Cleaning Cathedral-Style Slideout Roof

itat · 05-05-2018, 07:26 AM

We toured through a couple Cedar Creek models at the RV Show this past winter. Although it would require (another) TV upgrade and my DW winning the lottery to be able to buy one, I have to say I was pretty impressed about most things they do. I’m just curious about cleaning the cathedral roof on the slideout. I’m a big believer in slide toppers since we do a lot of our camping in wooded Provincial Parks where a slide topper is very valuable but you can’t install a slide topper on the cathedral roof slides. How do you CC owners deal with cleaning the cathedral roof on your slides if you’re camped in a wooded campground? Do you have to get up on the roof to clean it before retracting the slide?

CC75 · 05-05-2018, 07:40 AM

I have a push broom with a telescoping handle I use. Purchased a push broom brush, and a telescoping painter's handle separately. I unscrew the brush from the handle for easy storage.
Most of the time, things slide off since it is sloped. Pine needles are the ones that give me most trouble. The needles get caught in between the slide-out sweeps.

Jim34RL · 05-05-2018, 08:35 AM

Not all Cedar Creek models have the Cathedral Celling only the Silverback line has the Cathedral celling. The Hathaway line and the Champagne line have flat roof slide outs. I have three slide toppers on my Hathaway model and this is my second 5er with slide toppers. I looked at the Silverback model and would not purchase one since I could not put a slide topper on that trim level.

5picker · 05-05-2018, 08:49 AM

Thanks Jim, didn't realize that.
We've been looking at Cedar Creeks as well and slide toppers was a concern for us too.

prairiecamper · 05-05-2018, 09:00 AM

We have the 29 RE and never had a problem with debris on the slide roof. Most of it slides off and the wind takes care of the rest! I do check each time prior to retracting the slides. I have a small 4 foot ladder I carry to help me see the top of the slide from the ground. If there is some debris on the top I would go on the roof and sweep it off. And I suppose a lot depends on where you camp?

BuzzWolfAR · 05-05-2018, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairiecamper

We have the 29 RE and never had a problem with debris on the slide roof. Most of it slides off and the wind takes care of the rest! I do check each time prior to retracting the slides. I have a small 4 foot ladder I carry to help me see the top of the slide from the ground. If there is some debris on the top I would go on the roof and sweep it off. And I suppose a lot depends on where you camp?

X2. Love the design.

markfromark · 05-05-2018, 09:24 AM

We've not had too much debris on the cathedral slides as stuff does tend to slide off. I do carry a battery powered leaf blower and a step ladder. That combination makes cleaning it off easy.

richp · 05-05-2018, 10:38 AM

Hi,

If gravity or wind don't take care of minor debris, I reach for the soft bristle brush on an extension. The angle of the top allows for that pretty well (as well as the inital assessment of whether there is anything up there), although concededly I'm a tall guy.

I occasionally have to deploy a ladder, which in most cases is because the top of the bedroom slide is higher than the others.

A minor occasional nuisance, considering how much we enjoy the more spacious overhead feel the cathedral slides provide.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips

DouglasReid · 05-05-2018, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itat

We toured through a couple Cedar Creek models at the RV Show this past winter. Although it would require (another) TV upgrade and my DW winning the lottery to be able to buy one, I have to say I was pretty impressed about most things they do. I’m just curious about cleaning the cathedral roof on the slideout. I’m a big believer in slide toppers since we do a lot of our camping in wooded Provincial Parks where a slide topper is very valuable but you can’t install a slide topper on the cathedral roof slides. How do you CC owners deal with cleaning the cathedral roof on your slides if you’re camped in a wooded campground? Do you have to get up on the roof to clean it before retracting the slide?

We dont' have slide toppers at all. The twigs and pine cones that get underneath them aer a pain in the A@# to get off so I prefer to get onto the roof and sweep them off prior to closing the slide outs.

Lovelandtraveler · 05-05-2018, 03:24 PM

When we bought our Silverback, we thought the sloping slides would be great. Boy, were we wrong. Although they look good & attract a lot of attention, if we had it to do over again, we would run to avoid them. The problem we have experienced is not debris, but rather water & any sort of heavy dew or snow. I have a long handled squeege I use to try & remove the moisture, but if there is much water it still pours in when we bring the slides in. After the squeege, one of us goes to the back end & the other brings in the slide while we both try to catch water & towel dry to some extent as slides come in; it is never full proof. If there is snow on the slides,that adds some extra clearance work. When we went to the FROG Rallly in 2016, factory reps adjusted the slides & that helped some, but it wasn’t a full cure. The other thing about the added ceiling height is that it makes it harder to heat/cool the inside. Would love to have slides again that we could put toppers on. We only wish we had known then what we know know. Good luck !!

