2021 320 Floor Bubbles

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Underbelly bolts keep breaking off on 2021 NuCamp Tab400.

boseli

ChrisFix said:

xdr said:

@ChrisFix
When I took it in they tried to replicate the bubbling by bringing it up to 88 deg. They could not replicate it. When we had bubbling, I feel sure that the interior was a bit hotter than that. 
They suspected that there was less glue in that spot. Ours was just outside the bathroom door and the fear they had was that there would be water damage. They did not find any water damage when they took it out. 
They took out the underlayment and vinyl flooring and replaced it all. The floor looks perfect. They completed it and the other mods in 3 days. Austin took the time to answer all questions and the service dept was great. 
mer

@xdr
Thanks.
I've observed the bubbling after driving in the 90+ summer heat, where the interior was over 100...so I agree with you that 88 probably wouldn't reveal the issue. 
Guess I should give nucamp a call and talk to them about this, because I have that exact same issue, and if that requires a new floor, I sure want to get it on record while it is under warranty. 
I do wonder what happened with the 2021 models during assembly that is leading to this issue.

Check this thread: https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/159968#Comment_159968
We are having the bubbling in our 2021 320S floor; it is parked in our garage at 40 degrees or warmer (not past 50 degrees since it has been in there) and it is bubbling all over. Lumps, bumps, dips, waves. Our dealer's service guy sent the photos to NuCamp, so we will see what they say. Here's one photo:

Bclarke

My expert opinion is .. oh oh .. this doesn’t look good.  I have a new 2021 as well.. anxious to hear what they say. 

jkjenn

They could have had a bad batch of flooring. This is probably just the vinyl flooring that goes over the Azdel. 8 months and over 9,000 miles. 

Nucamp will make this right. Don't fret.

Denny16

Not good.  This has been an issue on a few new TaB400s also, see https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/12943/tab-400-subfloor-issues-azdel-vs-luan#latest
cheers

jkjenn

Denny16 said:

Not good.  This has been an issue on a few new TaB400s also, see https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/12943/tab-400-subfloor-issues-azdel-vs-luan#latest
cheers

Let's not overreact. I think the count is 2 or 3.....this is a very small number.

Denny16

OK Jenn, I agree. But so far we have at least two (possibly three) TaB400s, and one 320 confirmed with a similar floor issue.  By a few I meant, 3 or 4 t
units, not a dozen.  But this is how the 2018 floor issue started, a couple,of Tabs reported having issues and it grew.  All,I was saying is the issue bolesi reported here looks the same to the issue the 2 or 3 new TaB400s have reported in the referenced post on Floor Issues.

Yes, not all the new TaBs are going to have issues.  A lot of variables are in play here, temperature of trailer inside, quality of the glueing job, etc.  Seems a lack of and even glue job on the vinyl floor is part of the issue, add warm air heating up the floor enough to cause moisture in the Luan ply to evaporate and create the air bubble, lifting the vinyl floor up.  Not all floors are going to have this problem, but it seems some are...
Cheers

jkjenn

@Denny16 let's not jump to any conclusions based on 3-4 units out of thousands. Let's let the owners pursue this through their dealers and nuCamp before hyping three isolated cases into a larger problem.

I wouldn't assume it's a lack of glue or a poor glue job. Sometines adhesive fails.. Let the professionals  take care of this like we know they will.

Denny16

Jenn, You are correct, we can only speculate at this point on what the actual cause is and solution.  Also we are only guessing , based on the comments from nüCamp, as to what is actually being used under the floor and how it is sealed. 

I was not trying to indicate this was going to be a wide spread issue, quite the opposite, just a few isolated issues possibly caused by poor glue job of the vinyl floor covering per nüCamp response I received.  This is not a structural issue.

I will now leave the experts work out the actual cause and remedy...
cheers

Sharon_is_SAM

There are other older threads where owners put a layer of vinyl tile planks over the installed vinyl.  I think one was to correct a soft floor feeling and another was just for decor.  I wonder if nuCamp should just start floating their top layer over the luan.  

Denny16

Sharon, according to Aaron at nüCamp, the top layer of plywood wood is Brich not Luan. 
cheers 

manyman297

Sharon_is_SAM said:

There are other older threads where owners put a layer of vinyl tile planks over the installed vinyl.  I think one was to correct a soft floor feeling and another was just for decor.  I wonder if nuCamp should just start floating their top layer over the luan.  

I think this makes the most sense. Van builders do this all of the time. It makes maintenance and accessing the subfloor infinitely easier but adds install time. But with all of the subfloor issues Nucamp has had to fix, seems like it might be worth it in terms of warranty claims and overall customer satisfaction.  

boseli

Feb. 23, boseli said:

Check this thread: https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/159968#Comment_159968
We are having the bubbling in our 2021 320S floor; it is parked in our garage at 40 degrees or warmer (not past 50 degrees since it has been in there) and it is bubbling all over. Lumps, bumps, dips, waves. Our dealer's service guy sent the photos to NuCamp, so we will see what they say. Here's one photo:

March 3: Follow up on my post above concerning bubbles and ripples on our 2021 320S floor. NuCamp is covering the repair for this. Emily, warranty specialist, said that the flooring was not installed properly. A dealer near us will be fixing it within a few weeks. Ours is not the first one to need floor repairs. NuCamp has been very responsive and helpful and they are obviously trying to produce the best floor possible, so perhaps some changes will occur down the road. I will talk further with the service person who fixes it. In our case, the problem is at least in part due to incorrect installation (glue wasn't evenly spread) . We're happy with the support we have had with NuCamp. 

May 8, 2021: I said I would follow up after getting our floor repaired in our 2021 T@b 320S, so here is what happened. NuCamp approved the repairs as warranty work and we took it to Apache Camping Center in Poulsbo, WA. We purchased it at the Apache dealer in Tacoma, but Phil and his crew in Poulsbo do most of the floor repairs, at least for NuCamp. We were not the first trailer with floor issues! He totally took out our floor, had to take out some of the benches so that he could get under to make repairs and have the seams be out of sight. He said that it was a long and tedious process; some of the work was done from underneath and the whole floor was removed. The two layers of Luan under the vinyl were de-laminated and that was the main cause of the bubbles and bumps that you see in the photo above. NuCamp sent them new vinyl and the whole floor is like new. He used the same materials that NuCamp used, but made sure it was done right. Not sure why the Luan de-laminated, but I don't think the floor was done properly the first time. We are very happy with our new floor and highly recommend this service department if you live in WA and need any work done on your NuCamp trailers. 

ChrisFix

Wow, that is a big job. Glad it turned out well. The before pictures are pretty terrible! Need to see some nice reassuring after pictures now!!

boseli

Here are a couple of photos after our floor was repaired (2021 T@b 320S mentioned above). It is way better than before the repairs! No screws about to poke through and not nearly as wavy. I personally think that a higher grade of vinyl would be better; thicker and tougher. But our repairs were done with vinyl sent to the dealer by NuCamp. We are happy with our new floor!