Extensive delamination

soilmovers

soilmovers

Well-known member
The delamination on one slide section has more than separation.
I have the kit to prevent anymore damage to the plywood edge. It appeared to work pretty well on the slightly damaged slide edge sections. Any loose material was scraped/chipped away and the tube material was spread on using a putty knife.
When I started this particular section (living room slide) it crumbled away leaving the carpet exposed. I was afraid to continue as the hole gets bigger and bigger.
I'm wondering what options I have at this time. Heartland suggested filling it with an epoxy or some type of water proof material. Parkland Plastics said to call Heartland.
At this time we are not able to give up the RV for a week or more in the shop. But a patch job is not my first choice, either.
Thanks for any help!
Cindy
 

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tmcran

Well-known member
Really sorry to see that. Water damage? Dry rot? ???? Looks as if the piece needs replacing if it continues to fall apart. Really need to get to good wood and see how much repair is necessary.
 
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wyleyrabbit

Well-known member
Yikes!!! That's nasty. How did it get that bad before you noticed the problem?

I was beginning to get small paint chips, but had my dealer order the slide "runners" kit (for lack of a better name) which were long strips of plastic that goes under both slide edge. I am still going to add some waterproof paint or something there to prevent the existing vertical edge from getting wet.

Epoxy could work, I guess, but the problem would be getting it to stay put long enough to cure. In the end, you kind of want a smooth surface, and I don't know what you'd have to do to put a liquid/gel epoxy resin in there and get it to cure flat.

Seems to me that the proper way to fix this would be to replace a section of the plywood. No?

Chris
 
soilmovers

soilmovers

Well-known member
The wood was damp. It was not that noticable with the black covering, it was smooth. The plywood edge was showing some delamination as the others. When I began to poke around, it was soft.
Two holes for the electric wires may have allowed moisture in although I caulked them with silicone awhile ago.
The estimate to replace the floor is $2500.
 
soilmovers

soilmovers

Well-known member
wyleyrabbit said:
Yikes!!! That's nasty. How did it get that bad before you noticed the problem?

Sorry for the misunderstanding.
This is how it looked AFTER I started poking around. It was intact and smooth. Heartland told me to remove all the loose or soft wood and that is how it ended up as per picture. It appears the whole floor will have to be replaced.
Click to expand...
 
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wyleyrabbit

Well-known member
Ahh, ok, that makes more sense.

Now dare I ask how a large piece of plywood can cost $2,500??? Am I missing something? The slide floor appears to just be a large piece of plywood, (possibly) sanded, and painted black. My guess is, we're looking at $100 for wood and paint, and 24 hours of labour at $100 per hour.

I (admittedly naively) don't know what the procedure would be to replace this piece of plywood, and obviously I don't think this is exactly a DIY type job, but still...$2,500??? This seems excessive to me.

Does anyone here know what the procedure would be to replace that piece of wood?

Seems to me that it might even be able to be done with the slide in. Correct me if I'm wrong (and I likely am) but my guess would be:

1) put slide in.
2) move furniture off of slide floor
3) pull up carpet
4) remove old wood (removing screws as necessary)
5) cut new wood to exact size
6) paint new wood with appropriate waterproof paint
7) install new wood
8) put carpet back
9) put furniture back

Can anyone in-the-know enlighten me if I'm completely off-base here?

Cheers,
Chris
 
2010augusta

2010augusta

Well-known member
wyleyrabbit said:
Does anyone here know what the procedure would be to replace that piece of wood?

Seems to me that it might even be able to be done with the slide in. Correct me if I'm wrong (and I likely am) but my guess would be:
Click to expand...

Well you are missing a couple key things:

The Ply-wood for the floor is 1" thick marine plywood
All 3 walls of the slide are mounted to the floor, so the entire slide would have to be disassembled to remove and replace the floor.

$2,500 is not too bad considering that it cost $13,000 to fix the cracks and damage to out LM's rear cap.
 
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wyleyrabbit

Well-known member
Alan,

What is "marine plywood?" A quick Google of the phrase gave me a link to a wikipedia article that says "...Marine plywood is specially treated to resist rotting in a high-moisture environment...". If it really is Marine Plywood that's used, then why are people having these horrible delamination issues from relatively small chips in the paint?

