Bedroom Slide Flange Concern

[ihsolutions]

Yesterday I pulled the Bighorn out of storage for the first time since November. One area of concern I have is the bottom slide flange on the bedroom slide. The caulk had separated, possibly allowing water in. See attached picture.

My concern is this; if water gets down into the flange, it has nowhere to go because the bottom is sealed in pretty well with the 20 screws with butyl tape behind it. This means the water would be sitting against the end of the slide floor, presumably an exposed plywood edge.

Now I hate to take the whole thing apart if there's no reason for concern. It's 20+ screws, plus I'll need new butyl tape and have to redo (again) the caulk job which I've already repaired.

What does everyone think? Has this happened to anyone?

 

[DXprowler]

Since you have a new trailer I would remove the old caulking and replace with a new bead of caulking.

 

[tmcran]

Just remove old caulk and re caulk.

 

[JohnDar]

From the appearance and position of the splits (separated from the flange, not the wall), it looks like the majority of any water that ran down the wall would be deflected away from the splits and onto the ground. You could tape some paper toweling onto a stick and try testing the area under the head of the bed, where it meets the wall, to see if there is any moisture back there. My guess is there isn't any.

 

[cookie]

I would just remove the old caulk, cleaan the area with mineral spirits and recaulk.
This is one area that my dealer said to always keep an eye on. Damage can happen if ignored.

Peace
Dave

 

[ihsolutions]

It had pulled away from the wall a very small amount, which is what caused the caulk split in the first place.

Had I not had several other repairs to make the same day, I would have torn into this and known for sure. But as it stands now I just removed all the old caulk and applied new, being sure to get some down into the newly formed gap, in case it decides to pull further away.

I think I'm going to take this all apart to make sure. It might take me an hour or two but that beats the heck out of having water damage.

I will add, I don't like the design in this area, it's just asking for problems. None of the other slideouts have anything like this.

 

[HappyKayakers]

I think it's a smart move to remove that bottom trim and check thoroughly. I had to redo my bedroom slide. I knew I had water damage at the front and rear of the slide but I was surprised to find heavier water damage in the section you're looking at. I had to remove a lot of rotted wood and replace with sections of 1 X 2 and wood putty. Then I put drip edges on the front and rear instead of the worthless trim pieces originally installed.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Jeff, Try something for me. Retract the bedroom slide. When it's fully retracted, look closely at the top edge of the aluminum flange to see if a gap is present. I think what might be the problem is the slide rollers are positioned too close to the outside wall. The flange contacts the mounting brackets for the rollers before the slide is all the way in causing the flange to pop out. If this is the case you have a couple of options. Move the roller brackets OR remove a little material from the under side edge of the flange where it contacts the flange mounts. I hope I've written this so it make sense.

 

[ihsolutions]

Jeff, Try something for me. Retract the bedroom slide. When it's fully retracted, look closely at the top edge of the aluminum flange to see if a gap is present. I think what might be the problem is the slide rollers are positioned too close to the outside wall. The flange contacts the mounting brackets for the rollers before the slide is all the way in causing the flange to pop out. If this is the case you have a couple of options. Move the roller brackets OR remove a little material from the under side edge of the flange where it contacts the flange mounts. I hope I've written this so it make sense.

Ray, that's an excellent suggestion. As soon as I can get back up to the storage facility I'm going to try doing just that.

After hearing what Joe (HappyKayakers) said above, I'm anxious to get this torn apart and make sure there's no hidden damage. Even if it did leak, and water got in there, the damage has to be none/minimal since I caught it so soon and most of the winter was below freezing temperatures anyhow (meaning the water could not wick into the wood).

Thanks everyone for the insights so far.