Need Advice, Slide Flange Separation Part II

ihsolutions

Well-known member
A few weeks ago, upon spring inspection of my rig I noticed the bottom flange on the bedroom slideout had pulled away from the wall, cracking the caulk loose and I suspected water could have entered over the winter. See original thread here.

This thread was posted while the coach was still under factory warranty. Since that time (Mar 29) my warranty expired and the weather finally cooperated long enough for me to tear into this to see exactly what was going on.

As I feared, water had entered the crack and wicked up into the wall plywood the entire length of the slideout. See photos attached. I took a razor blade and gently inserted it up into various sections of the wall. Some areas where it was wet I could have easily inserted the whole blade. Other areas were not nearly as bad.

I am torn on how to proceed. I believe I have figured out a way to seal this area more permanently, by running a strip of butyl tape behind the flange both on the wall AND at the bottom, where the factory already had one. Then properly caulking the gap and keeping a close eye on it for the rest of my life.

We are expecting another day of decent weather so my plan is to leave this exposed, as it is now, to dry as much as possible before permanently sealing in any remaining moisture. As far as I can tell, the slide room floor is not affected by any type of rot or softness... it is only the wall that is affected.

I'm afraid of sealing this all back up and then experiencing wall delamination at some point down the road.

Should I contact Heartland to see if 1) there is a better way to handle this, and 2) if they are willing to make the repair? It did happen under warranty after all. But even so, my local dealer has demonstrated a complete ineptitude towards doing anything correctly or in a timely fashion. If it's possible, I rather fix it myself, and fix it right.

What say you?
 

Attachments

  • 2011-04-13_17-08-27_208_Medium.jpg
    2011-04-13_17-08-27_208_Medium.jpg
    74.8 KB · Views: 96
  • 2011-04-13_17-08-52_965_Medium.jpg
    2011-04-13_17-08-52_965_Medium.jpg
    96.4 KB · Views: 90
  • 2011-04-13_17-09-31_898_Medium.jpg
    2011-04-13_17-09-31_898_Medium.jpg
    76.5 KB · Views: 92
  • 2011-04-13_17-12-01_684_Medium.jpg
    2011-04-13_17-12-01_684_Medium.jpg
    60.5 KB · Views: 81
  • 2011-04-13_17-12-07_788_Medium.jpg
    2011-04-13_17-12-07_788_Medium.jpg
    68.8 KB · Views: 80
  • 2011-04-13_19-39-55_168_Medium.jpg
    2011-04-13_19-39-55_168_Medium.jpg
    65.7 KB · Views: 86
  • 2011-03-16_18-09-49_253.jpg
    2011-03-16_18-09-49_253.jpg
    228.6 KB · Views: 96

slmayor

Founding California Northern Chapter Leader
I would contact Heartland. You have nothing to lose. They at least can tell you the best way to proceed with a fix, even if you do it yourself. Call with your vin # handy, as they'll ask for it.
We've found the service guys to be very helpful, even when I've called on someone else's coach that we're working on at the shop.
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
I spoke to Ryan at Heartland Customer Service this morning and he indicated this is something that he's seen before. He suggested letting it dry out thoroughly, and put it all back together. So, that's what I'll do, but I'm going to do a 10x better job sealing it than the original factory job. I don't expect to have any more problems with it, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it in the future.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Just a SWAG, but since that area will be covered by the flange, maybe covering the bottom edge of the wallboard with aluminum duct tape about one inch up the wall and one inch under the overhang might help protect it from any future water wicking into the wood. And seal the flange, as you mentioned.
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
That's an idea John, but the problem I see is that if water does manage to find a way into the flange, it has no opportunity to exit. It's trapped. Which means it will either find a way into the wood wall, or, the slide floor. I wish there was a way to provide a drain point, that did not simultaneously provide an opportunity for water entry!
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
With your permission, Jeff, I'll continue to SWAG a bit. Your bedroom overhang looks like mine, fully assembled. Since it's the outer wall that is the problem, not the side walls, you might be able to drill some small drain holes behind the large outer flange. They would allow any water that runs down and behind it to drain, yet not be exposed during travel or rain storms. Covering the raw edge of the plywood with the tape, or even a heavy coat of exterior paint (forced into the delamination) would prevent it from wicking into the dry wood on it's way out. An alternative to the holes might be a heavy double line of silicone caulk behind the outer trim flange.

