We’ve just spent a week in a static caravan on a very nice site in Cornwall. Anyway – one evening I put a candle (in a candle dish) on the mantelpiece of the fire surround and settled down to watch a film. Some time in and we heard a cracking sound. I paused the DVD and had a listen. Nothing more. Some time later there was an almighty crack as a glass shelf above the candle split into two and crashed to the floor taking the candle with it. So we’ve got a broken shelf and candle wax on the carpet. The latter wasn’t qa problem. The former was.
The shelf was about 200mm (maybe more) above the candle but it’s obvious that the glass suffered thermal stress and broke. TBH, I only knew the shelf existed when it fell out in two pieces! We sent a text to the owner explaining the situation and offered to credit her account with £20 to cover the cost of a replacement. This was done. She said thanks for letting her know and she would let us know if the replacement shelf cost more. In other words she’d expect us to stump up more cash.
Now in my opinion, the glass should have been safety glass and a caution label “NO CANDLES TO BE PLACED ON MANTEL” should have been affixed to the mantelpiece. Given that there was a bag of tealights in one of the kitchen drawers, naked flames in general are not prohibited by the owner. I think we have acted fairly and I’m not prepared to pay out any more money for a 100×600 piece of glass.
Your objective opinions please as I am obviously biased.