opening for slide is rotten

[cooter4x]

Ran into this situation... the wiper seal that attaches to the opening is totally rotten. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can i replace the wood with minimal disturbance?

Thanks in advanced...

[mikakuja]

Judging by what I see (especially in the third pic), I would remove the everything from the roof and strip the EPDM. From that point it will be easy to determine how much of the roof and structure is rotted, which is probably a lot more than is visible. Removing the roof will also make it easier to replace the header over the slide.
As I have rebuilt quite a few rotted roofs and walls I would attempt this repair without hesitation, but that's me. It's not worth having repaired professionally, unless you have deep pockets.
You could hack it together and you might get a few years out of it, but if you have the ability and can rebuild it correctly, it should give you quite a few more years of use.

[Gdetrailer]

cooter4x wrote:
Ran into this situation... the wiper seal that attaches to the opening is totally rotten. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can i replace the wood with minimal disturbance?

Thanks in advanced...

Nope, no way can this be "fixed" with "minimal disturbance".

Judging from the amount of sag in the third pix I suspect your have severely compromised roof structure back to the A/C unit.

Your options are remove interior paneling back to good wood structure, this most likely will also result in the need to remove some of the ceiling paneling back to the A/C unit.

Once paneling has been removed, then you can assess just how bad the rot is.

You will then need to remove the rotted joists, wall studs and header over the slide, sistering new joists, studs and header on to the remaining good ends.

Replace water damaged insulation and put new ceiling and paneling back up.

Not a job for the faint of heart or one that is in a hurry, but it CAN be done.

If you are handy with tools and don't mind the work it can be done for just your labor and material costs.

Many on this forum WILL disagree with the repair/DIY approach and would simply scrap/sell it. If you like it and got it for a cheap price and are handy with tools and have lots of time you can make it a gem again for less than a new trailer.

If you had to sub this out to a repair shop and pay the labor costs on top of materials it would not be worth it. In this case, best to sell or scrap and move on.

The big unknown is just how far does the rot damage go, water can go a long, long ways from the leak and is often well hidden for a long time before the damage shows..

[drsteve]

azrving wrote:
Use it as is or junk it. It may work well enough for someone who will be stationary and live in it with a cover over the slide area.

I couldn't believe how many I looked at in Texas that were water damaged but a lot of people can still live in them.

I would inspect closely for mold before deciding to just let it be and live in it.

[newman_fulltime]

Looks like alot of the wall is rotten to

[ScottG]

Looks like someone made a modification to it a long time ago. It was probably rotten then and the angle iron reinforced it. It probably also let moisture in unless the holes were sealed.

[azrving]

Use it as is or junk it. It may work well enough for someone who will be stationary and live in it with a cover over the slide area.

I couldn't believe how many I looked at in Texas that were water damaged but a lot of people can still live in them.

[donn0128]

The best/easiest way to fix it is to take the slide room out. If you have room, rent a fork lift to lift it out and place it on some cribbing to work on it. If you dont have the room, you can work it out onto some cribbing with help. That way at least you can access everything and determine how much damage there is. Likely your going to find way more damage that it appears. So be prepared to rebuild the entire slide room and side wall if nevessary.

[Tyler0215]

In the third picture there is a visible sway in the roof behind the slide. Can it be fixed? Sure, but at what cost. If you are doing the work yourself go for it. To pay someone else to do the work required to make it right may be too big of an expense.