Need tips for replace 30'W 3'H sign face and potential 50'

We have done this before. Remove the flex face with a sheet rock knife.Leave the retainers as is. Make the new sign face out polycarb. Make new retainers. Brake formed alum. Attach the top retainer to the face with rivets. "Drop" the face onto the cabinet. Install the rest of the new retainers.

 

I'd use two buckets to lift and position something like that. I'd prefer to use two people per bucket, that way you have one operating the bucket, and the other holding and working the sign but I've also done it with one person per bucket...it's so much easier and faster with two.

The second bucket really helps if the panel gets stuck half-way through and you need to move over there. Usually I use two buckets to lift the sign up straight in the air, and then the one closest to the opening will guide the panel in while the "outside" bucket maneuvers closer to the cabinet as the sign goes in.

And like Z signs said, you can usually fit a poly in a flex-face cabinet.. I've done it a few times on signs that were not too large for poly. Not sure about 40-50 ft though!!!

 

You can rent them for $200-$250 a day... price it into your bid, make your customer pay for it and make life easier on yourself.

I'm done with the mindset of trying to save every penny at my expense. I'm no longer going to risk my signs, my safety and time to save a little $$ for the end user. They pay for what I need to safely get that thing up there.

 

Around here it's more like $375-$450 a day and the construction companies and electricians have them reserved most of the time and you have to wait for one.

 

Try small outfits and not the big national companies. I found the national companies to be around $400. Hell, even Home Depot is renting out those little 34' lifts. I don't use them but still..

 

These are local/regional companies. I don't think we have any national rental companies. There are only 3 choices here.

 

I'm talking about a towable lift.. like JLG, Genie or NiftyTM50... not the large ones they have to put on a low-boy

 

I usually don't put my 2 cents in but I've built a lot of signs and serviced many more. When I design a sign my main concern is for my service guys and the customer's maintenance costs. Polycarbonate in those sizes are going to be stupid heavy to begin with and would require a hanging bar so they don't fall out from the top. Every time you go to service these signs in the future will be a major headache and probably require two trucks unless it's a power supply and the sign has an access panel. Still the bulbs or LED's may go out or a connection could come loose or burn up. Adding a lot of cost to the customer. Polycarb also yellows pretty quickly at least in this area. Doesn't make much sense to me to make a sign less cost effective and harder to work on. I can't see what your customer would hope to be gaining from the switch.

 

Like this..