slides? I can't think of any other possibility. Is this a common problem? This is my first RV with slide-outs. My next one may be without slides.

It could well be bad slide seals. I had a seal that leaked and damaged the floor of my kitchen skide.

If the slides have a caulked seam near the bottom with a piece of trim, that could be the problem. The trim on my Fuzion was caulked and looked fine, but the caulk had actually separated a bit from the trim and water got through and soaked the floor. Over the period of a couple years the floor rotted away. It was just the bedroom slide so it was relatively easy for me to fix. A living room slide could be much more of a problem due to the size. But YMMV.

My 06 FKTG had the floor in the bed room rotting on the edges. Of course the edges are where the walls fasten. I replaced it by myself. I did a write up on the NUWA owners forum. Once water gains a entry point the chip board starts soaking it up at any point where the wood has been cut or a hole drilled. It soaks in then along come old man winter to freeze it and make it expand so next thaw and rain it can soak up more water. It doesn't take to many cycles to do a lot of damage.The bedroom slide was a simple job. Those 14' slides might be another matter. Guess I better check mine a little closer.

Yes windows do leak and allow water to run down the inside of the wall to the floor. Some slides will leak at the bottom of the end areas. Some slides will leak around the seals at the top and sides. Most slide floors are made of OSB/chipboard whatever you want to call it and it does not take much water on this product to start it swelling and rotting. You state that you checked the carpet/rug after every heavy rain, how did you check it ? Did you get down and feel the entire carpet for moisture. It is possible there is a pad under the rug that would limit the moisture from coming up through to the rug. Keep in mind the water has probably ran down the inside of the walls and then out on to the floor. Did the manufacturer not provide an explanation where they felt the water intrusion was from ? I would think they would check for leaks as part of the inspection. It is necessary to find where the water has entered and repair before replacing any flooring else it will happen again.

I was thinking that maybe a moisture meter might help in the usual checking routine. I feel around all the carpets but a cold carpet can feel the same as a slightly damp one.

Slide-out Floor Rot | Good Sam Community

rjf7g
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
colliehauler wrote:
rjf7g wrote:
I have the same problem - water entered through the side at the bottom. Has anyone had the slide floor replaced? I have a superslide with dinette and couch and another with the head of a queen bed in it...I have a quote and want to check it for reasonableness.
Next spring I'm having a RV tech replace two slide floors in two different trailers, both slides are 4'x 12' in Forest River trailers. The tech quote is $1500 per floor and I will assist. On both trailers we believe the water came in from where the floor is attached to the wall. The sad thing is once water enters the cotoplast does not allow it to leave. The OSB absorbs the water and the freeze thaw cycle speeds its demise. The local shop wanted $3500 and they took care of everything. The tech told me by the time you find it, Its to late. I like the room with the slides but a trailer without slides is sounding more attractive. I had to wait until next spring because they had 5 trailers to replace the slide floors ahead of mine. They also had a few roofs to replace. They will use plywood instead of OSB.

Thanks for the info - The quote that I got from my dealer was $2900...
Allworth
Explorer II
Nov 24, 2015
Water was getting into mine behind the trim strip about 6" above the bottom of the outside wall, then wicking through the (wood) frame members.

New floor (installed from inside) was not hard work, just hard to get my 74 year old frame into position.

Elastomeric paint on the trim strip stopped the intrusion.
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Nov 24, 2015
stickdog wrote:
Memphisdoug wrote:
Just curious Stickdog, when you replaced your floors what did you end up putting on the underside of the new wood - plastic wrap, solid plastic sheet or the epoxy paint you mentioned? Mine had the plastic wrap on it when it went bad and the dealer replaced it with the solid plastic sheeting on the underside.

I used waterproof epoxy paint
I used hard plastic on the bottom of mine from a shower wall from Home Depot. This is what my local rv repair shop uses. 3 years now and still good.
mr__ed
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
colliehauler wrote:
rjf7g wrote:
I have the same problem - water entered through the side at the bottom. Has anyone had the slide floor replaced? I have a superslide with dinette and couch and another with the head of a queen bed in it...I have a quote and want to check it for reasonableness.
Next spring I'm having a RV tech replace two slide floors in two different trailers, both slides are 4'x 12' in Forest River trailers. The tech quote is $1500 per floor and I will assist. On both trailers we believe the water came in from where the floor is attached to the wall. The sad thing is once water enters the cotoplast does not allow it to leave. The OSB absorbs the water and the freeze thaw cycle speeds its demise. The local shop wanted $3500 and they took care of everything. The tech told me by the time you find it, Its to late. I like the room with the slides but a trailer without slides is sounding more attractive. I had to wait until next spring because they had 5 trailers to replace the slide floors ahead of mine. They also had a few roofs to replace. They will use plywood instead of OSB.

NuWa wants over $2k to repair each slide. I had been very happy with my fiver overall but I think faulty construction techniques on the slides contributed to the problem. Besides, I'm taking their word that this problem even exists. I had my neighbor check the slide bottoms, but he didn't notice anything. The total repair estimate came to over $14k, which included other problems they found. There is a soft spot in the bedroom floor between the bed and sink which was there since new but didn't concern me too much. That repair was included in the estimate.
stickdog
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
Memphisdoug wrote:
Just curious Stickdog, when you replaced your floors what did you end up putting on the underside of the new wood - plastic wrap, solid plastic sheet or the epoxy paint you mentioned? Mine had the plastic wrap on it when it went bad and the dealer replaced it with the solid plastic sheeting on the underside.

I used waterproof epoxy paint
Charlie_D_
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
Found a soft spot on my bedroom slide at the outside corners. Disassembled the bed and cut the carpet back. Cornners had bad spot a couple inches square. Bought some Woodrot liquid harder and cleaned all the bad wood out. I then used some epoxy to fill in and rebuild. A member of the Forest River forum said, and I agree, that it came in under the corner trim pieces.

Our slides have the trim piece with mitered corners and is held on with screws covered by vinyl trim. The water was getting under the vinyl trim and migrating to the edges of the floor.
Charlie_D_
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
Found a soft spot on my bedroom slide at the outside corners. Disassembled the bed and cut the carpet back. Cornners had bad spot a couple inches square. Bought some Woodrot liquid harder and cleaned all the bad wood out. I then used some epoxy to fill in and rebuild. A member of the Forest River forum said, and I agree, that it came in under the corner trim pieces.

Our slides have the trim piece with mitered corners and is held on with screws covered by vinyl trim. The water was getting under the vinyl trim

http://cdn.forestriverforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=94040&stc=1&d=1447189046
tko9900
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
I have a Hitchhiker II with points of rot. Trim screws on the slides for sure is one of the problems, caulked all of them. Another area on Hitchhikers is the way they wrapped the the bottom of the walls at the point they meet the floors. They used some material that I would compare to roofing felt paper & simply wrapped the wood & stapled it. No caulk. On mine I sealed this point with window sealing tape, (3-M ) & caulked the joint the length of the slide. Road & wheel spray was getting up into this area. Poor construction method. Caught it early enough.
RV_daytrader
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
You would think manufacturers would use marine plywood in the slides. Oh wait, that would cost more! What was I thinking??!!
sail2liv
Explorer
Nov 24, 2015
We encountered large amounts of condensation during very cold temps around window frames - so that could be going on inside the walls....good luck

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