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From: spaf@gatech.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: Pontification on waterbeds and lbs/sq in.
Message-ID: <9047@gatech.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Jul-84 09:10:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: gatech.9047
Posted: Thu Jul 19 09:10:52 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Jul-84 03:27:58 EDT
References: <121@cbhydra.uucp>, <8963@gatech.UUCP>
Organization: The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech
Lines: 56

(This is a reposting of my earlier article.  The bug ate the
first copy at some sites.)


	Yeah, but your fridge or your 12 friends aren't likely to flood
	the apartment of the guy underneath you.  I've seen lots of
	waterbeds spring leaks.			mark@cbhydra

On the other hand, no one I know has ever heard of any waterbed causing
any broken floors OR flooding.  The most major leak I've ever heard of
was a small one caused by a cat's claw piercing a mattress in one spot.
It didn't leak unless you put weight on the mattress, and it was easily
patched.

Before I got my king-size waterbed, I researched the matter rather
thoroughly.  The place I bought my bed from offers (for something like
$.10) $10K insurance against any damage by their waterbeds IF the bed
is installed properly.  That is, if one of their mattresses is used in a
frame with a liner.  The manager of the store told me that in 10 years
of business, no one has ever filed a claim.

Waterbeds cause problems when you try to use the mattress without a
frame.  The stress on the seams often causes  poorly made mattresses to
just pop.  In a frame, that is just not going to happen (unless someone
does a swan-dive into it from 2 stories up).  A liner will prevent
small leaks from sending water onto the floor.  And if you do have a
small hole in the mattress, it won't leak very fast, if at all (unless
it is directly in the bottom).  You have to work to get the bed to
drain through the plug, let alone empty any amount of water through a
pinhole.  The contents of the mattress aren't under any real pressure if
you aren't lying on it, and so the water really isn't going to go
spurting out.

As for stress, well, as part of the insurance policy, it notes that any
housing structure built since 195? which won't support a waterbed
violates the local building codes and the national building code, and
you have bigger problems than the waterbed.  Most structures built
earlier will also support the weight with no problem, as long as you
don't have dry-rot or termites.

My waterbed mattress is guaranteed for 30 years against any defects as
long as I add conditioner to the water every 6 months.  (Conditioner
helps prevent algae growth and it includes vinyl conditioners to keep
the plastic pliant.)

Florida has a state law that prevents landlords from prohibiting
waterbeds which have a liner and frame.  As of a year ago, at least 3
other states had such legislation being considered.  There may be
more.
-- 
Off the Wall of Gene Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
Phone:	(404) 894-6169, (404) 894-6170 [messages]
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