Chalet with a rotted basement floor
I'm looking for information and causes from others (especially Chalet owners) that have experienced a failure of their TC basement floor from rot (from being wet or dry rot?).
I have a 2012 Chalet TS116 that I unloaded from my truck last week. I noticed that the basement floor sagged down/dropped down a couple inches. I quickly pumped dry the fresh water tank to lessen the weight on the floor. (I had previously emptied the black and grey holding tanks.) I can feel that the wood (plywood?) bottom is soft and broken. The black plastic membrane covering the bottom is stretched but not compromised, punctured, or broken and has not failed. I think it is the only thing holding the floor and the tanks from falling out.
I sent photos to the factory and ask if others have experienced this problem. When I called and spoke with the manager, he said that they have no knowledge of any other unit having a problem such as this and no idea as to what the cause could be.
I have traveled over 15k miles and 100+ nights this year with no known issues. In nearly all of my travels, I have boondocked and would have learned of any leaks in my supply plumbing(loosing pressure, pump running when not in use, or tank level loss). I can not see any wet spots, although it's not possible to see under my fresh water tank or up far into the basement area. I can only surmise that perhaps I have bath sink or shower drain leak or a fresh water fill line leak that is not large enough to notice. Again, I can't see anything to indicate a problem. Yet, it is only two years old and I can't imagine such a catastrophic failure from a simple issue or that I'm the only owner to have such a problem.
Chalet wants me to take it to the factory for repairs, take it apart, and then determine who bears what costs based on what they find and have to fix. That would be a trip of over 5000+ miles and a month my time.
Thus, I'm trying to gather any and all information that can help me troubleshoot and find the problem. Then, maybe I can make a better decision as to what to do and how to approach fixing this serious problem. Any and all inputs are welcome.
Sorry for the extra long post and thanks for your insight and replies. Larry
I have a 2012 Chalet TS116 that I unloaded from my truck last week. I noticed that the basement floor sagged down/dropped down a couple inches. I quickly pumped dry the fresh water tank to lessen the weight on the floor. (I had previously emptied the black and grey holding tanks.) I can feel that the wood (plywood?) bottom is soft and broken. The black plastic membrane covering the bottom is stretched but not compromised, punctured, or broken and has not failed. I think it is the only thing holding the floor and the tanks from falling out.
I sent photos to the factory and ask if others have experienced this problem. When I called and spoke with the manager, he said that they have no knowledge of any other unit having a problem such as this and no idea as to what the cause could be.
I have traveled over 15k miles and 100+ nights this year with no known issues. In nearly all of my travels, I have boondocked and would have learned of any leaks in my supply plumbing(loosing pressure, pump running when not in use, or tank level loss). I can not see any wet spots, although it's not possible to see under my fresh water tank or up far into the basement area. I can only surmise that perhaps I have bath sink or shower drain leak or a fresh water fill line leak that is not large enough to notice. Again, I can't see anything to indicate a problem. Yet, it is only two years old and I can't imagine such a catastrophic failure from a simple issue or that I'm the only owner to have such a problem.
Chalet wants me to take it to the factory for repairs, take it apart, and then determine who bears what costs based on what they find and have to fix. That would be a trip of over 5000+ miles and a month my time.
Thus, I'm trying to gather any and all information that can help me troubleshoot and find the problem. Then, maybe I can make a better decision as to what to do and how to approach fixing this serious problem. Any and all inputs are welcome.
Sorry for the extra long post and thanks for your insight and replies. Larry
this was the source of a very low volume leak in my Chalet I was lucky and caught it early and there is no structural damage
