Pros / Cons of adding awning over slide?

[Erika]

Hey folks,

I just finally resolved a slide floor problem related to rain water leaking in and destroying the floor board of my living room (door side) slide out. Had the whole floor board replaced, under warranty. Repair guys claim they can't definitively find where water may have leaked in from the top, as seals, etc. look fine.

I am wondering if you think that adding an awning over the slide will help keep rain out? I think, from reading other posts, that it would be best to get a stand-alone awning, rather than an attached slide-topper, so that I can retract it in windy conditions without have to retract the whole slide, and so that I can retract the slide and leaving the awning out when I want to clean the underside of the awning.

What are the pros & cons here? Any advice greatly appreciated!

- Erika

 

[danemayer]

Hi erika,

You might have trouble finding a large enough awning and figuring out out to mount it above the slide and still be able to extend past the slideout. I'd guess a slide topper would be all you can do.

Our slide toppers extend an inch or two beyond the front and rear of the slideouts. They protect the top of the slides, but sometimes water does drip down the rear wall of one slide. I keep an eye on the floor on that side to make sure it's not deteriorating. Other than that they do a good job of keeping things clean and dry.

I've only ever retracted one slide in high winds - and only once. That was in Oklahoma where the wind was gusting in the 50 mph range and flapping the topper pretty hard. We've been in some higher winds in Colorado where we were aligned with the wind direction. The flapping was not as bad. I don't think you have to worry too much about wind, other than it can be noisy at night.

I use PVC supports in the winter to keep snow and ice from collapsing the toppers. They also pretty much eliminate wind noise and flapping.

 

[Erika]

Thanks for the reply, Dan.

The slide is 10 ft long by about 2 ft deep (26 inches or so), and I see awnings that are much larger than that on some awning websites, is there something I'm missing about the sizing? Do you mean that the angle of the awning will not allow it to pass over the slide without making contact with the top outer edge of the slide?

Good to know that it won't necessarily be a real problem with regard to wind, if that is the only route that makes sense.

 

[danemayer]

Erika,

10' wide is probably not bad - I was picturing somewhat wider slides. But the mounting area above the slide is often limited, so you'd have to have an awning that had almost no pitch to it in order to clear the outside top edge of the slide.

Also, the awnings are far more delicate than slide toppers. We never leave our awning out at night or when we leave the coach because the wind really catches it. Even relatively light winds bounce it around so much I'm afraid it'll break the mechanism or tear the fabric.

 

[Nabo]

When we first got into rv'ing in the early 2000's, the most campers were shorter. Our first camper (SOB brand) had 2 short slides that had the awnings come over the slides and extend down like a regular awning. Was pretty cool except one kept getting hung up with the entry door. On our last 4 campers, we added slide toppers. Very rare that we had to bring any slide in because of excessive winds but we have once or twice. The benefit of the toppers outweigh the flapping noise. I haven't seen any manufacture installing awnings like the picture below in a long time.

 

[Erika]

Good point, Dan. Yes, I can see why the awning would be more fragile if it was not connected, and thus stabilized, by the slide itself. Yeah, I'll have to take a long look at the space available between the bottom of the roof and the top of the slide to see if there is room for the awning to be mounted.

Looks like maybe a topper isn't a bad idea. I read some people's comments that said that they are hard to clean, but since it is only 10 ft wide, it shouldn't be that hard to reach underneath with an extendable mop pole.

 

[Erika]

Thanks, Nabo. Good to have the second opinion on the topper option. Yeah, I can see how the full awning could get hung up on stuff.

 

[JohnDar]

We have toppers on all slides and leave them extended from early May to late September. Not much to clean underneath other than a little dust. I clean the top side of them when I'm cleaning the roof. Our seasonal site is surrounded by trees, so they keep a lot of junk from accumulating on roof of the slides. If they're put on correctly, they should be taut, not drooping like a hammock. The exception may be a topper on the main living room slide. The size gives it a little more weight, so I put a PVC support under it.

 

[Westwind]

John - Being under those tree's I don't know how you end up with just dust, I end up with a good layer of pollen, dust etc. being in the open - I have a feeling the wind has a lot to do with it. If I were to order a new trailer I would do it again, but put another brand with Sunbrella fabric and have the dealer install (depending on the dealer). I'm already noticing fraying on the ends of my fabric.

 

[teasac69]

You guys know me, the last of the great DIYr's....... has anyone done slide toppers DIY? doesn't seem like it would be a big deal since they obviously would come loaded and you mount them loaded and then when they pull out they are stretched??? video's, source to buy, tips on doing it?

trying to do one major improvement to my 2014 BH this year, trying to choose between disc brakes or slide toppers??

 

[Westwind]

Just spent two days cleaning the top and underside of my slideout toppers, they are white (part of the problem) and I had mold and green pollen along with dirt inside / outside and on the slideout roof. I ended up using a watered down bathroom mold spray along with my long handled mop and brush. That's when I was wishing I didn't have them. It's a double edge sword.
I know they can keep stuff off the roof of the slideout but wind will put stuff inside that has to be cleaned out if your going to stay ahead of mainenance. Plus I really don't want dirty slideout roof inside the trailer. So pro's and con's - definately a personal decision.

