Indentations in the Vinyl Floor

[ed rzepka]

We have a 2016 Sightseer 33c. We have the vinyl floor throughout the coach. There are three places where the dinette chairs set where the chair leg tips have left indentations in the vinyl floor. I’m not sure why, but my best the wood sub-floor is soft. Probably the same subflooring used under carpet where it doesn’t make any difference. The indentations have occurred under one chair’s rear leg, and one under each chair’s front leg. Anyone else have this problem? Had it repaired or just lived with it? I know that this is a single sheet of flooring that runs the length of the coach and I would assume that it would be a repaired similar to one where a section of the vinyl had to be replaced. Anyone else had something like this done? It’s under warranty so when we return in September I will approach the dealer about it (along with all the other stuff).
Ed

[Yellowboat]

Ed, yes we are getting indentations from the chairs plus the recliner.

I don't know if anything can be done or if there is any way to get the vinyl to spring back.

Let me know what your dealer says.

Safe travels. JD

[dkrobath]

Yea I had the same problem, it can be repaired but after you do you need to put rubber feet on the chairs to keep it from happening again. I used CCI to repair those dents in the floor. here is a link. Vinyl Flooring Repair over Replacement - We Can Fix That!

[ed rzepka]

Originally Posted by Yellowboat

Ed, yes we are getting indentations from the chairs plus the recliner.

I don't know if anything can be done or if there is any way to get the vinyl to spring back.

Let me know what your dealer says.

Safe travels. JD

JD

Will do. We won't be home until mid-September so I will probably not know anything until then. Are you going to look into have your floor looked at/repaired? If you do before I do, let me know how it turns out.

ed

[Cover Dog]

Before we had our current coach, we had a 2015 forest river wildcat fifth wheel. One time I brought the slide in and a small plastic table gouged the floor. Not ripped, just pushed the vinyl up a little

I tried an old gunsmith trick to raise dents from gun stocks. I took a wash cloth and soaked it then rang it out. Got my wife's iron, put it on a high setting and ironed the wet wash cloth over the bunched up vinyl flooring. The heat and steam softened the vinyl and it went as flat as the day it left the factory.

Don't know if it will raise your dents, since the sub floor might be the problem, but the cost is only your time and effort.

IIRC my sister and her husband lived in "The Plantation" ? in Leesburg for about 15yrs.

[ed rzepka]

Originally Posted by dkrobath

Yea I had the same problem, it can be repaired but after you do you need to put rubber feet on the chairs to keep it from happening again. I used CCI to repair those dents in the floor. here is a link. Vinyl Flooring Repair over Replacement - We Can Fix That!

Dave:

Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep that in mind. There are several franchises in our area. First I will see what Winnebago will do under warranty.

Also, can you link me to exactly what you bought as fare as the rubber feet goes? Also, before you installed the rubber feet, did you remove the plastic tips?

Also I noticed that you dinette is in the slide-out as is ours. Usually, we tie the chairs up before moving the slide out it or out. Since rubber creates more friction, do you secure you chairs before moving the slide or after?

Thanks
ed

[ed rzepka]

Originally Posted by Cover Dog

Before we had our current coach, we had a 2015 forest river wildcat fifth wheel. One time I brought the slide in and a small plastic table gouged the floor. Not ripped, just pushed the vinyl up a little

I tried an old gunsmith trick to raise dents from gun stocks. I took a wash cloth and soaked it then rang it out. Got my wife's iron, put it on a high setting and ironed the wet wash cloth over the bunched up vinyl flooring. The heat and steam softened the vinyl and it went as flat as the day it left the factory.

Don't know if it will raise your dents, since the sub floor might be the problem, but the cost is only your time and effort.

IIRC my sister and her husband lived in "The Plantation" ? in Leesburg for about 15yrs.

Bill:

Thanks, we will have to try that after we return home. Since we retired and travel, we see no need for an iron. We have an old one at home.

One thing I did try was using a hair dryer on high to see if I could get the vinyl to contract. No luck.

