Any ideas on a vinyl type for this?

[jimbug72]

I have a client who owns a few hotels. They are changing out their safety latches at the top of the door to a dead bolt system. Apparently the guests/housekeeping keep trying to open the doors with the latches engaged and are requiring replacements too often so he is moving to some type of deadbolt system.

They are filling and sanding the holes from the safety latch systems and is looking to cover the patch job with something rather than leave the eyesore of a patch job or replace all the doors in his hotel.

He would prefer a decal rather than a "plate". Can anyone recommend a vinyl that would cover this and hide as much of the texture as possible? We could do little plates of Komatex or something but he would really prefer a decal.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Here are some images of what he's wanting to cover.

 

[ewded]

Maybe some brushed aluminum decal cut to a nice shape? but before applying i'd fix the scratches with drywall mud.

 

[papabud]

well the first question is how much of an area are you wanting to cover, will it be a straight vinyl or will you print something on it.
does he have a sticker idea already in mind.
if he used a stain able filler that would be better than a sticker

 

[2B]

since he is requesting a decal over a plate. that leads me to think he wants cheap.

get a permanent adhesive thick vinyl or regular vinyl with a thick over-laminate.
The thicker the material, the less chance of the texture showing through.

just be aware, that this will also give more of an edge for people to pick at.

 

[HDvinyl]

What's he want on the decal?

 

[jimbug72]

Area of Cover: Appx Credit Card Size (3.5" x 2.5")
It will have print on it (layout attached)

He definitely wants to keep the cost down, but wants it to look as nice as economically possible. His primary reasons for decals is it's less likely to get knocked off. If someones gonna pick a sticker off they may be just as likely to pull the plate off...

2B. Do you have a tick vinyl in mind? With what we primarily do, I think I could find a use for thick vinyl more frequently than a thick laminate.

 

[AKwrapguy]

What about something like convex, with a thick lam. I think 3M now make one with air-release

 

[KMC]

any decal you place on there is going to increase the visibility of the uneven texture behind it
see if you can recommend to him using 063 aluminum with the graphic printed on or stuck on (and laminated of course)
this will be light weight and also if you use a a thin double sided VHB tape they wont get it off

 

[equippaint]

Judging by the condition and multiple layers of paint on the trim, I doubt they care what textures transmit through the decal. Most hotels are cheap and don't want to pay much for anything. Make a decorative stripe to go across the door to try and hide it or a simple sign like HD had in some thicker material like oracal 3165. Laminate it so the cleaning crew doesn't rub off the print.

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Well, except for the cheap part, I'd suggest a textured laminate would work well to hide the "bumps" and dings on the door.

 

[ams]

Use a woodgrain vinyl to blend in or just print the hotels logo on it.

 

[unclebun]

Just print on intermediate vinyl with regular permanent adhesive and laminate with a matte texture laminate like 5 mil General Formulations Concept 109. It will look like a subsurface printed polycarbonate sticker.

 

[HandsomeBob]

Print a sticker and cover it with something like Floor-guard (textured surface)

 

[JTBoh]

Just set it on fire, p*ss on it, and prepare to be yelled at for being "too expensive".

OR

Sell them the right product, make enough money for it to be worth it, and have a happy customer.

 

[jimbug72]

I just got back from there. I made two samples, one printed on Oracal 3551 with 290 lam and one on .040 aluminum with VHB tape. He was fine with the slight texture showing through the vinyl and preferred the price for the decals and placed his order.

Thanks for everyone's input on this!

 

[jfiscus]

What you want to use for this project is a product called Gerber LexEdge. It is made for Gerber machines out of a very thin semi-rigid lexan material. It is scratch proof also and has a PERMANENT adhesive that you apply after reverse-printing the decal. We make a lot of them here for control panels/faceplates for machines.