old sign removal

[Gino]

what would you consider vital parts then?!?

Well, this is a family type a show and I can't name the parts I'm thinking of on the air, but suffice it to say...... they're pretty much vital in my book......

 

[signage]

Gino what are you talking about your hand for tilting the bushmill bottle:ROFLMAO:

 

[Billct2]

as had been said these jobs sometimes are not what they appear to be,
just toady we took down a set of channel letters, it wasm't terrible, but they were steet not aluminum, which in some cases could be a problem.
one job i did years ago at another shop...taking down an electric wall sign,not big, maybe 4x6, two guys on ladders to wak it down and then for extra measure a guy on the roof with two ropes run around the legs of a roof top billboard to help lower the sign. We didn't take the face out first, big mistake. As soon as the last bolt came out the sign dropped a bit and we caught the weight, a LOT of weight, snapped one rope. We were lucky we weren't hurt. Turned out it was originally a pole mount sign, steel frame, with a stub pole and rotator in it, those old rotators probably weighed 50-60lbs alone. Thing musta weighed 250lbs altogether.

 

[onesource]

I couldn't date a woman with no fingers and toes.
Removed a set of over built channel letters one time 15" letters on a 22' raceway that weighed 430lbs, had to go by the scales on that one. Couldn't freakin believe it.

 

[BobM]

What you see and think from the ground are quite often very different when you are up 15' - 20' - 25' and the wind picks up a little and the sign face is 3/8" instead of 1/8" and a lot more flexiable than you thought and you didn't kill all the bees and it takes a third hand to lower the bucket cause you're holding on for dear life and your clamp pops off and falls thru the 10 year old awning below that will cost you more to fix than the whole job. And your customer is holding the :iamwithstupid sign and the local paper just happens to be driving by to get a picture and the new layout on your truck is really outstanding and unforgetable on their front page.

 

[Marlene]

another thing that some forget when giving a take down quote is disposal fees. if you do anything but leave the sign at site, there are disposal fees to deal with. depending on your state, they could include hazardous waste if there's neon with mercury or fluorescent bulbs. there are a lot of things to think about when giving a quote past the actual take down charges.

 

[skyhigh]

but we should.

but we don't....

I'll always remember the first removal job I did with a lift truck. I was taking down a very large clock (about 4' in diameter), and double faced cabinet. This sign/clock combination was mounted on the edge of the rooftop & also onto the face of the building, about 20 ft up. I'm talking a very old, and very heavy steel structure.

The clock (and the steel bracing around it) provided a great place to tie-off, so we decided to remove the whole thing in one piece, along with all the steel bracing used to mount to the roof and wall.

So there we were.....We had one man on the roof (me), one man running the truck, and one man on a guy-line (this man removed the wall anchors first, then went on line). I was directing my guy in the truck, as to how taut to keep the line, as I knew this was quite heavy (but within reason of the trucks capabilities). One thing I didn't want to happen, was to let the sign drop on the roof or damage the front wall of the building.

Well, I accomplished my objective, I had the line tight enough. When I released the last bolt on the roof...NOTHING!!! The damn sign just sat exactly in place.....now how cool is that? Or was all the tar on the roof, covering the steel angles keeping it in place?

So I took a large flat screwdriver, and started to pry under the angle braces. With only a couple a pries, the sign let loose like a catapult, clearing the building, pass the sidewalk & out over the busy street.

We got this beautiful antique down without incident or damage (including the sign), but this could have been a very bad (and costly) day for me.

Sadly, we ended up scrapping everything but the clock (which I got to keep). It serves as my safety reminder to this day.

I hear ya Dan....we should.