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Note: these archives were compiled from past Parking Lot Planet Forums.
The answers and opinions are those of the posters. Things may have changed
since then, so be sure to get up to date information from the
current Parking Lot Planet forum
Wheel Stops and Speed Bumps
How much do you charge for stops?
Parking block forms
Concrete bumpers
Speed Bump Painting
Speed Bump or Striping
regulations
How much do you charge for stops?
From: ACE
Date: 1/26/00 1:06:16 PM
What do you have to charge to install wheel stops to make a fair profit & still
give your customers a good value?
I understand the quantity & type of installation as well as
other factors will help determine what to charge.
what kinda numbers make installing wheel stops worth the
effort? I know people are charging between $40.00 to even as high as $100.00 per
wheel stop -- what's your take on this?
From: City
Date: 1/28/00 6:19:06 PM
Ace, you will have to decide what it is worth to you first. figure your time,
labor, cost, the surface you are installing them on (either concrete or
asphalt). if you’re installing them on concrete you have to rent a drill, so
that alone is additional cost and labor. next, present your estimate to your
customer and only then will you be able to determine the right price. good luck!
From: Ken
Date: 1/30/00 11:07:01 AM
A good rule of thumb ... start by taking your material cost (including
transportation, tax, overhead etc.) and multiply by 2. Labor commonly but not
always duplicates the material cost for general work. Take into consideration
any other difficulties such as type of surface, traffic, weather, rush job, etc.
parking block forms
From: wlp
Date: 2/21/00 12:05:06 AM
Do any of you make your own parking blocks and if so what do you use for forms.
From: jpanz
Date: 2/21/00 10:25:04 AM
Check in your yellow pages under concrete products. In NJ I can buy low profile
concrete reinforced bumpers with pins for 16.00 each delivered to the job. Call
around for prices before trying to make your own, it would be worth your time on
the phone.
Jim
concrete bumpers
From: MI Striper
Date: 3/22/00 7:42:34 AM
I know this has been discussed before but I was wondering if I've got it right.
I need to install some concrete bumpers in a parking lot. As I understand it the
easiest way is to pre-drill holes with a hammer drill then pound the metal pins
in with a large hammer. Any yes's, no's or hints would be appreciated. thanks,
Mike
From: City
Date: 3/22/00 11:16:54 PM
If you're planning to place them over asphalt, just pound the pins with a sledge
hammer. if you're going to place them on concrete, use a roto hammer to drill
the holes first. note: you may want to use another pin to pound the first one to
"set" it into the wheel stop. kind of like a "nail set" that way the pin is
recessed into the wheel stop about an inch. I would then mix some concrete up to
seal the hole, makes the wheel stops look nice. good luck!
From:
Date: 3/23/00 2:20:38 PM
whatever you do drill a hole 1st.you start pounding away and 1 slip and you
busted the block, then you’ll be paying 4 a new 1!
From: Gazza
Date: 3/23/00 5:33:28 PM
Believe it or not there is a two pot epoxy adhesive available. We used some a
couple of years ago as there was an old concrete slab under the asphalt. The
stuff is so strong that if you were to remove the stop it would either break or
lift the asphalt out with it. Will post the product name when I find the old
containers.
From: Fonz
Date: 3/22/00 11:41:01 PM
Sorry to say guys,.....I guess I'm just off the mark on this subject. I cannot
see "bustin my butt with those "Mothers".........A concrete supply company is
about 20 miles from me...........I send everything to them.....they charge $12
complete for the block and set to them!!!!.........How can I compete with
that????..........I send them the business...they have the
equipment...........when they run across a customer that needs striping work,
they send them to me............................It works for both of us.....I
cannot see trying to do something that is going to bust my butt with so little
return....................REFERRAL WORKS FOR BOTH OF US!!
From: broncobilly
Date: 3/24/00 4:44:19 PM
Put away your sledgehammer. If you already have a hammer drill than go to the
dealer you bought it from or call the manufacturer for a list of accessories for
it. We use a Makita and there is an attachment that fits over the end of the
rebar and hammers it in. However, you still have to pre drill it. But at least
you aren't killing your joints or your back anymore.
From: ken
Date: 3/25/00 11:49:42 AM
I agree with Da' Fonz. I'm getting too old to mess with bumper installations.
