Oh, I really went and did it now! In serious need of help or suggestions.

[Proofread People]

I feel your pain. No matter how long we have been in the business, no matter how careful we think we are and that we've covered all the angles, we still run into these situations. We had a similar issue with a Gemini plaque happen several years back. The customer wanted it covered until the "great reveal" for a ceremony in just a few days. We thought we could use a vehicle vinyl that would easily be removed when the time came. What we didn't count on was the clear coat reacting with the adhesive after baking in the sun for a few days. I told Gemini what happened and they replaced it at no charge. I guess at the time they felt like their exterior grade clearcoat should not have come off so easily. Your situation is a little different, but if you do end up replacing the letters I would think that Gemini would discount the redo. If an order is made after a customer approval and it needs to be redone due to the customer's mistake Gemini discounts the cost of the redo 50%. Gemini is a very customer service oriented company. If you do end up replacing the logo and haven't asked them it would be worth a shot to see if they would treat it like a remake. It would be 50% less painful.

yup, doesn't hurt to ask

 

[Proofread People]

Tell that to the batch of signs that we've had sitting out front since the install got pushed from October to February. They did well selecting a temp vinyl for all of their labeling, but a couple of dummies that were applying the labels skipped some premask that was a temp label. After a month in the sun, I knew how that adhesive would behave. Solid as a rock.

But yeah, I think we've all thought "this won't stick too hard" concerning premask.

*rolls eyes, I hear you, anything sitting around for a couple of months changes. Just look at your small transfer tape rolls when you are nearing the end, splits and shreds, so annoying.

 

[Scotchbrite]

I was told the big difference with removable adhesive is that it is a very slow curing adhesive. The longer it sits, the more permanent it becomes.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I wouldn't be wasting a bunch of time trying to salvage it.

I won't. I'm gonna try a few of the suggestions and see if they work, but inevitably it's looking more and more like we will be replacing them and hopefully I don't mess their new wall up when I go to cut these off with fishing line. Ugh!

I'd avoid adding vinyl. For one you'd want to stick all of them at the same time to avoid the brush strokes going slightly different angles, but most metallic vinyls have aggressive adhesive, so it may rip up bits of wood surrounding the sign if it accidentally touches the background. Then you'd obviously need to hand trim all the letter, on the wall, presumably during business hours. The metal face is crazy thin, so angling your knife too much will divit the edges, and sticking a bit too much knife out will score the background. Not saying it can't be done, I just foresee some major issues if you just lop 6x6 oversized pieces and start sticking them.
At best I'd opt for using some 040 brushed aluminum, apply 3m467mp, route with the adhesive down, then apply the metal to the faces on site. This would put the cost close to or more than a new set of letters though if you don't have the two materials on hand already. Last time I got aluminum brushed it was a minimum order of 5 sheets, and that was 1/8" aluminum, and I believe they priced that by weight. 467mp I've only ever bought in a 60yd roll, even at 12" wide it was something like $300.

Yeah, I'm not gonna try adding vinyl for all of the reasons mentioned. I've done 1/2" routed white acrylic letters and put matte white 3M 1080 over the faces and trimmed and it worked out fine, but this is a different scenario all together.

We can feel your pain. We order from Gemini and cut our own acrylic. Our laser guy here uses something called SEM 38353 PREP Plastic and Leather Prep (sounds weird I know) but it cleans any gooey, sticky adhesive without damaging the acrylic surface. He prefers it over goo-gone or alcohol. We've had our share of marred acrylic surfaces for various reasons. Also, been there done that in removing existing interior lettering and re-installing. We always, always make sure the customer understands that we will not guarantee that the letters aren't damaged along the process and that letters may have to be replaced. I know hindsight is 20/20. Good luck.

Not to mention, removal of Gemini letters and reinstallation voids the warranty, so I don't think we're even going to offer the option of removal and relocation anymore and make sure we tell this to all customers that are new to Gemini products beforehand.

 

[Proofread People]

I won't. I'm gonna try a few of the suggestions and see if they work, but inevitably it's looking more and more like we will be replacing them and hopefully I don't mess their new wall up when I go to cut these off with fishing line. Ugh!

Yeah, I'm not gonna try adding vinyl for all of the reasons mentioned. I've done 1/2" routed white acrylic letters and put matte white 3M 1080 over the faces and trimmed and it worked out fine, but this is a different scenario all together.

Not to mention, removal of Gemini letters and reinstallation voids the warranty, so I don't think we're even going to offer the option of removal and relocation anymore and make sure we tell this to all customers that are new to Gemini products beforehand.

Hang in there Pixels, you'll get through it. And we've all had our share of jobs that went south so you are not the first nor the last.