A Bit of a Street-Painting Quandary

[SolitaryT]

I had a customer come in and talk to my boss. I'm sure you've all seen a similar conversation. It was something like this:

CUSTOMER: "Hi, I'm looking to get some street paving stencils that say 'STOP', 'FIRE LANE', and 'NO PARKING' please."
BOSS: "Sure, you want those routed out for painting?"
CUSTOMER: "Yessir. If I could get them routed out of 1/4" plywood so I can reuse them and not worry about them blowing away, that would be great."
BOSS: "Absolutely. What size?"
And here is where any designer wants to start blowing things up.
CUSTOMER: "Oh, you know. Standard size. ADA Specs or whatever."BOSS: "No problem"

And now, my mission regardless of what I choose to accept or not, is to discover the mythical "standard ADA spec. size" of "stripe stencils for parking lot" (per the work order).

The point of this thread is either A.) to commiserate with fellow design/production people about the business and the zany shenanigans we go through. -or- B.) to actually discover where the mythical standard paint stencil sizes exist per USDOT or AKDOT specs. Any info you could throw my way would be MUCHO appreciated. This community is so awesome in saving people's butts.

 

[Gino]

Either sub it out or give it to a genuine line painting service. They have the correct paints, measurements and all the other things needed to do the job right. If you or your boss don't have a clue, why try to fool this customer with more than likely inferior products and techniques ??

 

[SolitaryT]

I absolutely agree. I really enjoy taking on new and exciting projects, but I don't like telling customers we have the capabilities or means with which to do things we can't. I can wrap a helmet. I can wrap a VW Beetle. I can sell those and work with a customer to make them happy. What I can't do is magically pull DOT specs out of my *** for a customer that assumes we know them and doesn't come prepared.

 

[Billct2]

Look up some companies that sell them and see what their stock sizes are.
Also check out what materials they use, I doubt it's 1/4" ply.
Then go back to the client and provide them with the correct options.

 

[SolitaryT]

I've done (a limited amount of) research, and I have found many vendors for this item, all with different "standard" sizes and substrates varying from 1/16" sintra (to be rolled up and stored when not in use) to 1/2" pvc to stay rigid and lightweight. The DOT specs manual doesn't have any standards for the street painting as far as I can tell. They can tell you how much space is supposed to be between the E and T on a DETOUR sign, but no info on how to paint a street.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Check with your local fire marshall on the FIRE LANE signs. There are actual legal requirements for those. Locally they have to be 12" letters located 12" from the curb.

 

[SolitaryT]

Okay, so before I get too deep into doing all of this legwork for a potentially not-so-profitable routed out stencil, is this all stuff that I should be telling the customer to find and have ready for me, or do I do this with the communicated understanding that there will be some sort of "research fee" or "setup fee"? Because with all of the necessary research to find "standards" that the customer is going to either agree or disagree with, I'm looking to invest hours in a sign that should only take a few minutes to set up.

 

[TXFB.INS]

Give them the option, this is the same as pulling permits for new signs.

1. they do all leg work and you make to their specs
2. you do the leg work and your time has a fee

 

[Mosh]

I bet they are Gypsies!!!! We have a bunch around here...I raised my prices to get rid of them. NO MATTER what you do there will be some problem and they will want a discount...TRUST ME!!!!

 

[ddarlak]

I would have just made up a size that looked good, he didn't seem to give a crap.

This is how it would have went in my shop:


Me: "What size would you like it"

Customer: "oh i don't know, standard size"

Me: "well, i'm not aware of a standard size, I'll come up with a size i think looks good, but if you need to have it a specific size, your gonna have to tell me what you want."





next....

 

[Billct2]

Pick a size that seems common from your research, pick a material that works for you, lexan is good,
base your price on this and add a couple hundred bucks for research. Bid the job with the caveat that you will
confirm the specs once you get the deposit and there may be an adjustment.

 

[Marlene]

Grimco makes these types of stencils and I bet they would know. mark it up, do your quote and collect cash

 

[TrafficGuy]

This is right up our alley. We sell stencils to striping companies all the time. We buy them from a manufacturer. But some basic info, most curb stencils that say "No Parking" or "Firelane" are 4" letters.

For the ground markings for Firelane and No Parking, we usually sell a 12" letter.

We go by MUTCD specs, which can be found online. I would find a supplier close to you and just order the stencils as you need them.

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/ser-shs_millennium.htm