Ice falls in SS bay alleged Damage

[Earl Weiss]

Customer claims ice fell off SS bay wall damaging car. Have not watched video yet.

Thoughts?

 

[kentadel]

That would take a tall chunk of ice clinging to the wall. Not buying it.

 

[soapy]

I had a long cold spell a few years back that let ice build up on one of my SS bay walls that was bare concrete block. One day the temps warmed up and the sheet of ice about 6 inches thick did come off the wall and then fall and hit a car doing about $1500 damage to the car. This was about 15 years ago. I added FRP to the walls and never had a build up since.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I’ve actually had a couple of walls of ice fall on me over the years while I was busting up 2” or more of ice on the floor.
I’ve seen it fall on customers cars in bays that were closed off but they moved the barrels and cones so they could wash their car.
I’ve only had one or two customers say anything.
When I told them I wasn’t the smartest bird in the tree but in 3rd. or 4 th. grade I learned that water freezes below 32 degrees what do they expect, they agreed and left.
That arguement probably wouldn’t work today.
This was before camera systems though.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Found the video. Ice did hit car. Liability is an interesting question. We will see what estimate i.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Video [video]https://www.facebook.com/groups/TalkCarWash/[/video]

 

[mjwalsh]

This reminds me: Anybody like us who have our condensing boilers exhaust dripping on a shelf rather than straight to the ground? We need to pay attention not to let the pile melt & fall at the wrong time. Anybody have any stories along that line. If it is a cold winter ... there can be a large & heavy ice buildup underneath condensing boilers' exhaust pvc pipe.

 

[2Biz]

The last big cold snap we had, I kept 2 bays open...Ice built up on the extrutech panels about an inch thick...So I don't think the difference between panels and block makes any difference. Didn't for me anyway. I kept a close eye on it and the weather/temp. Just when the temp rose to the freezing mark, I used the HP wand on heated soap cycle and got the ice off the walls. What a mess that made! But, I had concerns of it falling on a car, so I made sure I caught it just right to get it off the walls. Good thing you had video...It would have been nice if it caught that person spraying the wall to make the ice come off...But doesn't sound like thats the case.

 

[2Biz]

Mike, good point...I've also thought about that. Lucky for me the PVC pipes are in line with the ER and if any ice falls off the roof, it lands where it can't hit a car that is exiting. I would think most car washes would fit this scenario...

 

[MEP001]

Video [video]https://www.facebook.com/groups/TalkCarWash/[/video]

I can't get to the video without joining the group, which I'm not going to do.

FWIW, people can be litigious, and they lie. Working for a distributor I got a call one day from a woman who said the bricks on the end of the wall fell, her husband tried to catch them and got hurt, and she wanted our insurance info. I found out from her whose wash it was and called the owner. He had already provided her all of HIS info, and it turned out the guy was backing his car out of the bay with the door open and caught the brick column with the door. He wasn't hurt, just the car.

 

[Roz]

This thread makes me wonder if anyone has a good "Not Responsible" sign for a car wash? I have signs and seen a few but wonder if someone has one that is tasteful yet covers you and makes the point clearly?