Bathroom Door Gap

[Fender]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

The OP has a 21. Comparisons with a 19 or 17 aren't relevant.

Could you explain?

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Fender

Could you explain? A 19 or 17 can't have an out of square door?

In the 21, the bath is located at the front and the door is 90 degrees to the side wall of the trailer. The excuse given by ETI was that that had something to do with the door appearing to be off-square.
In the 19 and 17, the bath is on the side of the trailer, pretty much amidships. So, yes, the 19 and 17 could have an out of square door, but I've never heard of that as an issue.
Also, the picture has to be shot straight on, not from the aisle, to determine if it is really off square or not.

[Reinhold]

Based on this Forum I have taken a few additional measurements and it appears that the door is square and it is just the opening that is not straight. That gap is just part of the issue, because there is also a 5" long horizontal cut in the wall directly above the door.

Thank you all for the dialog, input, pictures and ideas to resolve. I am in contact with Escape and I will let you know the resolution path and share an update in the future.

[diannelgraham]

Originally Posted by Reinhold

Based on this Forum I have taken a few additional measurements and it appears that the door is square and it is just the opening that is not straight. That gap is just part of the issue, because there is also a 5" long horizontal cut in the wall directly above the door.

Thank you all for the dialog, input, pictures and ideas to resolve. I am in contact with Escape and I will let you know the resolution path and share an update in the future.

I'm hoping all ends well for you. I'm on my second Escape this one a 21C and so far have positive results on small issues dealing with escapes service department.

[Ron in BC]

This thread reminds me of one years ago. Not because the door or opening was crooked but because a number of folks didn't like the gaps top and bottom.

Different solutions were kicked around. I was tempted to make a new raised panel door fully fitting the opening with a conventional vent in it. Never did and now I don't even "see" the gaps anymore. If they were uneven I would.

One person actually did have a solution. It was something like a piece of oak 1" x 2" across the top and bottom of the door with slots to maintain ventilation. It looked good and covered the gap.

Ron

[Carmel Clown]

Originally Posted by Reinhold

Thank you all for your input so far and I did a double-check on possible adjustments. The measurements on the right and left side of the door are even so it was installed vertically to the trim boards on either side of the door. So it appears any shimming attempt to hide one issue, would just make the door look crooked vertically.

What also makes this issue jump out even more visually, is the cut located directly above the door : (

Appreciate any additional pictures that others can be shared of a cutout and installation that should be as expected.

Doesn't look like a problem with the door to me, looks like a mistake was made when cutting the opening and it is uneven. Looks like the trim was pushed up to cover the problem and the door hung higher to minimize the aesthetics. The gap at the bottom of the door looks larger than normal.

[padamas]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

This thread reminds me of one years ago. Not because the door or opening was crooked but because a number of folks didn't like the gaps top and bottom.

Different solutions were kicked around. I was tempted to make a new raised panel door fully fitting the opening with a conventional vent in it. Never did and now I don't even "see" the gaps anymore. If they were uneven I would.

One person actually did have a solution. It was something like a piece of oak 1" x 2" across the top and bottom of the door with slots to maintain ventilation. It looked good and covered the gap.

Ron

I had Escape mount the door higher soas to put all of the gap on the bottom, where it is not obvious. They did it for free!
Not a great picture, but it shows no top gap.

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by Dave Walter

My personal opinion is that it looks butt ugly the way it is. If Escape does not remedy it, I would fix it myself. I would remove the upper and left hand side plastic mouldings and trim the top of the opening above the door to be parallel with the top of the door. I would then reinstall the mouldings if they will still fit. If they do not fit (because the door opening is slightly larger), I would install new mouldings.

Much easier to pop the top trim on the door and cut it so the reveal is straight and visually the problem will go away.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by Ian and Sue

Much easier to pop the top trim on the door and cut it so the reveal is straight and visually the problem will go away.

Exactly what I said.

[Reinhold]

Yes, a door modification would make 1/2 of the issue go away. However the other challenge is the 5" long cut in the wallboard above the door : (

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

In the 21, the bath is located at the front and the door is 90 degrees to the side wall of the trailer. The excuse given by ETI was that that had something to do with the door appearing to be off-square.
In the 19 and 17, the bath is on the side of the trailer, pretty much amidships. So, yes, the 19 and 17 could have an out of square door, but I've never heard of that as an issue.
Also, the picture has to be shot straight on, not from the aisle, to determine if it is really off square or not.

Hi: gbaglo... This whole issue seems like a "Stop gap" measure to me!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[annieo]

We’ll, we don’t have a bathroom in our 17A but there are at least 2 cupboard doors that are a bit crooked and one window. Not horribly so but enough to bug me. I happen to be one of those people who cannot “ unsee” crooked hanging pictures, etc. Doesn’t bother husband one bit! I have managed to mostly ignore it… But , how hard can it be to “ get it straight!”

[busterbean]

Originally Posted by Reinhold

Last week we received our new 21C and noticed the gap at the top of the bathroom door is not even and there is a little damage to wallboard above the plastic trim. I do not recall seeing an uneven gap in pictures of other trailers or the one we toured?

I sent a note and pictures to Escape and the reply was "due to the shape of the trailer, 2/3rds of the trailer is built square with a few exceptions and this door is one of them, due to the shape of the shower opening the door does not line up square either on the top or bottom"

Appreciate pictures of your bathroom doors and/or feedback on this type of uneven gap.

I agree, even though the ceiling is curved the door opening and door should be square. We asked that our ventilation gap be at the bottom instead of at the top. It seems it would allow for better exhaust.

[Jack!]

Originally Posted by Dcboyd

My 21 C, I received in January of last year was the same way. I shimmed the hinges to even up the gap. It’s fair but not great. At that time there were many manufacturing problems being brought up, and the new owner posters were receiving flack from many on the forum that either had older better built trailers, or not technically inclined to differentiate otherwise. I just remained silent. Glad it is now being brought up so the factory may or may not address the situation. It appears they are not interested.
If one is not handy with carpentry, plumbing, or electrical, it may be best to avoid all travel trailers.

Agree. Our bathroom door alignment is spot on, but we had some other quality issues on our Feb 2022 5.0 that got mixed reactions when posted on this forum. One was an Escape quality issue and the second a Lippert quality issue. We did have a "do better" conversation with Samuel. We handled the Escape problem resolution totally ourselves through local repair shops and set the problem back to what one would expect for a brand new almost $50k trailer. The Lippert issue was handled through the Lippert warrentee, which wasn't an easy process but was finally resolved in back to new condition.

The "do better" conversations are important.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Jack!

The "do better" conversations are important.

They are but it's always better when they remain factual and solution oriented rather than an excuse to slag ETI.

Ron

[LBaranyai]

Definitely looks like an uneven cut in the frame opening. Could probably hide it by attaching a piece of “crown” moulding on level at the top of the door - would still allow ventilation. And then it would really be a “throne room”.

[papasm2]

I agree with you Jim.

[papasm2]

My last was meant for cpaharley

[rbryan4]

This thread has been cleaned up. Please be civil.

Thanks

[sunrisetrucker]

Our 2013 15B had no gap, in fact the door was bigger than the opening over lapping both the bottom and the top. So when we ordered our 17B I noticed that they were now making the door shorter to create the gap under discussion here. I disliked the look of that so I requested a taller door to eliminate the gaps. They honoured my request but charged me $75 dollars extra. I still think that gap looks odd and appreciate having paid those extra dollars. And as a side point, the door does not sit tight against the opening and so ventilation has never been a problem.