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Oh Dear!!! 4 x 6 Sign was done on MDO - - - sanded and puttied and sealed and tightbonded glued all edges. Primed with oil base primer. Painted two coats of ACE Oil based enamel paint. Lettered and painted artwork with One-shot. Sign went up only 3 or 4 months ago. Lady said in an email today - paint is starting to bubble already. Whatever could I have done??? All the other signs I have done in same manner - no problems. Some a year or more old. Oh dear;( I haven't gone to look at sign yet - hoping (but doubting) that it's something she did. Think I'll just have to do a complete (time-consuming) do over. Already costing me $ to replace white signs a guy slathered boat polyurethane all over - - - what a gruesome shade of yellow they are turning:( Any and All advice opinions etc greatly appreciated. ~~~Lorna~~~
ps - I haven't forgotten the cinnamon doughnuts!!! Been working the restaurant tooo much! Soon!
Posts: 29 | From: Upstate NY | Registered: Apr 2003
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Lorna....is it a dark-background sign that gets a lot of direct sunlight? Perhaps this lady did what the other customer did and varnished it, but won't fess up. I have been using a lot of Alumalite lately for this very reason. You go to all that prep work on MDO and then something causes a background failure. I am a painter more than a sticker-maker, but I would rather pay more for a substrate that I can trust and is less work for me. Good Luck. Love....Jill
-------------------- That is like a Mr. Potato Head with all the pieces in the wrong place. -Russ McMullin Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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I'd say don't come to any conclusions until you see with your own eyes exactly what the trouble is, things just have a way of getting distorted via other peoples reports (especially customers).
And concerning these white signs, I'd ask who authorized any coating with polyurethane, or anything else for that matter?
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This is why I too use the aluminum substrates.
One question. Why use Ace paint for the background? One Shot is much better than Ace paint. Use lettering enamel for your background when you paint.
And if some guy slathered urethane over one of my signs, it would be a cold day you know where before I would absorb the cost of fixing them. What kind of idiot thinks that when a sign leaves the shop for installation that it's not finished yet?
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5397 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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A few questions? was the plywood/mdo damp when it was painted? was the backside of the sign primed? painted? is the sign mounted flush against a damp surface?
-------------------- "Are we having fun yet?" Peter Schuttinga DZines Sign Studio 1617 Millstream rd Victoria BC V9B-6G4 Posts: 521 | From: Victoria BC | Registered: Mar 2002
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Althought the customer descibed the sign as "bubbling", it may be the MDO delamiating. As Peter mentioned, moisture could be why. Any water that was trapped in the material will want to get out once a dark sign like that goes out into the sun. In effect, it tries to boil it's way out. In many cases, the paper coat on the MDO will try to come off as well. One of the signs that's the culprit is...you will notice a somewhat uniform pattern to the "bubbles". Dead giveaway.
Hope this helps... Rapid
PS: If someone decided to put a coat of urethane on a sign and screwed it up, they should be covering the costs, not you. Bill them.
-------------------- Ray Rheaume Rapidfire Design 543 Brushwood Road North Haverhill, NH 03774 rapidfiredesign@hotmail.com 603-787-6803
I like my paint shaken, not stirred. Posts: 5648 | From: North Haverhill, New Hampshire | Registered: Apr 2003
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You would be nuts to use lettering enamel as a background paint on a sign. Far too expensive and after two years outdoors it will start to fade and chalk unless you bury it in a clear coat.
-------------------- Bob Stephens Skywatch Signs Zephyrhills, FL
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