Found delamination and soft spot on the floor

[Finster]

So after work today i grabbed some antifreeze to start winterizing the camper. Ive never done it before, this is our first rv. I read up on it and was pretty confident in what i needed to do. The first thing i did was start searching around for the water filter because i knew i needed to drain it. I wasnt sure exactly where it was as ive never needed to access the pump or water filter before, and its something they didnt show us during our pdi. I eventually found it behind a panel in the wall below the front bunk. When i opened the panel i noticed the floor covering was delaminated, and buldging up from the floor. The floor section all around the pump is soft. I know its hard to see from the picture. Something has obviously been leaking inside that panel since we picked it up. I plan to call river forrest tomorrow and put in a warrenty claim. What can i expect for a repair? Its my understanding that the floor is put down first before the walls are put up when building, so how would they even go about replacing it? Anyone else have this issue?

[Mr Havercamp]

Sorry to hear that. I found 3 or 4 of the crimped on fittings leaking on our 2017 23WS in the water pump / heater compartment the day after I brought it home. I wasn't surprised as they use pex elbows and other fittings with pinch clamps to connect flexible pvc hoses. Its not the correct fittings or clamps. They should have used barbed fittings and the proper clamps. I have no doubt your seeing the same thing. Do a search and you'll find many posts about those mixmatched fittings leaking. Have you been towing in rain much? There is always the possibilty of water blowing in from underneath also. Some of the methods and workmanship used to seal the underside of our 23WS left me SMH.

The correct repair if the plywood in the floor is that soft, in anything you would consider a large area, is return it to the factory and replace the entire laminated floor. Its not going to dry out and then be fine. You are correct....they would lift the entire box off the floor and replace it. A dealer is not capable of doing that and I would not stand for a piecemeal Micky Mouse repair on a new 2017, which is what any type of patch would be.

[bikendan]

First, you need to start with the dealer you bought it from.
You don't call FR for a warranty claim.

That's what FR will tell you.
Unless you're a distance away and want an independent RV shop to do it.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Finster

So after work today i grabbed some antifreeze to start winterizing the camper. Ive never done it before, this is our first rv. I read up on it and was pretty confident in what i needed to do. The first thing i did was start searching around for the water filter because i knew i needed to drain it. I wasnt sure exactly where it was as ive never needed to access the pump or water filter before, and its something they didnt show us during our pdi. I eventually found it behind a panel in the wall below the front bunk. When i opened the panel i noticed the floor covering was delaminated, and buldging up from the floor. The floor section all around the pump is soft. I know its hard to see from the picture. Something has obviously been leaking inside that panel since we picked it up. I plan to call river forrest tomorrow and put in a warrenty claim. What can i expect for a repair? Its my understanding that the floor is put down first before the walls are put up when building, so how would they even go about replacing it? Anyone else have this issue?

your dealer can tell you but that looks like a plywood floor to me not laminated...So It will depend and only the dealer or factory can tell you. It also will depend on the damage, if it's plywood they probably could fix it pretty easy and if it's laminated yes the factory will have to replace it the walls would need to come off.

[Mr Havercamp]

Originally Posted by bikendan

First, you need to start with the dealer you bought it from.
You don't call FR for a warranty claim.

That's what FR will tell you.
Unless you're a distance away and want an independent RV shop to do it.

So thats official Rockwood policy?

Thats not what I was told when I was attempting to work through problems with a new unpurchased unit during a long conversation with one of Rockwoods service reps. I was told I could schedule warranty work at the factory and it is done all the time. All I had to do was schedule it and get it there. I was also told they have an area of the factory dedicated to that. It was actually one of the main reasons I purchased a Rockwood. I also know two other people who went there for bunk door replacements and other work. In fact they were even reimbursed for travel expenses that they did not even expect or ask for. Neither went through their dealer and dealt directly with Rockwood. If thats the case why do they even have contact info listed for "service"?

[Mr Havercamp]

Originally Posted by Witch Doctor

your dealer can tell you but that looks like a plywood floor to me not laminated...So It will depend and only the dealer or factory can tell you. It also will depend on the damage, if it's plywood they probably could fix it pretty easy and if it's laminated yes the factory will have to replace it the walls would need to come off.

A 2017 Roo 233S purchased when Finster bought his has a laminated floor. What you see in his picture is the vinyl flooring,

I have heard the new Roos, call it 2017 1/2 i guess, are now being built with conventional plywood floors. No telling why but either they lost faith in the laminated floors due to lots of soft spot problems which I have read about here and elsewhere or its cheaper, or should I say more cost effective to build that way. To be truthful I wish I would of waited and got a plywood floor. I'd like to know if its plywood or osb. I actually heard Rockwood eliminated laminated floors division wide.

[Finster]

Originally Posted by bikendan

First, you need to start with the dealer you bought it from.
You don't call FR for a warranty claim.

That's what FR will tell you.
Unless you're a distance away and want an independent RV shop to do it.

I've had a few other minor claims with my unit and have opted to do the work myself rather than make the hour and a half drive back to the dealer. I've dealt with Jake Carter in the warrenty dept. at forrest river for all of those. He's shipped me parts directly, rather than through the dealer. I think they may actually prefer that as they don't have to reimburse them for their labor. I plan to take it in to the dealer for this issue as this is going to be a more work than I care to do. I will still talk to jake before hand, if nothing else than to get his insight on it.

Its definitely delamination. What you see in the pic is the "wood look" flooring that extends through out the camper. Its not ply. The vinyl flooring is bubbled up and no longer adhered to the laminate flooring, and the area around the pump is so soft I could probably stick my finger through it if I pressed hard enough.

[youroo]

The Vinyl covering is Not glued to the composite flooring! Spot glued in Some areas! Youroo!!

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Mr Havercamp

A 2017 Roo 233S purchased when Finster bought his has a laminated floor. What you see in his picture is the vinyl flooring,

I have heard the new Roos, call it 2017 1/2 i guess, are now being built with conventional plywood floors. No telling why but either they lost faith in the laminated floors due to lots of soft spot problems which I have read about here and elsewhere or its cheaper, or should I say more cost effective to build that way. To be truthful I wish I would of waited and got a plywood floor. I'd like to know if its plywood or osb. I actually heard Rockwood eliminated laminated floors division wide.

That could be true I don't doubt you but my 2012 Rockwood 5th wheel has a plywood floor from the steps up to where the head is and the master bedroom...

[rlocicero]

Originally Posted by bikendan

First, you need to start with the dealer you bought it from.
You don't call FR for a warranty claim.

That's what FR will tell you.
Unless you're a distance away and want an independent RV shop to do it.

The dealer may to try to tell you that they can make the repair but I doubt they have the experience or equipment to do it as good as the factory. I You may want to push for the factory to do it. Our Flagstaff 829FKSS needed a new floor and The factory did a great job fixing it. They supposedly have a jig to lift the box off from the floor and chassis to replace it. I called FR first and arranged the warranty with our local dealer but requested that the factory do the repair.

[NorSnrub]

We had a Falstaff 23 lb with a soft floor. We made arrangement with the factory and left it for a week. They lifted the top off and put in a new floor.

[Finster]

Apperently they're pretty swamped this time of year, but I set it up to drop the unit off 2 weeks from Saturday, and they will assess the damage sometime during that week. I'll have to wait until then to see what they say.