How Do We Stop The Slide Outs On Our RV From Leaking?

by Kathy Bryan
(Leeville, Louisiana USA)

Our 2005 Montana has had several leaks since we purchased it used. The slide with the sofa and dining table is the worst area. However, recently the kitchen slide has started leaking and we found the carpet under the TV/fireplace area to be wet. I have used sealing putty on the largest slide (living/dining area) and it seemed to work, until recently. Now the leaks seem worse than before. Is there anything else I can do?

ANSWER: Greetings Kathy thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

Kathy I am going to have to generalize on my answer, as based on your description, I am not really sure where the water is coming in from and I am not really sure what you put the putty on. There are several area on a slide that could allow water to get into your trailer.

If there are any cracks in the slideout itself that could allow moisture to get in. If any of your slides have windows in them, the window seals could allow water to leak into your RV. If your RV is not correctly leveled and the weather seals on your slideout are dried out, cracked or not making proper contact with the slide out, this could also cause leaking.

Some of these problems mentioned above could be corrected by you and other problems may require taking your RV in and having it looked at by an RV Technician.

You state that you now have two slideouts leaking. If the slideouts that are leaking are both located on the same side of the trailer then it could very well be a leveling issue. If they are on opposite sides of the trailer, it could very well be that the weather seals on the slides need to be replaced. Below are some steps you should take to try to diagnose the problem with your leaky slides.

1. The first thing I would do is make sure that the trailer is level. If you are too far off of level, water could bypass a bad seal on the slide out and leak into the interior of the trailer.

2. With the slide out open inspect the seals where the slide out closes into the side of the trailer. You are looking for any cracks, gaps or dry rotting of the seals. If the seals are dry brittle or have gaps, the slide out seals will have to be replaced.

The weather seals on slide outs get damaged and cracked due to excessive exposure to heat, ultra violet rays and freezing temperatures. This could allow moisture to enter into the living quarters of your trailer causing damage to its contents. This could be an even bigger problem if the trailer is not completely level. Which reminds me if you are not already doing so you need to use some Slide Out Rubber Seal Conditioner once every two months to treat the slide out seals to prevent them from cracking and degrading prematurely.

3. I don't know if your RV is equipped with a Slide Topper Awning or not, but if it isn't I would suggest that you get them installed on all of your slide outs. These awnings prevent excessive dirt, debris and rain water from accumulating on the top of the slide out. When you have excessive debris on the top of your slide out it can damage the slide out seals as well as bring all of that dirt and debris into the RV when you close the slide out.

As I said earlier there could be other problems with your slide-outs that you may not be able to repair yourself, these are just some of the simple things I could think of based on what you have described.

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Happy RVing

RVing Al