I figured I was underestimating what would be required to change the slide floor, thanks for explaining. But the thing I love about this forum is asking questions, even dumb ones, often results in really useful answers. :)

Cheers,
Chris
 
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wyleyrabbit

Well-known member
I wonder if anyone from Heartland might answer the question about the type of plywood used. My guess is that it's just regular "residential" plywood.
 
J

jbeletti

Well-known member
tmcran said:
I would like to hear from H L as to why a 2 year old RV would have this problem?
Click to expand...

The factory and service personnel do not monitor this sub-forum. Please phone customer service to discuss this tomorrow. Reach them toll-free at 877-262-8032.

Jim
 
J

jbeletti

Well-known member
wyleyrabbit said:
I wonder if anyone from Heartland might answer the question about the type of plywood used. My guess is that it's just regular "residential" plywood.
Click to expand...

The flooring on on the frame of the coach is Weyerhaeuser Structurwood (pdf download), an OSB product.

The slide-room floors are supplied to us by Parkland Plastics. I am unsure of their makeup. No one else from Heartland monitors this sub-forum. Consider contacting customer service tomorrow morning with your question. Reach them toll-free at 877-262-8032.

Jim
 
wdk450

wdk450

Well-known member
Gang:
I just took a look at the Parkland Plastics website on the slide floors referred by Augusta 2010. Here is a copy and paste of a couple of pertinent lines:

FEATURES BENEFITS 100% Waterproof laminate Non-absorbent: no swelling, rotting, or water discoloration PLAS-TEX® resists mold, mildew & bacterial growths Hygienic: does not harbor health hazardous micro-organisms
I would say that from what people with delamination issues have posted this stuff is proving NOT to be "100% waterproof". I think that people should be contacting Parkland about their products not living up to their claims.

Parkland, "You got some 'splaining to do!"

P.S. On the water resistance subject - There was a piece on the NBC Today show on Airstream trailers. It showed the 1 hour, 100 psi spray booth conveyor test that EVERY one of their trailers goes through.
 
J

jbeletti

Well-known member
For those that need it, forum member Jack Handy emailed me a pdf that are the instructions for repairing slide out floors. The repairs in the document are minor. If someone has some serious delamination of the layers if the flooring material, that's a whole other matter. In any event, the file has been placed in the Heartland Owners Manuals section of the forum under Tools on the navigation bar of any forum screen. Here's a direct link to the download page for this document: http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/?Major=Slide_Outs&Minor=Floors&Brand=Parkland_Plastics

Jim
 
DXprowler

DXprowler

Well-known member
I just went out to have a look at this and I see it's more than what I thought the problem may have been! Seems odd that so much plywood edge would be exposed to the elements like that?? I would think some flashing like what's on the bedroom slide would make for a better solution! Actually my campfire slide has a worn spot on about a 6" part of an edge. Would be a candidate for what Jim posted but what about the exposed edge? Need a solution for that as well I would think! Tnx for posting what you did Alan, might be the way to go.
 
soilmovers

soilmovers

Well-known member
jbeletti said:
For those that need it, forum member Jack Handy emailed me a pdf that are the instructions for repairing slide out floors. The repairs in the document are minor. If someone has some serious delamination of the layers if the flooring material, that's a whole other matter. In any event, the file has been placed in the Heartland Owners Manuals section of the forum under Tools on the navigation bar of any forum screen. Here's a direct link to the download page for this document: http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/?Major=Slide_Outs&Minor=Floors&Brand=Parkland_Plastics

Jim
Click to expand...

The bottom of our slides showed no obvious damage, the black material was completely intact with no marks/scratches. When Heartland sent me this kit last fall, I realized that was not going to fix the problem with our slides.
The plywood edges were siliconed a year ago and have held up on all but one edge, which I don't understand. We removed the trim and ran a good bead of silicone over all the plywood edges, replaced the trim, caulking the top and bottom edge of the trim.
Water is running down the sides and under the slides. A visual inspection didn't reveal any serious damage. When I saw the plywood edge looking a little swollen I poked around the bottom and found it to be soft.
I will make another call to Heartland.

thank you.
 
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