digitally printed vinyl lifting off drywall issue.

[gabagoo]

I certainly don't recommend doing it, but every so often someone insists on it.

This job was done for a sign broker who installed the graphics.
The wall had been painted many months previous to install, but the design needed to be die cut with a bleed. I left the print on the roll for about a week before I cut them. Most of the colours were in the lighter range.

I told the broker to go back and lightly heat all the edges and make sure that he squeegees ( soft squeegee) everything carefully.

I initially told the guy that I was not keen on doing this and could not guarantee it.

I really wanted to use the Graph Tex by general Formulation, but the supplier insists on selling a full roll and I was not going to warehouse all the leftover.

 

[MikePro]

what material was used for this project?
how was the wall prepared prior to application?

PhotoTex has sample rolls available... this product is identical to GraphTex.

 

[Locals Find!]

Was the job laminated? I have seen prints done full bleed and plotted that were lifting on the edges because they weren't laminated. Could this be the case?

 

[CanuckSigns]

what material was used for this project?
how was the wall prepared prior to application?

PhotoTex has sample rolls available... this product is identical to GraphTex.

Not quite the same, the Graphi-Tex is opaque, photo tex is not, and the adhesive on the Graphi-Tex is more aggresive, we have had it peel off paint before.

Barry:

I have a partial roll of Photo-Tex here if you need some.

 

[gabagoo]

Thanks for the responses. No, the graphic was not laminated and was printed on a matte calendered product.

Strange thing is, in my own shop I have put sample stuff on the walls and have never had any lift off, in fact the stuff is damn hard to get off period.

 

[Locals Find!]

Thanks for the responses. No, the graphic was not laminated and was printed on a matte calendered product.

Strange thing is, in my own shop I have put sample stuff on the walls and have never had any lift off, in fact the stuff is damn hard to get off period.

Makes you wonder if its an environmental issue if its working in your shop or some other factor outside of your control then.

 

[OldPaint]

dont matter what vinyl or laminate........ITS THE LATEX PAINT on the wall. youse guys think vinyl will stick were ever you want it to...NOT SO. FLAT LATEX is the worst to try to stick something to. so if your gona stick a wall, get the owners to put on a good semi or high gloss paint to the wall you want to stick stuff.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

dont matter what vinyl or laminate........ITS THE LATEX PAINT on the wall. youse guys think vinyl will stick were ever you want it to...NOT SO. FLAT LATEX is the worst to try to stick something to. so if your gona stick a wall, get the owners to put on a good semi or high gloss paint to the wall you want to stick stuff.

+1 ... flat wall paint won't let a damn thing stick to it. Let alone semigloss can sort of have those issues if the paint is more on the 'eggshell' finish or cheaper brand which uses calcium carbonate (chalk) to remove glossyness. also, your heat gun is known by another name ... paint stripper ... it will bubble and soften that paint to the point where you can pull it off with the soft side of your finger.

 

[visual800]

Ive seen issues with graphics on flat painted walls I have had better luck with eggshell finishes.

 

[Gino]

dont matter what vinyl or laminate........ITS THE LATEX PAINT on the wall. youse guys think vinyl will stick were ever you want it to...NOT SO. FLAT LATEX is the worst to try to stick something to. so if your gona stick a wall, get the owners to put on a good semi or high gloss paint to the wall you want to stick stuff.

^^ Where I hedge my bet ^^

Start at the beginning... what kind of surface is any kind of vinyl going to be adhered to ?? The rest is all sugar coating.

 

[mopar691]

I heat everything that goes on walls and roll with tennis balls. Conforms nice to the texture that way and never had a lifting problem.

But removal generally takes paint with it even more so as I use a lot of 3651 for this. But on the bright side its been mostly temp walls set up for specific businesses and when they leave the walls come down anyway.

Always wanted to try PhotoTex or something similar for some of the mid sized graphics. I did get a sample once and it was a letter size piece. Not much I could do with that so still waiting to get my hands on a good sized piece to play with.

 

[gabagoo]

I received an update.... it seems there was only one word lifting and it was a navy blue, so yes pretty heavy ink load.
Worse comes to worse I can reprint that single word...seems everything else is holding.

 

[Billct2]

Flat paint can be a problem, but then a lot of the semi-gloos/gloss wall paints that are "scrubable" have stuff in them that keeps vinyl from sticking

 

[Gino]

Flat paint can be a problem, but then a lot of the semi-gloos/gloss wall paints that are "scrubable" have stuff in them that keeps vinyl from sticking

What's in most latex paints these days are all the anti-retardants this and that's. It's mar-retardant, fire retardant, graffitti retardant, smudge retardant, non-sticking retardant, crayon retardant, paint retardant.... and the list just goes on. It's just they never put adhesive receptive vinyl retardant in their lists of retardants.Sure, you can get it to stick, but don't always count it's staying power over time. It's a true crap shoot.