We live in Arlington Ridge, about a mile north of the Plantations on the same side of the road. Been there 10 years come December.

ed

[99Adven]

I'll jump in with our story on our 2015 Vista 35F. We were getting depressions in our vinyl from the rollers left in the in position on the long driver side wall. Not dramatic but in the right light, it was visible. On our first visit to the factory, Winnebago said they would adjust the slide but as far as the depressions go they would just note the depressions in their notes . If it got any worse or broke thru the vinyl, then they would address it. So far no more problems.

I didn't try the wet washcloth and hot iron trick but might try it. Those roller hit every time in the same spots so it'd be a repetitive procedure I'm afraid.
I had the same problem on our 99 Adventurer but the rollers hit on the carpet with the slide in. All you had to do was unpack the carpet threads with your hand or vacuum and, bingo, looked just like new.

Good luck with this issue.

[dkrobath]

Originally Posted by ed rzepka

Dave:

Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep that in mind. There are several franchises in our area. First I will see what Winnebago will do under warranty.

Also, can you link me to exactly what you bought as fare as the rubber feet goes? Also, before you installed the rubber feet, did you remove the plastic tips?

Also I noticed that you dinette is in the slide-out as is ours. Usually, we tie the chairs up before moving the slide out it or out. Since rubber creates more friction, do you secure you chairs before moving the slide or after?

Thanks
ed

The rubber feet are from Wal-mart they snugly fit over the legs and YES remove the plastic tips. That's what causes the actual damage they dig into the vinyl when you sit, lean back in those chairs. We have measured where the chairs go on the floor when the side is in so we place them there and we use a velcro strap(we made)to connect the 2 chairs together and then the side when engaged goes right up to the chairs without sliding them at all.

[Betr2Trvl]

Indents or imperfections in your floor are part of what I consider "leave well enough alone" because the fix is going to be more painful and proably cause bigger issues down the road, and sooner or later (sooner probably) you will simply re-create them. My bet is the floors in your home are not prefect either........ And you are going to drive both your manufacturer and dealer / service provider nuts complaining about this, and will go on the "pita customer list"...... Save your angst and chits for "real" issues.

We have been very clear with our dealer and Tiffin on our (relatively few) warranty issues - if it is better to just leave it as it is, just leave it.

Yes, we have some imperfections, and scratches / indentations from our slide rollers (there is no way around it, if you have any grit on the floor, eventually your rollers will scratch the floor), and a heavy slide sitting on rollers is going to cause a dent in a vinyl floor, it's that simple. They are what they are.

You own an RV, a fancy camper. They get used so enjoy it for what it is.........

[dkrobath]

Originally Posted by ed rzepka

Dave:

Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep that in mind. There are several franchises in our area. First I will see what Winnebago will do under warranty.

Also, can you link me to exactly what you bought as fare as the rubber feet goes? Also, before you installed the rubber feet, did you remove the plastic tips?

Also I noticed that you dinette is in the slide-out as is ours. Usually, we tie the chairs up before moving the slide out it or out. Since rubber creates more friction, do you secure you chairs before moving the slide or after?

Thanks
ed

Good luck with the warranty claim. Keep in mind they will probably not cover it cause it is not a defect but damage. Mine was out of factory warranty and my extended does not cover floor damage. This company came out the next day and had it fixed in about 2 hours and cost me $150.00 I think I had 5 areas damaged. If I took it to the dealer it would of taken days for them to tell me it's not covered after waiting 2 weeks to get an appointment and probably would of called the same company to repair it at 2-3 times the price. ...... Just saying

[Yellowboat]

I' m here in Forest City, Iowa for the GNR. We are gettingservice on our rig. I asked about the vinyl flooring and divot marks. The tech said that Winnebago usus heat to expand them back to flush but that we should be careful.

[ed rzepka]

Originally Posted by dkrobath

Good luck with the warranty claim. Keep in mind they will probably not cover it cause it is not a defect but damage. Mine was out of factory warranty and my extended does not cover floor damage. This company came out the next day and had it fixed in about 2 hours and cost me $150.00 I think I had 5 areas damaged. If I took it to the dealer it would of taken days for them to tell me it's not covered after waiting 2 weeks to get an appointment and probably would of called the same company to repair it at 2-3 times the price. ...... Just saying

I figured the process would go something like that especially with all the other stuff that is wrong with the rig some of which they may dispute.

