Replacing flooring on 2008 due to water damage on side out

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jscheer

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Jun 30, 2017
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Hello everyone! I am new to this site but heard some amazing things about it and how helpful some of the people can be! So I decided to join to get some ideas and suggestions on how to replace flooring on a camper we recently bought.

Background of the camper - It is a 2008 27ft bumper pull Keystone Hideout with one slide out. Still has original flooring in it, which has had some water damage on the floor around the front slide out, in kind of an L shape wrapping into the slide out portion and around to the main floor. There is carpeting in the slide out and around he slide out (what it seems to slide on when operating the slide out part) and then linoleum in the main walk way of the camper.

We have removed the couch and pulled back the carpet on the slide out and the linoleum on the main wall to see the damage. When we pulled back the carpet by the slideout wall facing the front, we saw part of the black tarp material folded over about a foot to a foot and a half, covering the wood. When we pulled back the portion of the tarp, all wood underneath was rotten and just loosely laying there. So it seemed as though the tarp had held in moisture bc the only place boards were rotten was under the tarp which they folded back in towards the center of the slide out. 
We removed all the old wood and pieces of old wood. We found a small, what looks to be nail hole, in the tarp on the front wall of slide out. We aren't sure if this is the cause or not. The previous owner had completed had a new roof on main part and slide out as well as seal everything on the outside.  Has anyone come in counter with the same rotting we have under the tarp on the slide out?  I just cant believe the only thing protecting the bottom of the slide out is a plastic tarp!

All advice and suggestions are welcome and appreciated for any part of this thread! We are new to this!!

So being the woman I am, now that we have the floor pulled back I want to get rid of that nasty carpet! But after looking, he doesn't think there are rollers for the slide out. How it is set up now is, under the table and couch (which are on the slide out) is carpet. Then there is also a small portion of carpet which the slide out slides back on to when in the closed position. which then transitions to linoleum in front of kitchen counters and all.
Do we have to keep carpet down for the slide out to work properly without rollers? We are wanting to put down something like LVT. Is this possible? What would be used as a transition? Would the slide out work properly or would it scratch the floor? Looking or any advice and suggestions that can be offered!!

Thanks for reading, sorry it's so long! 
 
I'm not clear on where this "tarp" was employed. Is it on the exterior of the slide, i.e. the exposed underside of the floor, or under the floor covering but over the wood subfloor?

There are various slide-out mechanisms and I don't know what type/brand was used in your Keystone. Some have rollers, some have skids, and a few kind of float above the floor, basically balanced on the edge of the sidewall.  They all have to potential to rub on the flooring as they move in/out, so non-scratching carpet is the safest solution. If you use a vinyl, laminate or wood floor covering, you will probably have to put some sort of thin skidpad under the slide when moving it in & out.

Some people use thin vinyl cutting boards or a commercial product like this one:
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Slide-Out-Slicker-p/14-8151.htm
If there is enough clearance, you may be able to simply slide a loose piece of the vinyl flooring over the floor and let that take the wear & tear.

Look at your old carpet for signs of whether the slide contacts it. There will be either dirt or slightly depressed areas where the slide touches, if it does. It may only contact in one place after it is full-in, or it may skid along in a strip, or maybe even doesn't touch at all.
 
Thank you so much for your reply, and the wonderful information! We are going to look a little closer at the carpet and go off of what you said. I will be in touch once we dig a little deeper and let you know what we find out! The tarp was under the subfloor, and then wrapped around the subfloor and then placed between the carpet and subfloor about a foot in from the front slide out wall. 
 
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