grinding damage on fibreglass

gtflash · 24 June 2008, 22:00

My boat has sustained damage while having some sevicing work done on it.

The damage was caused by grinding done on nearby road works and virtually all exposed white surfaces are now freckled orange including the deck, wells and hull above waterline. I have polished several small places in order to assertain the damage. Some surfaces clean up but others remain discoloured, pitted and scratchable with your finger nail.

Im sure its possible the grindings have breached the top layer of gelcoat, but is that repairable and if so as good as or permenant??

My other concern is the tubes, they were not perfect but now I am inspecting all for further damage. Deciding what could be degrading damage and what was an existing blemish is difficult. Some recent tubework shows up that discolouration had occured.

The yard are making an insurance claim and say they can rectify any issues and claim through this process.

1stly im concerned any work done will not extract the metal splinters out fully and they will corode later and devalue the boat considerably

2ndly im unsure how to decide what is old and new tube damage, surely if the grindings were hot enough to stick to gelcoat they could have scorched tubes????

Has anyone ever had a succesful claim for damage caused by contractors/local authorities??

Any advice greatly appreciated. I in no way blame the yard but will be consulting my solicitor as a precaution.

Cheers

BruceB · 24 June 2008, 22:25

I had something similiar happen to the Jeep, all pockmarked down one side and the glass full of little melted dimples.
Unfortunately I have no idea when or where it happened as the wife didn't notice it and it was days afterwards I did.
(she is famous for not noticing anything about the car as long as starts and goes, even to the extent of driving home on flat tyres and loud banging noises)

martini · 24 June 2008, 22:33

It would help to know what type of grinding/cutting they were doing and how far away but I suspect that the sparks would have cooled down a fair bit by the time they reached your boat.

If a polish doesnt get it all out of your gelcoat then a coarser compound or even 1000 grit wet and dry first should do it. A day or 2 after you take it out on the water you will be able to confirm whether its worked or not by the ugly orange streaks or lack thereof.

As for tubes I dont really know what damage sparks will do if any, a good scrub should sort it out though.

Now that your mind has been focused on it, you're probably seeing loads of of marks that have been there for years!

gtflash · 24 June 2008, 22:43

agreed the focus is difficult to judge!

the grinding was on motorway structures, the distance was substantial enough i would have not expected any damage to occur but more than 20 other boats are also affected and mine was probably closest.

Bruce ur wife would get on well with my mates ex! when teachin her to drive he said go straight over the next roundabout! so she did! ripped the whole offsode front suspension clean out!

Richard B · 24 June 2008, 23:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtflash

Has anyone ever had a succesful claim for damage caused by contractors/local authorities??

I succesfully claimed damages for a bent bicycle wheel many years ago if that helps!

I would guess that a contractor for a local authority would have its public liability insurance in order - probably a condition of being on the list allowed to tender for jobs, so that's a good start.

Given the potential value of the claim, legal advice may be useful, but I don't think your solicitor will be as motivated as you. In your shoes I would act promptly, ie get in touch with the local authority and contractor asap, document the facts clearly, take photographs (particularly the location, both of your boat and where the contractor's work took place) and get details of witnesses and other claimants.

Good luck!

spartacus · 24 June 2008, 23:20

Don't know how relevant this is - but I left my car in a lay-by which doubled up as a legitimate parking area on an A-Class road in a village. It was 7.00am and I cycled the remaining 10 miles to work. When I got back to the car - I discovered to my horror they'd resurfaced the road.

Not the European standard of removing the top layer of damaged road, but typical Scottish approach (quick top dressing of tar) then multiple lorry-loads of stones spread over the top. Forget a road-roller - passing cars do the necessary compression!

Suffice to say - my car was badly stone-chipped all along one side. Even local householders and a 4x4 jeep business in the area were oblivious to the work which took place.

I successfully claimed against the council for failure to notify residents and visitors that they planned to resurface the road through the village and to take necessary steps to protect private property. They didn't accept responsibility - but their insurance company paid over £1,500 to have the car resprayed along one side.

Tip would be to document all damage (Polaroid or digital pictures), independent assessment from a marine engineer (not your boatyard) as to the extent of damage and provide 3 quotes for repair or retubing. This can be done yourself without a solicitor/lawyer. See what happens. If they refuse to acknowledge or enter into any dialogue - then commit yourself to legal approach. You can claim back if and when you win. I'd have thought you'd be successful if you approach it the right way.

BruceB · 25 June 2008, 20:56

I put here through her full bike licence some years ago, first time I let her have the Divvy 600 she stopped at a set of traffic lights and forgot to put down her feet, the bike rolled on top of her and she had to wait till someone lifted it off her.
I got a call from tescos, she had been in shopping and a call came over the tannoy about a car outside. It turned out she had managed to walk away from the car and into the shop and had not only left the engine running, the radio on and the keys in the ignition but she had also managed to lock the drivers door WITHOUT the key. This is something I could not repeat later. She said she hadn't noticed the engine was still running when she left the car or the radio??
Had her driving the RIB with the chartplotter right in front of her face, after realising she wasn't going to go round and was not going to slow from flat out I asked her what she thought the small black objects immediately in front of us that were covered in weed were, she didn't know, at this point I pulled the throttle shut and got an earbashing as SHE was driving the boat AND no apology when I actually told her what were were just about to take a running jump at.
I took her down last week to get her a shot on the small Beeza (bear in mind she has a licence that allows her to drive 190mph motorcycles) and the first question was "This is the throttle, isn't it?" Arrgh!
I have loads of these, she's not daft though, you just don't want her near anything mechanical.

Zippy · 25 June 2008, 21:29

we had a problem when our rib was at HYS.

there was some problem with the dry stacking and our boat was covered in rusty marks, we had a full cover so only damage was in the engine well.

HYS accepted full responsibility and were very very good at sorting it out. when they had finished with it you couldnt tell the difference!

dont know how they did it but might we worth a phone call to kay there to see if she can point you in the right direction?

Lugnut · 26 June 2008, 12:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceB

I put here through her full bike licence some years ago, first time I let her have the Divvy 600 she stopped at a set of traffic lights and forgot to put down her feet, the bike rolled on top of her and she had to wait till someone lifted it off her.
I got a call from tescos, she had been in shopping and a call came over the tannoy about a car outside. It turned out she had managed to walk away from the car and into the shop and had not only left the engine running, the radio on and the keys in the ignition but she had also managed to lock the drivers door WITHOUT the key. This is something I could not repeat later. She said she hadn't noticed the engine was still running when she left the car or the radio??
Had her driving the RIB with the chartplotter right in front of her face, after realising she wasn't going to go round and was not going to slow from flat out I asked her what she thought the small black objects immediately in front of us that were covered in weed were, she didn't know, at this point I pulled the throttle shut and got an earbashing as SHE was driving the boat AND no apology when I actually told her what were were just about to take a running jump at.
I took her down last week to get her a shot on the small Beeza (bear in mind she has a licence that allows her to drive 190mph motorcycles) and the first question was "This is the throttle, isn't it?" Arrgh!
I have loads of these, she's not daft though, you just don't want her near anything mechanical.

Good lord Bruce!!! How do you stay sane?!?! LoL!

Chuck

codprawn · 26 June 2008, 12:58

She doesn't drive a Lexus 4x4 does she?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7472490.stm

ian parkes · 26 June 2008, 19:46

Bruce what a coincidence , My wife passed her bike test a few years back and i got her a black Divvy 600 , and yes total waste of time and money , i would estimate to date she hasn't done more than 300 miles and certainly never exceeded 40 mph anywhere . Passed test firsts time though and refuses to drive the boat unless she really has to , phew