Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I have a 2015 Manitou oasis , Has the SHP package with a 250 Yamaha. Having a decking/flooring issue at a decking seam. Noticed a bubble in the teak wood look vinyl a few weeks ago, now it appears to be spreading along the seam. Contacted Manitou through a boat dealer for warranty. Manitou claims its a flooring issue not decking , decking warranty is 10 years , flooring is 2 years.
Anyone else had any issues with Manitou warranty claims or have any knowledge of flooring/decking issues?
Mike

Don't own a Manitou but decking warranty is typically for rot only. A vinyl bubble is typically installation error or more likely glue failure especially after five years. I know it's not what you want to hear but probably how it's going to go down given their warranty wording:
"Under normal conditions, the seams of the pontoon plywood decking become noticeable as a small ridge under the CompassHB™ flooring. This does not affect the integrity or longevity of the flooring and is not warrantable."

My folks had a big problem with bubbles in a new vinyl floor installed in their home several years ago (replaced lineoleum). The flooring place replaced it once, came back, they said it was a moisture problem, sent in a specialist that checked under the house and said they were FOS, replace it again, bubbled, put down 1/4" flooring over everything and redid, bubbled again, went out of business.

Manitou has offered to replace the teak look vinyl with a sea grass vinyl, (material only) with instruction to glue it over the existing vinyl flooring. No labor on their part.
I will do the installation myself unless I hear horror stories from a few people that have tried .

Seems to me that if you have bubbles and lay the new vinyl on top of it could potentially just accentuate the problem.

I might take a sharp razor (x-acto) knife and make a couple of small test cuts where it's bubbling. Maybe it's just trapped air, or maybe you could get a small syringe and get some glue under it through the cuts. Might be worth a try. If it fails, you can still cover it up with the new vinyl.

I would not lay a new flooring over an existing flooring period. your adding quite a bit of additional weight to the boat, as stated the bonding process my be a major PIA, and you realize you will have to completely strip your deck of everything, helm, furniture, railing everything to do the job correctly, which probably also entails somoe underskinning removal for hardware access. at that point, you might as well strip the vinyl off and lay the sea grass correctly.

I agree with pounder!

If you your issue is only cosmetic and not structural I'd see if Manitou can help you with snap in carpet. Tearing that whole boat down to add sea grass is a ton of work. That said if it were me I'd ditch the old vinyl while doing that. Removable carpet could hide your issue and still be easy to clean. All this depends on the structure of the floor under it. Just another option to avoid tearing the boat completely apart.

Time to trade it new get rid of it.

Finally got around to pulling up a piece of the flooring to expose the decking below.
There are holes in the decking where they pulled out screws. these are directly below the bubbling parts of the flooring
Sent pictures and video off to the dealer I bought the boat from, they will forward to Manitou. Hoping Manitou stands behind their warranty

An update on my Manitou decking issue. Sent Manitou pictures of decking below flooring problem area. It had several open screw holes above the transom area of the center toon, every spot in the flooring bubbled directly above the open screw hole. Manitou stated it’s normal practice to install flooring over decking with open screw holes. I checked with 3 flooring manufacturers , all 3 recommended treating open screw holes , full thickness with sealant. I am the second owner of this boat , the decking warranty is transferable . I am totally disappointed with the warranty process at Manitou. I have photos if anyone is interested.
Manitou sent new flooring to install over the incorrectly installed decking, I complained , stating that the correct fix would be to replace the decking and flooring. Beware of the Manitou warranty statement . Total sales pitch.

I think asking them to replace the DECKING and flooring is a bit much. I would certainly agree they should fix (fill) the open holes and replace the flooring, but expecting a new deck seems excessive to me.

What's even more amazing to me is they sent you flooring material and expect you to install it at your expense or effort. If the transmission failed in your car, it would be like the car company sending you all the parts to build a transmission on your own instead of a new transmission.