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  1. #1
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    Soft spot on the roof. Who's to blame?

    Good Morning fellow GD owners. Yesterday as I started to cover our 2018 Imagine 2800 BH I stepped close to the right front corner and felt my foot give. It was a sickening feeling as I immediately knew it was soft spot from what I could only imagine was water damage. I went inside but could not find anywhere there has been any water on the interior ceiling. A few months ago when getting something in the camper I noticed a couple of carpenter ants on the wall close to the proximity of that roof spot. I put out ant killer and realized that Carpenter ants usually look for wet wood but I didn't see or feel anything inside/or outside and wrote it off to not using the camper much because of covid. We bought the camper new and had to wait a few weeks to get the 2 door model as our dealership didn't have one on the lot. It came in directly from the factory and was transferred to us within a week. Four to five months into owning it we had a storm and a large limb fell on the roof just over the center roof line and broke a couple of roof rafters but did not penetrate the membrane. I took it into our dealership and they started a repair for us (covered by insurance). Many many months and (and our $1000 deductible) later we got our camper back. During the repair they peeled the entire roof, couldn't get replacement rafters so made them and replaced the broken substrate roofing. Put new membrane on. I say this because as I examined the roof over the area where my foot sank I see no visible holes or damage. It is not as if I have overlooked a hole and water has intruded for some time. I can't see anything that would have tipped me off to this ongoing problem and can only assume they did not seal the joint correctly where the roof/side/front panels come together and that water has been seeping in all along. My dealership is well known but the service department can be a little hard to get along with. We bought the extra warranty for repairs but it clearly says that it will not cover damage because of water intrusion. A few months back the tongue jack went out and they said I would need to bring it in leave it. They would check it, then have to put in a request for warranty then order parts then put it in the lineup for the repair. Although he wouldn't obligate for sure he indicated many weeks to a month for just the jack. I contacted the jack company, they honored the warranty sent me a new jack within a few weeks and I had it installed in an hour. It is never that fast or easy with the warranty things that our dealership has handled. I feel like even if there is no other way for water to have gotten into that area unless poor workmanship on the repair I am going find it impossible to prove. I thought about asking to be there (at the dealership) as they remove the membrane so that I can see for myself but that still may be subjective. My question to the many experienced owners is how is the best way to approach this issue?

  2. #2
    Site Team traveldawg's Avatar
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    I would think the first place to start is back to the dealer and ask them to inspect. From there it is no telling what may happen; whether they will fix, at whose cost, etc.
    Larry KE4DMG
    2022 F-350 KRU SRW LB - Airlift 5000+, ForScan, 37 RDS Aux Tank,
    2019 310GK-R - Sailuns; MorRyde IS; Disc Brakes; 20K Reese Goosebox
    Search kalakamods for my mods


  3. #3
    Big Traveler Calbar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tshaney View Post
    Good Morning fellow GD owners. Yesterday as I started to cover our 2018 Imagine 2800 BH I stepped close to the right front corner and felt my foot give. It was a sickening feeling as I immediately knew it was soft spot from what I could only imagine was water damage. I went inside but could not find anywhere there has been any water on the interior ceiling. A few months ago when getting something in the camper I noticed a couple of carpenter ants on the wall close to the proximity of that roof spot. I put out ant killer and realized that Carpenter ants usually look for wet wood but I didn't see or feel anything inside/or outside and wrote it off to not using the camper much because of covid. We bought the camper new and had to wait a few weeks to get the 2 door model as our dealership didn't have one on the lot. It came in directly from the factory and was transferred to us within a week. Four to five months into owning it we had a storm and a large limb fell on the roof just over the center roof line and broke a couple of roof rafters but did not penetrate the membrane. I took it into our dealership and they started a repair for us (covered by insurance). Many many months and (and our $1000 deductible) later we got our camper back. During the repair they peeled the entire roof, couldn't get replacement rafters so made them and replaced the broken substrate roofing. Put new membrane on. I say this because as I examined the roof over the area where my foot sank I see no visible holes or damage. It is not as if I have overlooked a hole and water has intruded for some time. I can't see anything that would have tipped me off to this ongoing problem and can only assume they did not seal the joint correctly where the roof/side/front panels come together and that water has been seeping in all along. My dealership is well known but the service department can be a little hard to get along with. We bought the extra warranty for repairs but it clearly says that it will not cover damage because of water intrusion. A few months back the tongue jack went out and they said I would need to bring it in leave it. They would check it, then have to put in a request for warranty then order parts then put it in the lineup for the repair. Although he wouldn't obligate for sure he indicated many weeks to a month for just the jack. I contacted the jack company, they honored the warranty sent me a new jack within a few weeks and I had it installed in an hour. It is never that fast or easy with the warranty things that our dealership has handled. I feel like even if there is no other way for water to have gotten into that area unless poor workmanship on the repair I am going find it impossible to prove. I thought about asking to be there (at the dealership) as they remove the membrane so that I can see for myself but that still may be subjective. My question to the many experienced owners is how is the best way to approach this issue?
    If they did the work I would go and have them look at this as it seems like it probably leaked right from day one of the repair. I would have them turn you down first and put up a fight before I would do anything myself in your situation. Poor workmanship causing water damage is different than water damage due to poor maintenance in my opinion.

    Rob
    Rob & Barb
    2022 Solitude 378MBS
    2022 RAM 3500 SRW HO Aisin 4x4
    Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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