PDA

View Full Version : Floor soft spot


Ranchhand
04-07-2019, 10:32 AM
We have recently purchased a 2014 Keystone Cougar 330RBK with the polar package. I did not notice before we bought it that about 3 feet inside the door that there is a 1 foot square soft spot in the floor. If I remove the the plastic sheeting underneath the frame of the trailer will I be able to look up and maybe see this soft spot in the floor. I am pretty hand with fixing most anything but am not real excited about tearing up the laminate to fix the bad spot. I assume if I have to fix it from the top side I will have to pull up all the laminate fix the bad spot in the floor and buy all new laminate to put down. Or is there a easier way to fix from the top side. I guess my hope is that it is just a lack of frame support and there would be something I could try and fix from underneath.

Thanks in advance for any information provided

chuckster57
04-07-2019, 10:51 AM
As far as I know trailers didn’t come with laminate flooring, just vinyl linoleum or carpet. If it does have laminate flooring I would wonder if the seller was trying to “cover up” previous damage.

If you remove the coroplast you may be able to see all the way to the bottom of the floor, but that depends on where the holding tanks are mounted.

Ranchhand
04-07-2019, 11:29 AM
As far as I know trailers didn’t come with laminate flooring, just vinyl linoleum or carpet. If it does have laminate flooring I would wonder if the seller was trying to “cover up” previous damage.

If you remove the coroplast you may be able to see all the way to the bottom of the floor, but that depends on where the holding tanks are mounted.

You are correct Chuckster57 I misspoke. It is a vinyl linoleum.

Rich1945
07-21-2019, 11:59 AM
We have recently purchased a 2014 Keystone Cougar 330RBK with the polar package. I did not notice before we bought it that about 3 feet inside the door that there is a 1 foot square soft spot in the floor. If I remove the the plastic sheeting underneath the frame of the trailer will I be able to look up and maybe see this soft spot in the floor. I am pretty hand with fixing most anything but am not real excited about tearing up the laminate to fix the bad spot. I assume if I have to fix it from the top side I will have to pull up all the laminate fix the bad spot in the floor and buy all new laminate to put down. Or is there a easier way to fix from the top side. I guess my hope is that it is just a lack of frame support and there would be something I could try and fix from underneath.

Thanks in advance for any information provided

Ranchhand i have same problem with 2016 cougar what did you find?

Ranchhand
07-21-2019, 12:23 PM
Ranchhand i have same problem with 2016 cougar what did you find?

I ended up taking up the vinyl flooring and found rotted out subflooring. Cut out the bad spot replaced with a new piece of plywood and recovered the floor with some snap together vinyl flooring from Menards. Also found that water was coming from the top of the main slide. Which oddly enough the only time I seen water coming in was when I was in the process of redoing the flooring.

dadnjesse
07-21-2019, 02:47 PM
If you find soft spots, it means you have a leak somewhere.

Rich1945
08-30-2019, 04:50 AM
I took 5th wheeler to dealer, and they said the laun was pulling away from the insulation board. floor is 1 piece and said they couldnt repair it that it would have to go back to the manufacturer. does this sound right ? maybe a site moderator could chime it

JRTJH
08-30-2019, 06:19 AM
I took 5th wheeler to dealer, and they said the laun was pulling away from the insulation board. floor is 1 piece and said they couldnt repair it that it would have to go back to the manufacturer. does this sound right ? maybe a site moderator could chime it

Sounds to me that either you didn't understand what the dealer said or the dealer didn't explain it correctly. The part I bolded in blue indicates a "laminated floor" while the part I bolded in red indicates a solid floor.

As for the dealership not being able to repair it, I'd think that's more a "we can't make enough money from a warranty repair to take on the job" rather than "we don't have the expertise/tools/facilities to do the job".... There are dealerships that replace floors, walls, frames every day. On the other hand, there are dealerships that refuse to do those same repairs every day.

I'd urge you to get with the service manager, get him/her to completely explain what needs to be done and why they can't/won't do the repairs.

It sounds to me like there's some confusion either with what was previously said or what was previously heard. The two just don't add up with what you posted (in red/blue) above. The 2014 Cougar brochure has a very "explicit" diagram that shows how the trailer is constructed. It shows a 5/8" seamless floor deck, "hand laid" R-14 spun fiberglass insulation and a DARCO waterproof wrap. That indicates a "solid floor system" not a "luan surface pulling away from the insulation board" (sandwich floor). So, what Keystone advertised and what your dealer told you aren't the same.

Rich1945
08-30-2019, 10:05 AM
JRTJH not sure if i said my trailer is a 2017 cougar xlite 5th wheel and this is what the dealer said 23479

travelin texans
08-30-2019, 10:15 AM
To be honest, having it returned to the factory is the best plan. They would be better equipped to do a major overhaul than most dealerships.
The problem is the floor, with carpet or other flooring already installed, is the 1st layer on the top of the frame of a RV with the walls & everything else built on it, so replacing the floor is major surgery.

JRTJH
08-30-2019, 01:25 PM
The comments in the photo in post #9 do not say the same thing as you stated in the narrative in post #7. The comments I made in post #8 refer to two DIFFERENT floor systems that you stated (see red and blue)... In one comment you indicated the floor is laminated and the next you said it's solid... My comment is "It can't be both"....

As for the statement from the dealership that's contained in the photo, they are saying that the laminated floor "let loose" between the luan (probably the top layer) and the insulation (foam core) in front of the fireplace and where you showed them the soft spot. Their recommendation was to return the trailer to the factory for repair. Keystone denied their recommendation and further denied any warranty payment for the repairs. The dealer "essentially washed their hands of further attempts with Keystone" by saying, "cust to contact retail group 866-425-4369"

What I see in the photo is that the dealer asked Keystone for warranty authorization to return the trailer to the factory, Keystone said, "NO" and the dealer has "turned it over to you to argue with Keystone if you want to, he's "out of the loop".....

ADDED: In your first post, you stated, "We recently purchased a 2014..." which, to me, indicates that you bought a used trailer and are trying to get Keystone to repair it under the "new trailer warranty". All I can say is that "customers with new trailers, in warranty and "within a couple of months of warranty expiration" often have significant problems with getting Keystone to repair "questionable problems". Trying to get them to apply warranty repairs to a 5 year old trailer that was purchased used by funding a factory return ??? IMHO, that ain't gonna happen.......

ADDED (to the added): There are two "contributors" to this thread. Ranchhand is the OP, RICH1945 commented in the thread that he has a similar issue and is asking for help/explanation/comments.... The above "added" was a comment was made with the belief that the OP, not the other poster, had responded with the comments in post #7. So, to address RICH1945's comments:

Your trailer is not built like the OP's trailer, so his problems are entirely different than yours. Your trailer is listed in most of your previous comments as a 2016 model, in this thread you indicate it's a 2017 model. If I remember correctly, Keystone did not incorporate the 3 year structural warranty until September 1, 2017 (at which time they were building only 2018 model year trailers) and it applied ONLY to trailers built after that date. So, your trailer, whether it's a 2016 or 2017, had a 1 year structural warranty. I don't suspect that you'll get any help from Keystone on your floor repair. I'd suggest you call them at the number in the photo you posted and discuss the situation, but if they approve a repair at the factory, it will be the first I've heard of that's out of warranty and paid by the factory. Good Luck.

Rich1945
08-30-2019, 06:19 PM
sorry i made this so confusing, i should have started a new thread