To fix or not to fix? water damage

kamper00 · 01-26-2018, 06:35 PM

On our new 2018 we had a water leak under the cabinet. It was just the faucet to to the pex plumbing was not tightened but before I was able to find the root cause water leaked to the floor of the cabinet and caused some swelling. The photo of the damage does look worse than it is, but I just used a brown sharpie to blend in the color.

Sooo the million dollar question is basically you can't tell there is damage now, and also painted a plastic corner piece to place on the bottom so it doesn't get kicked. (not shown in pik)

It would and will be covered under warranty to replace the 2 cabinet walls, but my concern is that if the damage is not really visible, by replacing the cabinet might open a different concern/issues. (Figure it's a camper, their never going to be perfect for long, or at all)

What would YOU do?

Moosey1 · 01-26-2018, 07:52 PM

Get fixed under warranty off season of you can

Brother Les · 01-26-2018, 08:41 PM

Document everything right now before you do anything else. Does the dealer know?
You should have reported this asap and set things up.

SlfMdeFam · 01-26-2018, 09:53 PM

It’s not the visible stuff that could be a concern. It’s the behind the scenes that come up and bite you later such as dry wrought of the work leading to deterioration. Possibly mold or mildew. Warping of the wood causing further damage to surrounding cabinets.

Don’t mess around with an investment of that nature. Have it fixed and fixed properly.

kamper00 · 01-26-2018, 10:08 PM

Dealer and FR is aware. only damage was that corner and some minor swelling of the wood on the bottom. Water was contained to just there and dried immediately after leak.

Getting it fixed is not the issue, my concern is that if the cabinet is replaced and not done absolutely perfectly then there will be other visible issues that might mask what this issue is.

benchmarks · 01-27-2018, 01:38 AM

If leak is contained, reinforce the inside corners under the counter and run dehumidifier. Call it a day. My 2 cents.

andymil · 01-27-2018, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Allen

Warping of the wood causing further damage to surrounding cabinets.

Wood???

I guess the sawdust it’s made from was wood at one time. I can’t believe they use a material that is essentially a sponge covered with paper printed to look like wood that will deteriorate after getting wet. I’m not even sure it’s sawdust.

We had the the shower (grey tank) overflow (don’t ask) and water ran under the kitchen cabinets. We cleaned it up immediately and still got the same type of damage. Ours wasn’t a warranty issue. We dried it out and 18 months later it hasn’t been a problem.

If they will replace it under warranty, I’d let them do it. But I do understand your concern.

RudysWorld · 01-27-2018, 02:08 PM

When I think about these situations i think about selling the unit. If you have to sell and buyer notices the issue you will be responsible to fix. Get it done now under warranty. Deal with any possible problems as they come up later. Good luck!

PenJoe · 01-27-2018, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RudysWorld

When I think about these situations i think about selling the unit. If you have to sell and buyer notices the issue you will be responsible to fix. Get it done now under warranty. Deal with any possible problems as they come up later. Good luck!

X2. One of my very first concerns when buying something is selling it in the future. This may seem minor, but it could come back to haunt you if not repaired now. One of the very first issues a buyer or dealer looks for is water intrusion. There is just no way to minimize a leak when a prospect sees it.

DouglasReid · 01-27-2018, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Allen

It’s not the visible stuff that could be a concern. It’s the behind the scenes that come up and bite you later such as dry wrought of the work leading to deterioration. Possibly mold or mildew. Warping of the wood causing further damage to surrounding cabinets.

Don’t mess around with an investment of that nature. Have it fixed and fixed properly.

X2...in the most strenuous terms

kamper00 · 03-26-2018, 11:58 AM

UPDATE: I spoke to Forest River and they stated that the repair to the cabinetry is not something that they will do at at the factory but will be need to be scheduled at the dealer. Further more that the cabinet won't face won't replaced as a whole but the individual pieces. What my concern is by disassembling the cabinetry and just replacing a few pieces. My concern is the the matching of the color and the assembly back that will look unscathed. Thus far the only real damage is the lower corner of the cabinet where the wood split. I was able to take a corner plexiglass, paint it to match and placed it on the corner. There seems to be no other lingering damage. I am contemplating just leaving it as such as with the disassembly of the cabinetry and the replacement of only certain pieces as the added plastic corner piece will look much less conspicuous than what might come about form disassembling and replacement of the wood? Plus the corner piece protects from just normal scuffing of the corner and the vacuum hose.
Thoughts?

CampingGator · 03-26-2018, 12:05 PM

I would worry about several things: future delamination of your cabinet is one of them, then resale down the road. As one poster above stated, buyers will look for signs of water damage. You will not get near the amount that your unit is worth. We had damage to the inside wall board in our trailer due to my DH hitting a tree with the back corner of the TT. You cannot tell that the wallboard was repaired or replaced. The dealer did a wonderful job with it and everything matches perfectly. Our TT was 2.5 years old when that happened and had been through three camping summers. Have your cabinets replaced and move on.

kamper00 · 03-26-2018, 12:49 PM

I am going to look at the replacement pieces and see how well they match and make a determine from there. Good point with possible more damage down the road. I am trying to determine whether the cabinets are just screwed together, glued, biscuits all or some. I can see screws holding it together and the paneling stapled. Since they are just going to replace the corner pieces and bottom I assume they are just screwed together for easier replacement?

rsdata · 03-26-2018, 01:00 PM

may I ask what model camper/motorhome?

People talk about it changing the resale value... I think a realistic question to you is are we talking a $25k TT or a $100K motorhome?

The time/trouble fooling with shoddy dealer fixes might not be worth it if you are talking a low-end trailer... and even though $25K is nothing to sneeze at how much resale value do you realistically think you might lose?

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