• Ray
    1.3k
    In this video, I get busy repairing a rotten section of my main slide-out room floor in my 2011 276RLS Keystone Cougar fifth wheel.



    A roughly 17" x 45" section of plywood needed to be cut out and replaced with a fresh piece. Over the years water intruded and slowly turned the 3/4" plywood in one of the slide floor corners to mush!

    I was quite disappointed. Even though I stay on top of my routine sealant maintenance, I believe the damage came as a result of a manufacturer flaw. The bottom of the slide wall doesn't have adequate flashing and over time water wicks into the exposed flooring.

    Repair Procedures

    First, I moved my custom daybed and peeled back the underlying Infinity vinyl flooring. Both had been install during my 2015 summer renovations.
    https://www.loveyourrv.com/category/rv-renos/

    Next, I used a hackzall and multitool to cut out away the damaged plywood flooring and my Vampliers to remove any stubborn screws, nails, and staples.

    I replaced the rotted flooring with a fresh 3/4 inch piece of plywood which a first coated with West Systems epoxy resin. The epoxy resin will help make the wood water resistant should any future leak develop and wet the flooring. Besides applying the epoxy resin, I also wrapped the plywood in plastic tarp material.

    The new plywood is attached via two long lag bolts into the steel beam at the front slide wall and metal screws into the aluminum beams and studs. Then a second large sheet of coated plywood is screwed on top.

    Finally, to help prevent a reoccurrence, I installed a 2"x2" piece of 90 degrees aluminum flashing on the slide walls lower corner bead.
  • Greg F
    331
    Nice job Ray. Better then new.
  • Keith
    43
    Ray,
    Good choice on the West Systems epoxy. Add some thicker and it makes a great glue or fillet material. I used it and fiberglass cloth to fabricate a custom battery box.

    Did you seal the seam between the sheets of plywood underneath with dicor or other sealant?

    Regards, Keith
  • Ray
    1.3k
    Not yet, think I'll fill the gap with some SikaFlex 291 sealant.
  • Deleted User
    0
    This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
  • Dhuhn
    94
    Nice repair Ray.
  • Logan X
    101
    Nice repair Ray, thanks for the video!
  • Paul Beaubien
    2
    Another area that you should check is the bottom outside wall of the bedroom slide.
    The bottom outside trim piece forms a J at the bottom trapping any water that can gets past the silicon outside bead on the top part of the trim. Had to fossilize the plywood and put sealant behind the trim piece to make sure that in the event that the outer sealant bead cracked there was a backup bead behind the trim piece. Also discovered that the factory did not remove the plastic backing completely from the eternabond tape on outside roof edge of the bedroom slide which leaked. Fix was to cut back the roof membrane and reapply tape with the plastic backing removed. Same situation on the other two slides as I redid both. Sloppy application at the factory.
  • Ray
    1.3k
    Thanks, for the tips!
  • Columbus
    14
    Ray, I took gorilla tape and made water guard on my trailer when it was new. It’s about 4 1/2 yrs old and still working. Check out the imade

    53glhct3b38y5igo.jpg
  • Fumes21
    3
    Watched your video, you did a great repair. I looked at my Jayco Eagle 5th Wheel which is a 2006 model and was worried on what I might find but it's like new. It is constructed similarly to your 5th Wheel. Just wondering if there was another reason that this section failed?
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