Our current Grand Design Imagine Travel Trailer was assembled with Thomas Payne Furniture. In the Trailer we have theater seats and a tri-fold sleeper couch. I have to say it’s the most comfortable furniture I’ve ever had. Actually, I think it is more comfortable than the furniture in my house. I even find the tri-fold sofa sleeper couch comfortable. Even my daughter had no complaints while using it on one of our week long camping trips when she visited last year.
This year, much to my surprise, our Thomas Payne furniture began to peel. Since the furniture has only been cleaned with a damp cloth, I was shocked that it began peeling. We have never used any protectant since that was not recommended. Knowing that poly leather (which many RVers will refer to as “pleather”) can peel (and once it starts there’s no stopping it); we were very careful about protecting it from anything that might shorten its lifespan. As a matter of fact our travel trailer is always stored under my shops roof. In addition the windows on the trailer have a 95% UV coating on them, and the blinds are typically closed.
I don’t want to say that all Thomas Payne Furniture manufactured in 2017 is going to peel. My guess is that it is probably hit or miss based on the batch of fabric being manufactured by their vendor at the time. We were probably just unlucky.
When I first noticed the peeling starting it began with three fine lines on the back rest of my theater chair. I immediately thought this was going to get worse fast but hoped it would not progress. Unfortunately within three weeks it was considerably worse. Even the seat cushion was beginning to separate.
So I was faced with four options:
One: I could buy a leather type patch on Amazon. This would cover the peeling but wouldn’t quite match the existing color of my seats; and would probably be an eyesore.
Two: I could take the furniture to a shop and have it reupholstered. I think this would be outrageously expensive and matching the fabric might be an issue.
Three: I could buy residential furniture and install that. What concerned me the most about this option is finding the correct fit and not adding a great deal of weight to the trailer (and bump out).
Four: Contact Lippert Components Inc. (LCI), the manufacturer of Thomas Payne Furniture and discuss the issue.
So, as a starting point I contacted Lipperts Interior Support division; first via email and then by phone. My first thought was maybe I could purchase the back rest. However it became apparent quickly that the problem was spreading to the point where it would be a losing battle to piece-meal repairs.
I have had conversations with the LCI folks in the past about different products they manufacture; and have always been impressed with their willingness to take care of their customers. I have purchased a few of their aftermarket items, and have never been disappointed. Plus it has been one of the few companies where you can easily reach someone in customer support. That is actually quite refreshing given what typical customer service is like now.
What I did learn in talking with LCI is that they now have a new supplier of their PolyHyde material and it comes with a five year warranty. This doesn’t mean the furniture is going to peel after five years. It just means that the supplier feels so good about the construction of the material that they are putting a five year warranty on it. So if your seats were to peel in four years, you contact Lippert and new furniture is on the way. I’m pretty sure that is better than any warranty on the market. Also, just to be clear that does not apply to the cloth fabric which as a one year warranty.
The folks at LCI were nice enough to offer me a 50% discount on new furniture, which is really hard to pass up. The other benefit of getting the new furniture is that we would now have a choice of what color to put in the trailer. since we put UV Coating on the windows it has been considerably darker (but cooler) in the trailer. So perhaps it was time to lighten up the interior, These are the four available color option but please note that Norlina is the cloth alternative.
Our current color is the Millbrae, however, we are thinking Grummond would be a good option to lighten up the inside. If we didn’t have Eva we would probably opt for the cloth fabric. Those of you that have dogs understand how hard it is to keep dog hair off furniture. This is true (even when pets like Eva) are not allowed to be on the furniture. The cloth fabric is like a magnet for pet hair. Therefore it really comes down to having the PolyHyde in our Imagine Trailer.
The only downside to the new furniture is that we can’t get the same theater seat configuration that we had originally. This is because our set of furniture was made exclusively for Grand Design. That means our current furniture dimensions are not available with what LCI produces as stock furniture. What I did find out is that i could get the exact furniture from Lippert that came in my unit but it would have no warranty on it. Although I would prefer the same furniture in my Imagine, I want the warranty.
Our original set has a center console that is about five inches wide. The center consoles that are manufactured now are ten inches wide with two cup holders. This would increase the length of our theater seats by five inches essentially preventing us from getting Eva’s Kennel between the seats and dinette. We can’t have that! So this will mean no center console. So the seats will really look more like a love seat but each chair will recline. I would rather have more room than less room so this will be acceptable but I am disappointed the there will be no console.
All that being said the folks at Lippert could not have been easier to deal with. The shipping charges were going to be $350.00 USD for everything; but they gave me the option of picking everything up in Indiana. Had this been a year ago that actually would have been advantageous. Given the Diesel fuel prices right now a quick calculation based on average price per gallon told me my 2000 mile round trip would cost me 330.00, only a savings of twenty dollars. Certainly twenty dollars and the 34 hours of driving is not worth twenty dollars (Unless you’re Scrooge McDuck). A year ago I could have made the trip for 237.00; perhaps that would have been worth it.
So needless to say that it’s going to be just as cost effective to have the furniture shipped to me here in Texas. I am hoping that everything arrives in good shape; because sometimes we don’t have very good luck with the care given to our deliveries.
I am familiar with the disassembly of the current theater seats and sofa sleeper; so removing them will not be an issue. I believe the trickiest part of the install will be getting the new chairs lines up correctly and fastened to the slide-out floor.
The Sofa Sleeper will just fasten down into the existing brackets that are already in place.
So stay tuned for the before and after pictures of what will be happening very soon to the Travel Trailer.
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