Chalet with a rotted basement floor

[Roundtowner]

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

[54suds]

I've had to contact Chalet three times and all three times I've received prompt answers and warranted parts

[Fastbrit]

BlkCaribou wrote:
Chalet just showed me what there all about... to bad I was hoping they understood customer service. Even if it's not there responsibility they should be available to to help find the problem.

I hope your able to find the source and get it fixed.

What do you mean by "Chalet just show me what there all about" ?? Do you have or ever had a Chalet camper? Did you ever called them and they never returned your call?
Or do you simply base your judgment on op's misfortune or negligence and his lack of communication skills?

The op's topic is 10 days old and he never came back to us before tonight ! Why?

We had 2 problems under warranty with our Chalet DS116. The heki hatch and one of the titan jack. They where reported to Chalet and was told to go at a Montreal dealer for repair. Everything was ordered and replaced within 3 weeks to Chalet's expense.

I wish everything turns for the best. Water damage is a pita.

Respectfully Steve

[bobndot]

I had the same problem in my AF . The water tank was cracked. I replaced it as well as the floor.

[BlkCaribou]

Chalet just showed me what there all about... to bad I was hoping they understood customer service. Even if it's not there responsibility they should be available to to help find the problem.

I hope your able to find the source and get it fixed.

[Roundtowner]

Thanks to all of you that offered thoughts and suggestions to my problem. I've been able to see into the area that holds the tanks and yes, there is mold under my fresh water tank. Still not able to locate the source. I'm now planning to cut an opening into the front area and see what shows up there. I've talked with Bill Penny and he suggests that I add some straps under the "belly" to hold everything in place. I called the factory several times this past week and left many messages. No one returned my calls.
I'll continue to search for causes, put together a plan for fixing, and then replace the floor.
At this time, I'm not sure what level of support I'll get from Chalet.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again, Larry.

[Stars101]

kerry4951 wrote:
So sorry to hear of your problem. It sounds more like a major structural failure in the floor area. Its hard to imagine that you would have that much rot in just 2 years, plus like you mentioned I would think you would of seen signs of water leakage at some point during its use, especially to cause that much rot in such a short time span. I hope you can find a solution. Being I also live in the east I can feel for you and realize how inconvenient a repair trip to the factory could be.
Maybe try someone like Truck Camper Warehouse in NH (also a location on Long Island) since I know he is very familiar with TCs and he sells Chalet. Plus he does do some pretty major repair work.

Not to hijack thread: but you can DEFINATELY get structural rot that will lead to a complete failure and see no signs inside. Our 2014 TC was purchased June 2013 and used June/July/Aug/Sept. Covered mid-Sept '13 and uncovered July 4, 2014. Used for 2 trips and suddenly Aug. 8th we saw water dripping from under the cab over. Pushed up on cab over and it sloshed! Took it back for warranty work (750 miles one way) and it had been leaking since new. The wood was completely black and rotted on passenger side cab over from roof to jacks. Inside still smelled "new" and looked pristine. One more year and it would have failed and dumped us onto our truck's roof.... it took approx. 30 hours to re-build.

Of course my TC is wood framed, not aluminum. But I just wanted to jump in and say, yes, you can get rot that bad with no signs. We had even spent 3 hrs. at the start of the season washing and re-caulking any minute areas that looked iffy. And we still missed an area that wasn't obvious. DIY leak testing is now part of our pre-season and post season chores.

[Stars101]

Have you had a leak test done? Is it possible that the water tracked in from above somewhere?

If no one does leak testing near you check out the "stickies" and see the DIY Leak Testing. We used a shop vac and taped over the A/C and all exterior vents and sink & shower traps. Showed us a hidden leak on the roof that had rotted the cab over so badly it would have failed in the next year. Ours is a 2014 model TC (not Chalet) that had manufacturing issues so it was fixed under warranty.

Anyway, I would always recommend a leak test for any structural damage. You might be surprised.

[Freedom_49]

Is it possible the fill line to the fresh water tank allowed water to leak as you were filling it? I noticed that immediately on a previous camper I owned. If I remember correctly the fill line had a split in it.

[Fastbrit]

The bottom of the camper is made in 3 stages
-3/4 plywood (the holding tanks are on top of this sheet)
-aluminum structure
-and the last part is what you see from the outside consisting of 1/4 sheeting with the black plastic membrane glued on it.
First , did you open the service trap to the holding tanks located in the rear main storage area ( 8 screws) to see if the 3/4 plywood is wet?
Or is it just the black 1/4 plastic membrane that you are talking about?

[Fastbrit]

the structure of the tc and basement section is made of aluminum tubing. the plywood he is referring to is holding the tanks.

[54suds]

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

ps Bill Penny told me to check the area under the Fat rack mounts

also check the mounting bolts on your awnings on some ,the (a extremely poor design :M ) bolts go through the rain gutter into the aluminum framing creating a easy path for water intrusion to travel long distances undetected

[kerry4951]

So sorry to hear of your problem. It sounds more like a major structural failure in the floor area. Its hard to imagine that you would have that much rot in just 2 years, plus like you mentioned I would think you would of seen signs of water leakage at some point during its use, especially to cause that much rot in such a short time span. I hope you can find a solution. Being I also live in the east I can feel for you and realize how inconvenient a repair trip to the factory could be.
Maybe try someone like Truck Camper Warehouse in NH (also a location on Long Island) since I know he is very familiar with TCs and he sells Chalet. Plus he does do some pretty major repair work.

[sleepy]

sorry to read about your problem.

I'd like to ask about something:

Did you or the dealer add bump-stops to the front of the bulkhead to keep the camper from pushing into the front wall of the trucks bed?

When Jim Allen was the head of Customer service at Lance Campers he told me that the biggest reason for rot like your campers (and most expensive to repair) was when people added bump stops with lag bolts and the lag bolts punctured the water tank... the leak was slow enough to not be noticed, and steady enough to keep the bottom and lower front of the bulkhead wet 24/7. Within 2 years there would be so much rot that the structural integrity was comprimised. The owner was responsible for paying for all of the repairs,

And I'd like to suggest:

Map your external rot as much as possible... there might be more than you think.

Take an Ice pick and press it into the wood, it will go in easily where rotted (limit your push to about 3/4") It will barely go if there is no rot.

Best of luck,


Sleepy

[Fastbrit]

Do you have pictures?
Where the camper was bought? And when?
Do you flush your black tank? If yes, do you winterize the line?