No more shoveling · 05-05-2018, 05:06 PM

Before we purchased our Cardinal we looked at the Silverback and really fell in love with it. We really liked the layout. Then one rainy day we decided to go look again and I glad we went when it was raining. With the cathedral slid out right next to the door the rain was pouring down right by the door. With the grandkids that was a show stopper as with all that water right by the stairs it was a no brainer to keep looking. We liked the other two models with the flat roof and slide toppers but the floor plan on the Cardinal and the available disk brake option sold me, best move we have made simply a awesome trailer.

itat · 05-05-2018, 06:47 PM

Thanks for all the replies. Kinda what I was thinking although I doubt that water getting past the slide seals like Lovelandtraveler is experiencing would be a normal occurrence.

I had noticed the slope on the forward side of rear, camp-side slide would dump rain water on the entry steps area. Definitely a negative to that floorplan.

SilverbackMel · 05-05-2018, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lovelandtraveler

When we bought our Silverback, we thought the sloping slides would be great. Boy, were we wrong. Although they look good & attract a lot of attention, if we had it to do over again, we would run to avoid them. The problem we have experienced is not debris, but rather water & any sort of heavy dew or snow. I have a long handled squeege I use to try & remove the moisture, but if there is much water it still pours in when we bring the slides in. After the squeege, one of us goes to the back end & the other brings in the slide while we both try to catch water & towel dry to some extent as slides come in; it is never full proof. If there is snow on the slides,that adds some extra clearance work. When we went to the FROG Rallly in 2016, factory reps adjusted the slides & that helped some, but it wasn’t a full cure. The other thing about the added ceiling height is that it makes it harder to heat/cool the inside. Would love to have slides again that we could put toppers on. We only wish we had known then what we know know. Good luck !!

I have had both in all climates. Never had a slide cover in 10 years; out west, snow, mountain camping, beaches, etc.
Have seen many broken; ripped; stretched, torn slide covers.
The answer is; people go for different things. That’s why cars come in a gazillion variations. Get what makes you happy and work to make it ez pz.
Just saw someone complaining about their new 2018 top of the line model.
These things are RV’s, not mountain cabins or beach cottages ( and they have a million issues as well)
Life would be boring without choices.

richp · 05-05-2018, 07:54 PM

Hi,

Going into my fourth season in a 33RL, with about ten thousand miles of travel in all kinds of weather, including many torrential rain events, and near tornados a few years ago in Gulf State Park.

When it rains, the water drizzles down the side of the slide next to the door. But it has never cascaded off into the doorway in the manner some folks fear it might.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips

itat · 05-05-2018, 08:03 PM

Thanks, Rich. Good to know its not as bad as I imagined.

Flatlander49 · 05-06-2018, 08:23 AM

I agree completely with richp.

Starting year 4 with our 29IK and for us the cathedral slides (and the rest of the trailer) have been great. They open up the area significantly and I don’t hit my head when I stand up. I carry a blower and have had to use it to clear debris from the top of the slideouts once in 2016 and once in 2017. (Both times were in fall while parked in forest) The water running off of the main slide runs down the side of the slideout but we’ve certainly never seen anything like the torrential flow that was implied earlier in the thread but I guess it could happen. If it’s raining that hard I hope I’m in something more substantial than my RV.

One downside with this configuration is that if the rain is coming down from the right direction (and the awning is extended) the one side of the stairs can get wet but that’s nothing to do with the design of the slideout.
Our slide seals apparently work better than some folks’ because when we have retracted our slides when they were wet they are certainly damp but there is no water running off of them and by design they don’t touch anything when retracted so I don’t see the harm. They’re dry in a couple of hours.
We’ve had slide toppers on previous rigs and I’ve considered one for the one conventional slideout that we do have but IMHO while they have advantages they also have disadvantages so personally I can live without them. We all look for different things in an RV and there’s no perfect one out there so to the OP I just hope you find a rig that works for you.

Cheers

itat · 05-06-2018, 08:29 AM

Thanks for the feedback, Flatlander49.

prairiecamper · 05-06-2018, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markfromark

We've not had too much debris on the cathedral slides as stuff does tend to slide off. I do carry a battery powered leaf blower and a step ladder. That combination makes cleaning it off easy.

I like the battery leaf blower idea, might have to invest.

BandJCarm · 05-06-2018, 09:48 AM

Know a lot of Silverback owners. None have a water problem at the door. I have slide toppers. They're a big help, but pine needles and stuff still blows in occasionally. You have to take care of any design.

dieselguy · 05-06-2018, 12:57 PM

I've had RVs with and without slide toppers. They do help to reflect heat in the summer and of course help keep leaves and twigs off slide roofs. However ... they are noisy in high wind states like Kansas. They don't last forever and have to be replaced. The toppers and the slide roofs do get dirty just like your awning after a few months and are harder to clean. A Swiffer mop does work pretty well, but it takes some effort. I also carry a leaf blower with a 180 degree tube fitting like for gutter cleanout ... works great on my slide roofs. The water does trickle off the roof by my entry door, but unless it's a "toad soaker" it does not shoot off onto the steps like some elude to here. If it's raining that hard, why do you need to repeatedly get in and out anyways? In the end, we really like the cathedral roofs as it was one of the selling points of the Silverback for us.

You may also like: