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Alternative to 3m VHB for mounting 1/4" PVC interior wall lettering?

N

njsignguy

New Member
Hello, i have to mount some 1/4" thick x 4"h routed pvc wall lettering to a office lobby this week. The wall is painted drywall. The lettering design is to small in my opinion for any stud or mounting hardware. The lettering weights very little. I want to use a adhesive tape or something similar but i feel the 3m vhb is overkill. I was thinking my premium banner tape might do well but dont know the longevity of it. Lettering will be mounted at eye level, the biggest letter is probably 4"hx 4"w x 1/4". The material is pvc sintra satin black. Any ideas? Thank you
 
Jester1167

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
Use VHB, yes in some cases it is overkill but the peace of mind is worth it. I've used cheaper tape on ADA sign and they slid down the wall over time. Not a fun sight to see.

With the amount you actually end up using it's only going to cost you a few dollars extra anyway.
 
pjfmeister

pjfmeister

New Member
The banner tape will be an embarrassing call back by the customer - then they will not trust you that the "new tape" will hold better than the old.

I tried this with some small 1" letters on a painted sheet rock wall....not good
 
N

njsignguy

New Member
Yes your all right, ive never removed vhb from a painted sheetrock wall. Has anyone had any experience with that? I think they may want to paint the wall by the end of the year. I recommended to paint the wall before install but i believe that is not going to happen.
 
J Hill Designs

J Hill Designs

New Member
use a garrote wire, and charge accordingly. they may change their mind about painting it before hand, but then you will want to wait a few weeks to install after painting.
 
Moze

Moze

Active Member
There's no such thing as overkill when installing signs...only underkill. Use VHB. Banner tape is for banners.
 
Jester1167

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
3 options. 2 of them require them to pay you more.

1. You tape them up, they paint around them. Their problem. You warned them to paint before.
2. Put up a vinyl stencil the same or close to the color of the lettering for an additional fee and have them pay for the lettering now. When they paint the wall you come back and install the lettering by aligning it with the painted over stencil and they pay you for the installation.
3. Pin mount the lettering - Plot a paper pattern and secure the lettering to the paper. Carefully flip it over and use your finger to find and crease the back of the paper pattern. From the back drill a hole the size of the smallest finishing nails or wire brads you can find then remove the letters from the pattern and glue in the nails. Make sure you don't drill too deep, half way should do it. when depth is critical I will wrap a piece of tape around the bit as a depth gauge. When installing I would pre drill the holes in the sheet rock or use a nail to make a hole first. That way you won't risk pushing out the front of the letter driving it in. Charge for your time. If you do option 1 the painter sure as heck will.

You may be able to heat the nails an melt them in the pvc as well. Test first. I haven't tried it, just a thought I will try some day.
 
B

BIG EASY DOES IT

New Member
Make sure you double check your type of VHB tape. 3m Makes a few different kinds. For doing certain types of substrates and the applications. We use a VHB that is for aluminum to aluminum and it is as hard as a weld. Use another type of 3M VHB comes right off after a couple days outside.
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
BIG EASY DOES IT said:
Make sure you double check your type of VHB tape. 3m Makes a few different kinds. For doing certain types of substrates and the applications. We use a VHB that is for aluminum to aluminum and it is as hard as a weld. Use another type of 3M VHB comes right off after a couple days outside.
Click to expand...
Bump. I have a job installing 6mm PVC letters/logos onto painted drywall (interior). Is there a brand of tape that sticks better to PVC/Sintra?

I have some Orafol Oramount UHB03110G and doing some test pieces in the shop it seems to easily peel right off the PVC. Will they adhere better in time? Should I use tape + silicone on the wall?

What's stronger - VHB or UHB?
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
I've never used Velcro for wall letters. Is removing it less destructive?
This is a permanent installation so I'm okay with tape & silicone.
 
Billct2

Billct2

Active Member
With velcro the letters can be rernoved, the lock stays on the wall, gets painted around and letters reinstalled.
The tab on the wall still sticks like vhb but usually can be removed with less damaged than a letter installed with vhb that's pried off the wall
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
Big fan of buying threaded acrylic blocks or pads and just stud mounting, unless you can tap 6mm pvc.
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
J Hill Designs said:
use a garrote wire, and charge accordingly. they may change their mind about painting it before hand, but then you will want to wait a few weeks to install after painting.
Click to expand...
I'm often tempted to use one on my customers who keep changing their mind, or have no idea what they want.
 
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