I have a little project to take 200+ signs down in 5 office buildings (we are making new stuff to replace them). So far it is going slow. Most of the signs are up with silicone (looks like the white shower stuff), double sided white foam tape and in some cases construction adhesive. Some signs are on varnished wood doors and some are on wallpaper. A few are on painted drywall. Most of the signs are in the range of 1 to 2 square feet in size. We are averaging a 1/2 hour a sign. A good part of that time is to get all the adhesive off the door or wall. Some of the signs have full coverage silicone behind them.
I am looking for ideas and products to get the adhesive off the walls and doors quickly. What have you found that works well? Prefer that it didn't have a lot of stink to it. These are AAA offices and the tenants don't like to smell other peoples s@#^t.
Bad smells may be OK as a lot of this is going to be done between Christmas and New Years when the majority of the tenants are away having a good time. Did I mention I have to have this project complete by the end of the year!
Also be interested in hearing what tools you find effective to break the bond between the sign and the wall/door.
Thanks in advance and have a Merry Christmas.
Posted by KARYN BUSH (Member # 1948) on :
do you have to be really picky about removing the old residue if you are just covering it up anyway? sounds like a big PITA...i hope you are getting paid well....i hate installs and de-stalls for that matter.
i know rapid remover and goo gone get rid of adhesive pretty well but i don't see a way around the stink....sorry.
Posted by Chuck Churchill (Member # 68) on :
In many cases we are not covering up the residue left. Most signs are on the doors. The new ones will be on the wall beside the door. Also the new signs are generally smaller and a different shape then what we are taking down.
Property manger has hired a refinisher to fix up any messes we leave. He is restaining or touching up wood doors and trying to fix tears in wallpaper. In some cases he is going to paint in the wallpaper pattern. The property management company goes the extra distance to make their properties look right and keep the tenants happy. They really don't mind spending the money to fix things up. I just want to get the job done the fastest way possible.
Signs coming down include tenant suite signs, washroom signs, stair/exit signs, 5 large directories (one with 4 seperate sections) and back of house signs like electrical, telephone room, no smoking etc. Even have to take a little vinyl off of glass (we know how to do that..Rapid Remover)
(Edited to add information about the property managers activities and positon on this...CAC)
[ December 22, 2003, 07:08 PM: Message edited by: Chuck Churchill ]
Posted by SteveDefibaugh (Member # 2245) on :
To remove the old signs we used to use a piece of piano wire with a couple of homemade handles.Kinda like slicing cheese.As far as glue removal I can't help you there,we installed right over what we removed.These were done at a bunch of Marriot hotels where everything had to be siliconed. Good Luck.
Posted by Jack Leyden (Member # 2437) on :
Hi Chuck,
I've had to do quite a bit of that stuff over the years. PITA, but it's always part of the package. Here are a couple of things that work for me:
Double stick tape - fill a small needle-tip bottle (like you use to apply Weldon plastic glue) with mineral spirits. Squirt the stuff behind the plaque. Give it several minutes to attack the adhesive tape. Let it soak into the tape. Gently pry plaque from wall. Don't fight it, let the solvent do the work. The tape residue should scrape off the wall with minimal mess. Mineral spirits shouldn't discolor the wall where it drips down.
Silicone - No way I know of to remove cured silicone. The wall has to be refinished. For removing the plaque I use two methods. Get a heavy duty putty knife or paint scraper, preferably with an offset handle. Sharpen the front edge on your grinder - razor sharp. Slide it behind the plaque and slice through the silicone. Or use strong twine in a "garrotte" style to saw behind the plaque through the silicone.
Have fun!
Posted by Chuck Churchill (Member # 68) on :
Thanks Karyn, Steve and Jack. We have most of the signs down now and have used a variety of techniques. The razor sharp offset handle paint scraper seems to be the weapon of choice for the siliconed signs. Only problem is that it will slice into the heavy textured wallpaper. If we are careful we leave all the paper on the wall and glue it back into position with white glue or silicone. Doesn't show if you don't know what you are looking at.
I like Jacks idea about mineral spirits. Tried it on a few signs. Seems to help break the double sided tape. I probably need a bigger hole in the needle to let more mineral spirts loose.
Took my daughter with me one day to takedown and install. She saw some silicone on a door and immediately went looking for an eraser in our tool bucket. She erased the silicone residue! Came off easily. Works on wallpaper too. Works on both white and clear silicone. If you use the good white erasers it doesn't leave any kind of mark on the wall.
I figure that I am about 90% done on the sign takedown side. Still have the big nasty ones to go. Five directories including one that is about 4' x 6' and another that is four 2' x 3' panels. Both are up with silicone and double sided tape. I think there will be some wall repair work to do on those.
Thanks again for all the help. Now where is that paint scraper I sharpened.