Also, can you link me to exactly what you bought as fare as the rubber feet goes? Also, before you installed the rubber feet, did you remove the plastic tips?

thanks
ed

[ed rzepka]

Originally Posted by Betr2Trvl

Indents or imperfections in your floor are part of what I consider "leave well enough alone" because the fix is going to be more painful and proably cause bigger issues down the road, and sooner or later (sooner probably) you will simply re-create them. My bet is the floors in your home are not prefect either........ And you are going to drive both your manufacturer and dealer / service provider nuts complaining about this, and will go on the "pita customer list"...... Save your angst and chits for "real" issues.

We have been very clear with our dealer and Tiffin on our (relatively few) warranty issues - if it is better to just leave it as it is, just leave it.

Yes, we have some imperfections, and scratches / indentations from our slide rollers (there is no way around it, if you have any grit on the floor, eventually your rollers will scratch the floor), and a heavy slide sitting on rollers is going to cause a dent in a vinyl floor, it's that simple. They are what they are.

You own an RV, a fancy camper. They get used so enjoy it for what it is.........

Thanks. I have given thought to all this already. I used to do this type of thing to get my way and because I was in the right. But I was working then and had time. Now that I am retired, I will try to a point, but will [probably cave as I just want to get on with life and use the RV.

You, and others might be interested to know what Winnebago did with the bed slide. I thought there were rollers under the bed -- there isn't My wife dropped an ear ring backing and it bounced under the bed. While looking for it, I noticed that Winnebago did not use rollers to solve to carry the weight of the end of the bed. Instead and from what I can see, they installed wood blocks with rounded edges then wrapped carpeting around the blocks. This is what slides across the floor. My first thought were, how many cycles will I get out of this, and how do I repair it when the carpet wears. Our floor is not smooth but somewhat porous and has an abrasive feel.

[dkrobath]

Originally Posted by dkrobath

The rubber feet are from Wal-mart they snugly fit over the legs and YES remove the plastic tips. That's what causes the actual damage they dig into the vinyl when you sit, lean back in those chairs. We have measured where the chairs go on the floor when the side is in so we place them there and we use a velcro strap(we made)to connect the 2 chairs together and then the side when engaged goes right up to the chairs without sliding them at all.

Ed here are the type I bought for the main chairs
Rubber Chair Table Furniture Bottom Protector Round Feet Leg End Tip Black 4pcs - Walmart.com

And I put these over them and on the folding ones as well.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016UDQ2DY...rds=chair+feet

[Yellowboat]

I will see if Winnebago can remove the divets from my floor tomorrow then I will need the new leg cushions. We may go to Walmart and pick some up tomorrow.

[Yellowboat]

Winnebago worked on the divets in my floor today. The Winnebago tech said that he made them better but he couldn't remove them completely. I could not see the divets nor could I feel them when ran my hand over where they had been. I'm satisfied with the results. We still have one in front of our recliner because I forgot to point it out.

I removed the round plastic feet from our chair legs and replaced them with felt pads. When I find them I will install the feet suggested above.

I looked at a 2017 Sightseer today and the feet on the chairs had felt and were of a slightly larger diameter.

My wife asked the tech if there was an underlayment between the vinyl and plywood. The tech said the vinyl was applied directly over plywood and that it was floating or not glued to the plywood.

Safe travels. JD

[Yellowboat]

After my second day of service I asked the tech how he removed the divets. He missed one and there is one in front of the recliner.

He said that he used a heat gun to heat the floor and then, wearing gloves because of the heat, he rubbed or massaged the area untill the dent was lifted.

It doesn't sound too difficult but I believe there is a chance of scorching the vinyl flooring.

We looked at a 2017 Sighteer and the flooring feels harder and may not dimple like the 2016's do.

Safe travels. JD