BUT, I have a problem with missing a business opportunity. I recently helped a
laborer set himself up as an independent contractor. Now I sub all of them out
to him.
Sorry Fonz...I didn't mean to insinuate you were getting
old
Speed Bump Painting
From: Jim@StraightLine Striping
Date: 8/20/00 5:28:25 AM
I received a call from an attorney recently soliciting information on a case he
has pending. It seems a parking lot was repaved and speed bumps added. This is
at a local grocery store mini shopping center. One of the speed bumps extends
over into the fire lane. When the stripers painted the speed bumps, they didn’t
paint the part extending into the fire lane, just unpainted asphalt. Well
someone tripped on the unpainted part and is now suing. The attorney wanted to
know "standard" procedure in this situation. I told him that had we striped the
lot we would have painted the entire speed bump. Any thoughts on this and is
there some law somewhere concerning trip hazards, i.e., speed bumps?
From: Don
Date: 8/20/00 10:27:53 AM
Most that I see are painted solid though we prefer a chevron stripe pattern for
ours. I think you meant they didn't paint the part in the traffic lane (fire
lane). That's going to be a good legal question.... Were there marked
crosswalks? If so why did the person leave them? Maybe no liability... On the
other hand did the layout tend to encourage pedestrian traffic by the unpainted
bump? Different story. Around here speed bumps are often used to "protect"
marked crosswalks. My motto is better safe etc... on safety but that "less is
more" if you start to do more painting than you have to. Although nothing
including a large amount of signs/painting/ etc. will prevent a lawsuit if
someone wants to sue. They might have less chance of winning but who knows with
our legal system and ambulance-chasing lawyers these days.
From: Bookman
Date: 8/20/00 8:31:06 PM
It should make for an interesting case especially since the key element here
seems to be that we striping contractors are now finding ourselves being sued
for areas that we do NOT paint.
In 1993, a Sherwin Williams corporate manager whose name I
don't recall & has probably since retired, contacted me about an article I wrote
that appeared in Pavement Maintenance magazine. The photos in the article showed
2 different styles of handicap logos, each of which was painted in the traffic
lane outside the boundaries of the parking stall itself. 1 was a diamond shape
about 5 x 5 & painted by another local co. The logo I preferred to paint covered
the entire width of the parking stall & was 4' deep, with the wording "Handicap
Only" or where appropriate, "Van Accessible." The SW man said several
contractors throughout the nation were being sued for slip & fall accidents. The
lawsuits prompted SW to adopt a position whereby they recommended against
painting large areas because they felt traffic paint would cause a slicker
finish & that there would be an increased possibility of a slip & fall accident.
They further recommended that the stencils be painted inside the boundaries of
the parking stall sufficiently far in from the baseline that pedestrians would
be unlikely to step on a painted logo. The weak point in this argument is that
it would be unrealistic to think large logos would always be covered by a parked
vehicle. In other words, is it possible to ever construct a perfect parking lot
that would prevent a slip & fall accident from occurring? The purpose of putting
the logo, specifically the large blue background for the logo, out in the
traffic lane was simply to permit a handicap driver to see exactly where
handicap stalls are. I didn't agree with SW's position because all you have to
do to increase traction is add an appropriate amount of silica sand or similar
traction grit.
Having given that as a background, I see 2 possibilities
that depend on whether the attorney representing the woman is correct in saying
she tripped or did she in fact slip on the pavement. If she truly tripped it
would appear the striping contractor & the property owner/manager (PO/PM) bear
the responsibility for not clearly identifying a tripping hazard. Of course if
the contractor & PO/PM were following architectural blueprints regarding the
area to be painted, then the architectural or engineering firm should be named
as a party to the lawsuit.
If she slipped on the speed bump & the speed bump had been
sealed with asphalt or coal tar emulsion sealer & no silica sand or other
traction grit was mixed with the sealer, then obviously the sealcoater should be
named as a party. Maybe the striping contractor also sealed the job.
Has everybody paid their general liability insurance
premium lately???
For what it's worth, regardless of whether or not you
consider yourself to be a consultant, per se, or make it a point to offer advice
to PO/PMs, you would be well-advised to check with your insurance agent and see
if a $400-$500 a year premium for consultants liability insurance would be a
worthwhile expenditure.
