What you're probably noticing
It moves crooked. It stalls halfway out and you cycle the switch to coax it. There's a groan or a clunk. You hear the motor working but nothing happens. Or you step near the outside edge of the slide floor and it gives.
A soft slide floor almost always means water. Slide seals wear, rain runs down the wall and under the floor, and the plywood soaks it up from the bottom where nobody looks.
What I do about it
I run the slide through its full travel and watch it, because most slide problems show themselves in the first foot. I check motor and gear condition, rail alignment, rollers, sync between sides, wiring and grounds, and whether the room is sitting square in the opening.
On mechanical work I adjust or replace what's failed and set the room so it seals top and bottom instead of leaning on the seal to make up the difference. Worn wipers and bulb seals get replaced so the next rain runs off the wall instead of into the floor.
For a rotted floor I pull the flooring, take the full deck out down to the frame, replace rotted framing, install marine-grade plywood rather than OSB, and seal the underside before the finished floor goes back. I do full floor replacements only, never patches. Floor replacement comes into the Roscoe shop. Motor, seal, and adjustment work I do on site.
Why I do it this way
Factory slide floors are thin and often unsealed underneath, which is exactly why so many of them fail. When I rebuild one, it gets sealed against the weather it has to live in.
I learned welding, wiring, and plumbing on the farm, and I put in the time on adjustment work that a lot of shops won't spend. A slide that's set square runs quiet for years. That's the difference.
Questions I get
Straight answers
- My slide is stuck out. Can you come to me?
- Yes. A stuck slide is exactly what mobile service is for. Call me with your location and what it's doing.
- Can a soft slide floor be patched?
- No. I do not patch rotted slide-out floors. I remove the full floor and replace it with marine-grade plywood, never OSB.
- How do I keep my slide seals from leaking?
- Keep them clean and conditioned, run the slide fully in and out a few times a season, and replace wipers when they get stiff or torn.
- Do you work on both electric and hydraulic slides?
- Yes, both, including sync and adjustment on multi-slide coaches.
Slide-Outs & Slide-Out Floors across my service area
I bring this work to towns throughout the 100-mile radius around Roscoe, SD.
Throughout a 100-mile radius of Roscoe, South Dakota.