I have a customer building a steel building. He wants 1-2" deep raised foam letters made & put onto the outside of his building, on all four sides. The largest area for signage is 21' x 6' high. Within that areaa will be two fairly simple shapes plus one long 14 character word. One of the shapes is 44" high x 28" wide, the other is 32" high x 46" wide, plus there is 14 letters, each being 18" high x about 12" wide. He is requesting the letters to be coated with a special coating that the birds cannot peck through. Does anyone know what that coating might be??? I also need help on PRICING, and tips on 'HOW-TO' do any/all parts of this job. Can you help?? Thanks in advance for the 'Crash Course' in 'Foam Letters'.
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Posted by Tim Barrow (Member # 576) on :
I would suggest that if the client demands vermin proof signage that the most proper substrate would be acrylic plastic letters,and or metal letters.
------------------ fly low...timi/NC is,.....Tim Barrow Barrow Art Signs Winston-Salem,NC members.xoom.com/Signz
Posted by Ross Luckhurst (Member # 703) on :
Never tried this myself so it may not work. But why not try coating the letters in epoxy? You could even add colour to the epoxy before you applied and save a painting step.
Just a thought.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Ross
------------------ Ross Luckhurst AKA Scolt on Chat DIGISIGN Woodstock, Ontario, Eh! digisign@netcom.ca
Posted by Bill Biggs (Member # 18) on :
I have been making exterior foam letters for 20 years. Some of them are still up. Birds will nest in anything that allows them the opportunity. I have seen them in the acrylic letters also. Hi-Density foam (Dow Styrofoam)2#weight is what I use. the trick is to paint them well with a waterbourne enamel or epoxy paint. I personally have tried cement, texture and other things to make them more durable,but find DTM waterbourne acrylic, minimum 3 coats with airless spraygun to be the best protection and most durable. Some folks use liquid nails to put them up, I use dow 732 silicone(clear) I lost a letter off Asbestos wall once, but I have many signs up and doing good. Here is a picture of my last job. finished yesterday. http://www.tgn.net/~twobees/s&p.jpg these are 2 inch foam applied with headless aluminum nails and silicone. I could probably help more if I knew who you were, maybe an e-mail address or name and location would help. Bill
------------------ Bill & Barbara Biggs Art's Sign Service, Inc. Clute, Texas, USA Home of The Great Texas Mosquito Festival Proud Supporter of the Letterheads Website MailTo:twobees@tgn.net
Posted by Axyl (Member # 10) on :
We use foam occasionally but we always glue perspex to the face of it to prevent bird damage. Check out a sign we did over 8 years ago. We glued perspex to the 2" foam then cut the letters and painted with 2 coats of acrylic house paint http://www.cairns.net.au/~signs/samples.htm cheap and inexpensive. Regards Ax.