From: MN striper
Date: 9/11/00 2:15:32 PM
Hmmmm, looks like some one is going to get a settlement, if it is protruding
abruptly above the common surface of the pavement, such as speed bumps, CURBS,
and not dolled up with a bit of yellow, the party suing has won every time that
I have heard about, so for all the con artists, go and break an ankle on some
unpainted asphalt curb some night and,...wait for the money. Oh, by the way I
had a lady sue me because she slipped on painted curb that was being rained
upon, it was yellow, she lost.
From: Fonz
Date: 8/20/00 9:58:24 PM
Now this I have first hand experience with !!!....Fonz got himself a lazy-liner
this spring. On the very first job I had 25,000 feet of restripe to put down.
Unfortunately about 10% of that was single stalls against stop blocks
!!!...Well.....!!! Lets just say that with the new lazy-liner and my
inexperience using it......I "Kissed" a stop block a little
toooooooooooooooooooo hard !!! My poor 3500 was limping !! poor thing..I bent
the front wheel support brackets about an inch !!....But it still painted a
straight line. ..But when I turned a corner the front wheel was bet at about 20
degrees.....It looked like one of those "LOW-RIDERS" from Cino section of L.A.
!!!!!.......Anyway......I contacted Graco...had em send me out the "Fat-track"
retro kit.......its the best thing I ever did for my 3500.......honest to god
the damn thing puts down a perfect straight line !!!!....You have to adjust
it..but once adjusted its head and tails over the old front wheel......I think I
paid about $375 for the retro kit....I know that’s a lot of money....but if you
like straight lines, the retro kit is the way to go.
Here's a couple of other things I've added to the 3500 I
believe should have been on the darn thing to begin with......#1...a ball valve
instead of that "Hoaky thumb screw valve" they provide.....do yourself a real
favor and change that piece of crap valve....#2...add a pressure gage to your
filter housing...right on top...$42 from Graco....16 bucks from Northern Supply
!!!I
Painting Parking Blocks
From: ElidaEve
Date: 10/2/00 12:44:15 AM
Is there an easy way of painting parking blocks. Have a bank with (71) blocks
that need to be painted. Is there a cutout to mask for overspray. How many would
you need to allow paint to dry, so as to not drip paint when moving to another
block. Thank you
From: greg
Date: 10/2/00 6:44:13 AM
I would cut two or three out of poly, coroplast, cardboard, masionite, etc.... I
did 30 light standards with one template, cut out on card board and paint
dripping was not a problem.
From: Don
Date: 10/2/00 7:01:57 AM
PTM makes an adjustable poly parking block mask, available either here on
Robert's site or my site. I know some folks need this type thing to start but in
the long run practicing until you can do it without them will save tons of time,
just like being able to paint curb sections that the machine can't get to by
hand. I'd suggest caring one or two of those shields on a handle like
housepainters use for edges too. They come in handy for lots of things like
pieces of stripes the machine can't reach, curb tops, parking blocks etc. and
are great for leaning against that car tire that's just a little to close to the
stripe to prevent getting overspray on the tire.
From: BobbyTox
Date: 10/2/00 10:08:27 PM
Make you some cut outs out of Luann wood and measure it the same as the blocks
and make them like a 90 degree angle on each end so you can paint the ends of
the blocks then you can lay one on an end and another on the other and just have
to move two pieces for each one. Use oil base and you wont have to worry about
dripping or at least not as much.....
From: Fonz
Date: 10/3/00 1:24:56 AM
Tar paper is a cheap easy to cut template material....great for stop blocks ! My
self I like to use the 203 tip Graco calls their "Sport Court Tip"......you can
stand straight up and deliver a 3 inch spay pattern from 4 or 5 feet away. No
more bending over !! I just love that tip, great for a lot of little projects.
Speed Bump or Striping regulations
From: Live Oak
Date: 10/18/00 11:21:47 AM
I would like to know if there are any regulations on how speed bumps should be
painted or where I can find a list of parking lot regulations that may contain
any info about speed bumps, (such as the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control)
From: bob@manhattanstriping.com
Date: 10/18/00 3:17:11 PM
Live Oak: The first place that I found information regarding striping within a
parking lot was the city. Use the city codes at the public library to see if
there are any set rules. Than check with the county inspector regarding
question. This is were I have found most of the information to keep me out of
trouble from. BOB
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