gnubler
Active Member
Got sucked up with a doozy, wondering how others would have handled this.
Contacted by a property management company to update an outdoor directory sign for a commercial building. Remove a few tenant names, install a new one. I checked out the sign - each tenant "plaque" was a strip of cut vinyl 40" wide with black cut vinyl lettering on top, all applied to a painted sheet of signboard, both sides. At the time I didn't see any red flags so I took on the job.
Fellers listed that color in stock by the yard, but when I finally went to order it was 50yd rolls only from manufacturer. Luckily I found 5 yards from another supplier which was enough for the job. Day of install I started working on it onsite. The black lettering didn't want to come off easily, pulling up chunks of the vinyl below. A past tenant had already gouged their plaques trying to remove their name, so I was planning to just pull all the strips off and lay all new vinyl down. Two hours of this on a ladder out in the sun was enough. Called in my installer to pull the panel down and finish working on it in the shop. All together I probably spent 7-8 hours total between cutting vinyl, removal/cleanup, three trips to the site, and wondering the reason why the shop before me made a directory that's extremely difficult to update. I was too far into the job to stop and consider a Plan B. It should have been designed with removable plaques that can easily be re-lettered.
For those more experienced, if you had encountered a directory like this how would you have approached it? Give the customer the option of paying for all the labor of what it took to update, or propose a brand new panel with removable plaques that will save a ton of time and money in the long run? The building has at least 20 tenants and I don't want to go through this again for the next batch of turnover.
Contacted by a property management company to update an outdoor directory sign for a commercial building. Remove a few tenant names, install a new one. I checked out the sign - each tenant "plaque" was a strip of cut vinyl 40" wide with black cut vinyl lettering on top, all applied to a painted sheet of signboard, both sides. At the time I didn't see any red flags so I took on the job.
Fellers listed that color in stock by the yard, but when I finally went to order it was 50yd rolls only from manufacturer. Luckily I found 5 yards from another supplier which was enough for the job. Day of install I started working on it onsite. The black lettering didn't want to come off easily, pulling up chunks of the vinyl below. A past tenant had already gouged their plaques trying to remove their name, so I was planning to just pull all the strips off and lay all new vinyl down. Two hours of this on a ladder out in the sun was enough. Called in my installer to pull the panel down and finish working on it in the shop. All together I probably spent 7-8 hours total between cutting vinyl, removal/cleanup, three trips to the site, and wondering the reason why the shop before me made a directory that's extremely difficult to update. I was too far into the job to stop and consider a Plan B. It should have been designed with removable plaques that can easily be re-lettered.
For those more experienced, if you had encountered a directory like this how would you have approached it? Give the customer the option of paying for all the labor of what it took to update, or propose a brand new panel with removable plaques that will save a ton of time and money in the long run? The building has at least 20 tenants and I don't want to go through this again for the next batch of turnover.