 

[danemayer]

Just spent two days cleaning the top and underside of my slideout toppers, they are white (part of the problem) and I had mold and green pollen along with dirt inside / outside and on the slideout roof. I ended up using a watered down bathroom mold spray along with my long handled mop and brush.

Here's a link to a Dometic Tips document about awnings, which includes a tip on how to clean awnings. While it's written for main awnings, I would think you could do the same thing with slide toppers and pull the slide in for a few minutes to let the solution do its work. The push the slide and rinse the topper.

 

[jnbhobe]

Cleaning is simple, spray them with your cleaning mixture ( I add some bleach ) put the slides in for 1/2 hour, open them up and spray them off ( may need a soft brush on them if they are real dirty ) I wouldn't be without slide toppers.

 

[JohnD]

I haven't seen any manufacture installing awnings like the picture below in a long time.

Here is our 2015 Heartland Prowler . . . six weeks and three days since we picked it up!

Can't put it all the way down as it rubs on the top of the slide and the entrance door, however, once we get it fixed (one end is pulled out of the tract - came that way when we bought it), it should be fine.

 

[jmgratz]

Put your slide in and you can clean the roof. Just use care not to spill dirt and debris inside the rig. A damp sponge with some spic and span will work.

 

[JohnD]

I'm going to tell my story . . . happened on July 4th., 2014 while staying at St. Vrain State Park near Longmont, Colorado.

Mid afternoon while sitting under our awning and enjoying an ice cold beverage or three, the park ranger came around and stopped at every site and warned everyone to put up their awnings and slide toppers as the National Weather Service had issued an extreme high wind WARNING for the area . . .

The sky was clear and calm, so we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon under the awning and our 10 x 10 gazebo as we had several guest over for the 4th. celebration.

When we were done and our guests had left, I took down the gazebo and rolled up the awning . . . packed away the lawn chairs and slid the coolers under the trailer, then went inside and started watching a movie.

Now, most of our neighbors had either left the park to go watch the fireworks or just went inside like we did, however, almost every other RV in the loop we were in left their awnings and slides out.

Well, about an hour into the movie and just after sunset, the breeze kicked up so I closed most of the windows in our trailer, then all of a sudden one huge microburst blasted through the campground and shook our trailer violently!

It lasted maybe 10 seconds . . . then all calmed down.

I went outside to find both of our coolers had been blown about 20 feet away from the trailer, as was our lawn chairs . . . and then I saw most of my neighbors walking around their RV's with flashlights, looking at their awnings and slide toppers . . . almost every single one in our loop destroyed!

Ripped from the sides of their trailers and monster motor homes.

Many of them packed up and pulled out that night, and most of the rest left the next morning . . . many of them a day earlier than their planned departure.

I know that many here think this can't and never will happen . . . but I witnessed it with my own eyes.

Like my grandfather used to say . . . "You never know what will happen, until it happens!".

Ironically, I was thinking about having a slide topper put on our then Heartland Trail Runner, but I nixed that idea after July 4th, 2014.


Here are a couple of shots of our Trail Runner at St. Vrain, although not in the same site we were in that night!

 

[JohnDar]

Well, mine have been on since day 1. Even though I leave the slides out from early May until late September, they've not blown off or made noise in the night. If you park in extreme wind areas, you may have problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bones]

I have to ask is there a way to retract the slide toppers? We have no way to retract the slides in our trailer because we could not get through the camper if we did that.

 

[danemayer]

I have to ask is there a way to retract the slide toppers? We have no way to retract the slides in our trailer because we could not get through the camper if we did that.

To clean the toppers, you retract the slides for a few minutes to let the cleaning solution work, then extend them again.

all of a sudden one huge microburst blasted through the campground and shook our trailer violently!

In violent weather, I'd be evaluating larger issues, like personal safety. The one time we had a tornado warning siren go off, we headed for the shelter. In situations like that, there are lots of ways for the trailer to get damaged, but no time to do anything about them.

If I had more time, I might pull in the slides until the winds passed. That might mean sitting on the bed or in the truck for a little while once the weather picked up.

If the wind was violent enough to tear the toppers, I guess I'd be glad 1) that they're not too hard to replace, and 2) that nothing worse happened.

 

[Nabo]

Wow JohnD - didn't and haven't seen those awnings in a long time. I enjoyed having the little KZ awning because it protected the entry doorway alot better than our last 4 campers against the weather.
As for your story, saw the exact thing happened in the Smoky Mountains National Park in TN couple of years ago. Was warned by the park officials and then about 2 hours later, a huge down bust. 90% of the campers didn't listened to the warning and lost awnings as well as other outside stuff. One camper was badly damaged by some flying chairs that came from a couple of sites from it.