Slideout Repair

We've been aware of a sagging floor in the corner of the living room slideout, but after the carpets were cleaned it had progressed enough that it was causing issues pulling the slide back in and now required some finesse and teamwork to keep it from binding. This location had been covered by the couch previously. The black darco underbelly material was fraying from the sliding motion and the floor was noticeably soft. Since we had several days staying at Shawn's, we decided to replace this section to prevent any issues during our trip (slideout binding, gaps to outside, potentially even the couch breaking through). 

Original wood condition, plus visible drag marks on carpet

First we peeled up the carpet and removed the existing board along that edge. We ended up taking about 2.5 feet to make sure we were well past any rot. The pressboard nearest the edge could be pulled apart by hand and was wet to the touch even inside of the darco. We saved the darco fabric so that we could later pull it back over the edge of the remaining pressboard as one unified piece.

Demolition complete

With our limited timeline we decided to replace the damaged flooring with composite boards rather than trying to replace with more pressboard wrapped in darco (which was surprisingly hard to find). We cut the pressboard to fit 5 widths of the composite board, cut the front edge of the composite boards to the same angle as the pressboard (to come up the slide edge), and then cut them to length to fit under the wall. We wrapped the first composite plank next to the pressboard in the existing darco but left the other 4 out as they are waterproof. Before installing the new floorboards, we had to jack up the slideout itself so that the wall was high enough to accommodate them (we also had a pair of temporary posts outside to prevent it from sagging too much once the floor was removed).

Jacking up the slide

New flooring

With the floorboards in placed, we attached them into the slideout walls and the metal plate that supports the weight of the slide (and attaches to the actual sliding mechanism). Finally we sealed the joints with both paste sealant and a spray-on coating, then added a thin board across all 5 new planks and the end of the original pressboard to ensure they all moved together as one piece. This thin board does technically make this section of floor a fraction of an inch taller than the original section, but this section will be covered by the carpet and then couch anyway.

Attaching the new flooring to the wall

Sealed and screwed together

With the repair complete, we replaced the carpeting and cleaned up. The floor is so much firmer and able to handle weight. This composite board will last decades without any chance of rot. The slideout moves in and out so much smoother than it did before we started this. It took about a full day's worth of work and approximately $100 of materials, but it's going to be well worth it for the safe functioning of the living room area and peace of mind throughout our trip!

Working perfectly afterwards!