Dam those soda spills!

[Mike Blakesley]

I had a wild hair of an idea for those of us with sloped floors.

When someone spills a soda there are two inescapable givens:

1. It's always a large size
2. It's always in or near the top row

I was thinking, how about putting a half-inch-tall "dam" across the back of each row, thereby allowing the soda to gather in the one spot rather than flowing all the way to the bottom. My only "concern" is that our rows are curved, therefore the "dam" would have to be curved too, which would necessitate some sort of catch-device at the ends to keep the spills from going down the side of the aisle.

Just wondering if anybody has ever done such a thing or has any better ideas. I'm sick if the whole theater needing mopped when one clumsy kid in the back row dumps his 44-ounce drink. There's gotta be a better way (short of installing a drain across each row).

[Frank Cox]

I've thought about that dam idea too (hey, it's a dam good idea, right?) but the problem there is that the liquid would build up behind the dam and then people would get their shoes in it and instead of having a trail from the back row to the front of the screen, you would have sticky tracks all over the aisle and back into the lobby.

I've occasionally had a little lake in front of the screen from all of the spills during a show.

Having said that, the whole thing is more-or-less not an issue for me any more since I started selling bottles instead of cups. Sometimes I can go a whole week without having to mop the auditorium at all.

Actually, the way things are going right now, I mopped the whole auditorium just before I re-opened a month ago and I don't think I've mopped it once since then.

[Mike Blakesley]

I think, due to the curvature of our rows, the stuff would trickle to one side or the other and the buildup would just be at the ends. Our rows are pretty far apart so I think people would avoid stepping in the "puddle" should one form. Even if they don't, it still seems better than having a sticky trail through 12 rows of seats.

[Jim Cassedy]

CokeColaSpill.jpg
You think you've got soda spill problems! A mishap at a Coca-Cola™ plant in El Paso, TX
in April of last year flooded an entire neighborhood. The sticky mess even ensnared some
birds & other small wildlife that got stuck in it. As messy as this was, it was nowhere near
as bad as the "Great Massachusetts Molasses Disaster" in 1919, which killed 21 people.

So- - just grab a mop & clean up the coke! Things could be worse!

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Jim, That's right up there with the Great Boston Molasses flood....

https://www.history.com/news/great-m...-flood-science

[Mike Blakesley]

just grab a mop & clean up the coke! Things could be worse

True, it's not the biggest problem ever, but it does get pretty nasty underneath the seats where you can't see well and/or the mop doesn't reach very well. Plus, as noted.... the aim is not to have to mop the WHOLE theater.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Quite a few stadium seated theaters I know of also have a "dam" in the form of a wooden or metal strip at the edge of the platform of the rows. This is also to avoid soda spills to migrate underneath the seat in the row in front. While the more horizontal nature of the platforms themselves will usually avoid migration all across the theater, their implementation seems to be effective.

I guess a wooden or metal strip of sufficient height, mounted between each row will do the trick of stopping most of the spillage. It will also stop stuff like hard and round candy from rolling all the way to the front.

[Randy Stankey]

I think a small moat, an inch wide and a half-inch deep would do the trick.

It would keep liquids from running along the floor but wouldn't cause them to pool up and it would also catch small objects that would roll such as pieces of candy, etc.

If the mote is of the right dimensions and location, it should still be possible to clean the floor with a broom or mop, almost normally.

The downside is that it would require either pouring the concrete that way, during construction or using a saw, etc., to cut the groove in the floor.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I somehow like the idea of a drainage canal system embedded into your cinema floor, but maybe we're taking stuff a bit too far.

One of the nice aspects of a traditional sloped floor is that it grants you much more flexibility in how you arrange your seats. Also, when you replace them with newer models or want to implement more legroom, you don't need to adapt anything to the underlying structure. If you start putting in moats (with or without crocodiles), stuff becomes a little bit less flexible.

[Brad Miller]

Installing small in-the-floor drains the length of each row would be tremendously expensive. (Picture the drain in front of most big ice makers.) Mini dams would just cause it to pool up against it, likely making it more difficult to clean overall.

Also let's not forget the ant problem you would end up having.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Drains also come with the problem of needing to clean them at regular intervals and when they're connected to the sewer system, you also need to wet them from time to time, to avoid air locks running dry. It's also a new, potential way for sewage to enter your auditorium in case of a sewer overflow...

I guess the whole idea of the dams is that, if a mishap happens, it can be cleaned right away or the latest, after the show. But instead of spreading the spill all over the floor and potentially causing it to pool at the lowest point of the auditorium (if it's really a monster spill), you only need to clean that specific spot.

The problem with sugary soda is that it leaves a sticky layer you only get rid off with extensive rubbing if you don't wipe it up before it starts to dry.

[Dustin Grush]

What about something like a "PigMat?" Maybe not in its current form, but what about an absorbent roll, something like they use as silt control at construction sites, but obviously not as tall. Maybe 1-2 inches at most with an adhesive side that will stick to the floor. It could run along the back of the seat supports along the entire row. It would be perforated at seat length intervals for easy replacement. Perhaps it could change color once it got wet. I have a friend that works at New Pig and could inquire about such a product. Perhaps it already exists and isn't being marketed to theaters, or something similar exists that could be modified to fit this purpose. If there was enough interest it would be foolish to not fill the demand. I have no indoor experience and would have no use for such an item. Thoughts?

[Randy Stankey]

How about expanded metal grating, suspended three inches above the concrete floor?

All you would have to do is pick up the trash. The spilled drinks, bits of popcorn and candy would fall through the grate to the floor, below.

At the end of the show, just open a water valve and everything gets washed into a sump at the front of the auditorium. There would be a trap to filter the solids from the water which goes to the municipal sewer. A conveyor system would transport the trash down a hopper and into a waiting dumpster, behind the theater.

The whole affair could be hooked into the theater's automation system and it would activate at the end of every show.

You'd never have to clean the floors again!

[Marcel Birgelen]

I guess you just invented a pig stable that shows movies.

What about something like a "PigMat?" Maybe not in its current form, but what about an absorbent roll, something like they use as silt control at construction sites, but obviously not as tall. Maybe 1-2 inches at most with an adhesive side that will stick to the floor. It could run along the back of the seat supports along the entire row. It would be perforated at seat length intervals for easy replacement. Perhaps it could change color once it got wet. I have a friend that works at New Pig and could inquire about such a product. Perhaps it already exists and isn't being marketed to theaters, or something similar exists that could be modified to fit this purpose. If there was enough interest it would be foolish to not fill the demand. I have no indoor experience and would have no use for such an item. Thoughts?

My primary concern with some absorbent material would be the growth of mold and bacteria once it gets wet.

[Mike Blakesley]

Lots of good input here.

In our situation, we have a wood floor so any kind of "moat" system is out. And we're not about to install a dozen wide drains either... I think that would be more of a cleaning problem than the original issue.

I'm thinking of maybe a one-inch tall strip of wood that would be attached to the floor right behind each row of seats, with some sort of wall at the end to keep a puddle from running out to the aisle. The only "design" issue I'm having is, I don't know how to handle the little walls that the end without making them a trip hazard. Our rows have a very slight curve (only about 6" deep) and the seating area is only about 22' wide, so we're not talking about tons of liquid to contain from the typical spill.