View attachment 12689
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
John, I think that's a pretty good idea. I think what I will do, is seal up the plywood as best as possible, reassemble everything, and then hit it with a garden hose to see how the water flows when you spray the side wall of the slideout. As long as no water runs under that flange where you're proposing to drill holes, I might consider that.

Still, with all the butyl tape, goop, and caulk that will be down there, any water that finds its way in might get trapped in all that stuff before having a chance to reach one of these new holes.
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
Well, I got it all back together. John, there's a problem with our hole-drilling idea, which is, the butyl tape between the bottom plate (where all the screws go) and the slide floor/plywood wall, will prevent any water from getting out, or moving around for that matter.

I had a number of those screws, that, when I took them out earlier, were already broken. Probably 35% of them. So the new ones had to go right next to the old ones. Someone at the factory got really carried away with the drill gun and overtightened a TON of screws on my coach. Every time I remove a screw there's a fair chance that it's already broken.
 

HappyKayakers

Well-known member
I had the same problem on my bedroom slide and decided NOT to leave the rotted wood in. I scraped as much as I could out, let air dry for a couple of days, then repeated. After I got to good wood, I sprayed with wood restorer and started filling in with pieces of 1 x 2 and wood putty. Put the flange back on with the butyl tape underneath and ProFlex RV caulk on top and bottom. I believe the ultimate solution is keeping a good eye on the fix so water doesn't get in again, instead of providing drain holes. I also had to do the sides of the slide and installed drip edge there after removing the inadequate piece of trim that was original.
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
HappyKayakers, can you tell me if the "inadequate piece of trim" on the side you speak of is the same as what's on my 2011? What I have on there seems OK so far. I'm curious is this is something I need to address.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Well, Jeff, it looks like you're left with keeping the water out, rather than letting out. I'd go heavy with the silicone under the flange and then a good bead of RV exterior caulk along the exposed top edge. Good luck!
 

HappyKayakers

Well-known member
HappyKayakers, can you tell me if the "inadequate piece of trim" on the side you speak of is the same as what's on my 2011? What I have on there seems OK so far. I'm curious is this is something I need to address.

Mine is an '06. I believe Heartland corrected that trim problem in '07.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
As I think of it, an alternative to the heavy silicone, or even the butyl tape, would be to run a strip of 1/4" thick x 1" wide closed cell foam weatherstrip under the outer flange. I use it to create a seal ring for the collection bag on my 2HP dust collector and it does not leak pressurized air.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Your damage does not look too bad. I would follow your plan using the butyl tape and good RV caulk. Also I would clean the area to be caulked very good using mineral spirits.
And an FYI for all that look at your thread, my dealer told me four years ago that the area that you are repairing is an area to keep an eye on. He says he has had numerous repairs, on SOB's having the same water intrusion. So that is one place I keep a close eye on.

Peace
Dave
 

ihsolutions

Well-known member
As I put it back together, I decided there was not enough space on the exterior vertical (wall) surface for butyl tape. So what I did was fill the channel right in the corner of the T-flange with RV caulk, and then also ran a thick bead of RV caulk on the top of the flange just below where the original caulk had cracked. Then I installed it, which compressed the caulk and butyl tape, and caulked all the remaining exterior edges.

If I were to do it again I would have stuck with my original butyl tape idea on the wall. It is a tad too thick, but I could have thinned it out a bit by pressing on it and it would have worked nicely. As it sits now, it's water tight, but it's going to be something I have to watch very carefully.

There are plenty of ways to permanently prevent this in the future. I think the best way (though, not the most attractive) would be to install a gutter or water deflector just above the point of water entry. This would divert water away from the potential opening.

I have to say this, though. Nobody on this planet is more anal retentive about caulk and preventative maintenance than me. I spend a ton of time going over, under, in, and around my rig every week, cleaning and re-caulking where needed. Not much slips past me. But this one happened over the winter during storage, and caught me off-guard. I'll have to make my winter caulk inspections just a little more frequent, I guess.
 
Top