Stilts and Liability?

[Bill Arnold]

A friend asked me to build a couple of sets of stilts for his kids. I found a plan that looks good, not that stilts are very complex. I'll probably use oak unless I can find some cypress locally.

What is your feeling about liability for something like this?

Also, the plan calls for finishing with polyurethane but I'd prefer using something that dries and cures much faster. Since the stilts will get banged around a lot, I thought about giving them a couple of good sealing coats with shellac.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I can't say what the law says about liability, but unless there is an inherent flaw in design or manufacture that causes an injury of some kind I don't see how you could be held liable. If that were the case someone could take you to court over them shutting a door you made on their finger.

And since I'm not on retainer, this advice is worth what you paid for it. :)

[glenn bradley]

Poly will take more abuse than shellac although I rarely use poly. Stilts might be somewhere I would as it rarely belongs on furniture ;-) Since kids are prone to leaving things outside, a good BLO flooding followed by poly (including an end-grain dip) might be appropriate but now I think we are going wayyyy beyond the call of duty, eh?

[John Coloccia]

my opinion:

If you're worried about being sued by your friend, perhaps doing business with him is not a good idea. Seriously.

[Kent A Bathurst]

You could always mill the parts, and predrill the bolt-holes, and let him do the final assembly. But John C is correct -

[David DeCristoforo]

Make them for him. If he wants to give them to his kids, it's his thing not yours. The fact is, there is no one positive way to protect yourself from liability issues. That is an area in which everything is open to argument. That's one reason we "need" so many lawyers....

[Archie Sullivan]

If you are that concerned about it maybe you could make the parts but let the friend assemble them. That way you only provide the wood. He built the stilts.

[Joel Goodman]

Or if he's a good friend invite him to build them with your help -- that way he really built them himself. When I think about the treehouse a friend and I built for the kids 25 years ago -- about 25' up in the trees!

[Phil Thien]

Or if he's a good friend invite him to build them with your help -- that way he really built them himself.

Better have a SawStop or he's gonna cut a finger off and call a lawyer. :D

How high are these stilts gonna be? I walked on stilts when I was a kid, they were only 18" high or so. They were basically a long stick w/ a step on them. You held it in your hand, place your foot on the step, and stepped up. Then you did your other foot (quickly).

When you're a kid you jump off them before you fall. Not too much to worry about. I think they're safer than riding a bike, quite frankly.

Which is another thing, just make sure you tell whomever uses them to wear a bicycle helmet. If the kids don't have helmets for their bikes, tell your friend you'll meet him to deliver the stilts at some place that sells helmets.

Now, if they were 6' stilts, that's be a different thing altogether.

[Bob Borzelleri]

If this is truly a concern that might get in the way of building the stilts, I would talk to the friend about liability issues.

Yes, stilts are probably safer than bikes. Having said that, kids fall off the ground every day and get hurt. Falling from a stilt is probably more likely than simply losing footing and face planting.

I'd see what the friend has to say about the fact that you had considered potential injury and not wanting to be responsible for the kids getting hurt.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

This conversation makes me very, very sad.

That said.. Modify one of these.
http://www.google.com/search?q=liability+waiver

Problem solved.

[Carroll Courtney]

Its ashame that we have come to this.I hate lawyers till I need one:eek: Carroll

[Dave Lehnert]

You are not safe building things for friends.

Without going into detail I know a person who was injured at a friends house. It was nothing more than an accident. The guy who got hurt and his family did not hold anything against the home owner. But the guy who got injured, his insurance company sued the home owner for all expenses they had to pay out for the injury. The home owner lost and had to pay.