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Topic: Crack in my shower wall (Read 1208 times) previous topic - next topic

Crack in my shower wall

I am soliciting advice in how to handle this problem and how to get it fixed.

My 2003 U295 M3810 has one of those showers with a five-sided base, glass on three sides, and solid surface counter material (like Corian) on two full walls.  I had a crack suddenly appear on one of the walls.  It starts in the hole for the shower valve, runs directly to a screw-hole on the assist handle, this changes direction and heads upwards all the way to the top edge.

I have had it looked at by a mobile repair person who knows FT very well, by a local (Southern California) RV shop, and my insurance adjuster.  I also ran it past two shops who claim to repair Corian.  They all have the same story.  They say the factory did it wrong, attaching the assist handle directly to the wall material instead of the wood behind it, or screwing into both but not making the holes in the material big enough to miss the screw threads.

I called FT, and their take is that it is well out of warranty and not their problem.  And they won't even give me an estimate to fix it at my cost.

My mobile RV repair man says FT can still pour the material and freight it here for an arm and a leg or he can do something with individual tiles.

My local RV shop says they called FT, and the material is no longer available and they cannot use individual tiles in this application, saying they won't handle the flex.

I'm at a loss as to how to handle this.  I don't ming driving to Nac if need be, but not with a plan, time frame, and cost estimate before I head out.  I definitely want to have it done right this time.

And by the way, I and more than a little disappointed in Foretravel's failure to take any responsibility for their apparent manufacturing screw-up, even if it took six years to surface.
Tom Lang K6PG (originally  KC6UEC)
and Diane Lang
2003 38 U295 build 6209
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Ecodiesel
still have tow-ready 2006 Acura MDX 
Temple City, California
Motorcade 16681 California Chapter President
SKP 16663 member of SKP Park of the Sierra, Coarsegold California
FMCA F071251
Retired electrical and electronic engineer

Re: Crack in my shower wall

Reply #1 –
As good as Foretravel is at making superior coaches, they still made their share of mistakes.  I just paid $3500 to repair slide room sidewall delamination.  So I get the right to complain.  Almost every Foretravel owner I've talked to has a story to tell about how the factory made this or that mistake.  Can you imagine what the owners of Fleetwood products have to say?

Tom:  I wish I had a solution.  Perhaps you can reset the handles and get the cracks and old screw holes filled by someone licensed to repair Corian.
George Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.

Re: Crack in my shower wall

Reply #2 –
Tom,

IIRC John and Linda Sichenze had a shower repair done through MOT.  I'm sure John will chime in when he sees your post; I believe that repair involved replacing the solid surfacing and the material was not sourced at FT for the same availability issues.  Their repair may have been part of the coach PDI punch list, but at least MOT should be able to give you a quote on the cost.

If nothing else, there are a lot of very attractive solid surface options/styles out there now, so it can be a chance to "freshen" the decor.....  albeit more expensive than new towels.

Michelle
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Crack in my shower wall

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Steve & Michelle –
Tom,

IIRC John and Linda Sichenze had a shower repair done through MOT.  I'm sure John will chime in when he sees your post; I believe that repair involved replacing the solid surfacing and the material was not sourced at FT for the same availability issues.  Their repair may have been part of the coach PDI punch list, but at least MOT should be able to give you a quote on the cost.

If nothing else, there are a lot of very attractive solid surface options/styles out there now, so it can be a chance to "freshen" the decor.....  albeit more expensive than new towels.

Michelle

Yes, I had that same problem.  We could not souce the material from FT as they no longer produce their own. They made their own shake and bake corian and now get it in sheets. We looked at the options and decided to replace both sections and we bought new sheets that matched an then had the table made out of the left overs. Unfortunately it will require two full sheets and you will not use half of one sheet so that is an added expense.  I found a color that complemented the original that is in the sink but was still different. Our cracked due to the soap dish being in the middle. The shower will flex and the side wall will move and the interior wall will not and anything that is attached to the wall that flexes and does not flex will cause this.
MOT stepped up to the plate and fixed it for us on their dime. I added in new hardware and a different soap dish and rack inside.  We reused all the glass and brass but stripped it down to the studding.

I was not happy but it turned out great and I have no issues and the fact that MOT stood behind it and covered it is one of the reasons people love to deal with them....


2025 Wanderbox Outpost 32 on F600 Expedition Motorhome
2015 Born Free Royal Splendor on Ford 550 nonslide version  for sale
Former Coaches  covering. 360,000 miles
1999 34 U270
2000 36 U320
2001 42' double slide U320
2018 Jeep Rubicon

Re: Crack in my shower wall

Reply #4 –
Here is the back side of the one of the new walls. We had MOT glue them together and install them. The corian guy cut the sheets to our faxed over plans.
2025 Wanderbox Outpost 32 on F600 Expedition Motorhome
2015 Born Free Royal Splendor on Ford 550 nonslide version  for sale
Former Coaches  covering. 360,000 miles
1999 34 U270
2000 36 U320
2001 42' double slide U320
2018 Jeep Rubicon

Re: Crack in my shower wall

Reply #5 –
As John mentioned, MOT replaced our shower when there was a horizontal crack across one wall. We found a gentleman with a home business in Lufkin who ordered in the Corian we selected, fabricated the walls, and MOT installed them.  The business in Lufkin also created a new side wall soap dish to replace the corner soap dish that broke the wall in the first place.

We could not match the solid surface manufactured by Foretravel, but we came close. Then we chose a dark gray Corian that blended beautifully with the stripe around the edge of our original solid surface, and created the inside vertical "stripe-panel" in the shower. We also bought another sheet of that Corian and had the gentleman fabricate a table for us, because we liked the contrast so much.

A single sheet of Corian was not wide enough to replace a full wall, so we had to purchase more and created the dark corner vertical panels with the lighter outside panels. The Corian we chose for the lighter material matched well enough we could use the old shampoo bottle rack in the new shower.

Because the brass was horribly pitted, we replaced the fixtures in the shower.  It was interesting to see the shower with no solid surface attached. There was no staining or mold in the recessed areas when the shower was removed, which was reassuring to see.

It seems that the job is a lot of taking apart and reassembling, with the expert Corian knowledge in the middle.

We do like our fabulous new shower! MOT did right by us when we discovered the broken shower.

Good luck fixing yours!

Linda Sichenze
2001 Foretravel DGFE U320 - 4220
Yellow Jeep Wrangler
2 pups -- Doodle & Lolly
 

Re: Crack in my shower wall

Reply #6 –
Here are some photos I took during the shower redo.  The first photo is the shower in an email where the shower is not broken.  Apparently the wall broke between the time the photos were taken to sell the coach to us and the actually coach turned in.  The crack was large and completely split one wall in half at soap dish level.  I include that photo for solid surface color comparison.  Second photo, shower out.  Third photo, the Corian we chose (obviously I had my dark and light panels reversed in the previous post).  Finally, the fourth photo shows the completed project with new soap dish.  We were very pleased with the results.

2001 Foretravel DGFE U320 - 4220
Yellow Jeep Wrangler
2 pups -- Doodle & Lolly