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PRIMER AND PAINTS New member Question

visual800

Active Member
I think this comes down to north or south. Down here one shot sucks and will fail within a year. it will fade to nothing. not to mention the mdo will split and bust apart. I say noth vs south because alot of folks up there use mdo and dont seem to have issues.

Jill should know cause thats what she uses up there and her work seems to hold up. down here we would have to use aluminum or a composite and coat with auto paints or latex
 

Jillbeans

New Member
I meant Ronan lettering enamel rather than 1S.
I tend to use Alumalite as a background more and more these days, though.
It comes in some nice colors, less prep, lasts longer, and is easier for me to lift.
 

visual800

Active Member
I meant Ronan lettering enamel rather than 1S.
I tend to use Alumalite as a background more and more these days, though.
It comes in some nice colors, less prep, lasts longer, and is easier for me to lift.

jill how is the MDO holding up in the northern parts? and hell yes its lighter and I aint getting no younger!
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Where we're at, we used to get at least 20 years out of an MDO sign. Now it seems like 10 or 12 before you see bad chalking or ends fraying.

If it's prepped properly, it should easily last 10 years.... except for 3/8" stock. That stuff is useless.
 

OldPaint

New Member
in the south(south fl)i did MDO primed with KILZ, top coated with sprayed on AUTOMOTIVE ACRYLIC ENAMEL.........with/without hardner...........and lettered with 1 shot........and got 5-6 years with no problems
 

Craig Sjoquist

New Member
Here in Orlando MDO is out of price range, have switched to Alum comes pre-coated,
If I need a stronger backing builds that in lower costs last longer.
 

Jillbeans

New Member
Alumalite lasts longer than MDO, I think.
I had a car hit a 4'x8' Alumalite sign and all it did was scratch it! I have no idea why it wasn't smashed.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Do you mean flat in the sense of the sheen or a non-cupped/bowed piece of MDO ??
 

GP

New Member
Do you mean flat in the sense of the sheen or a non-cupped/bowed piece of MDO ??

non cupped, bowed.

We were trying to finish them ourselves via lumberyard. But shorthanded, cost of labor moves us to buying sign ready, two sides. Thinking we could save time by only having to fill, seal and paint edges.

But, even paying the premium, it seems that the quality of MDO has dropped dramatically in my short tenure in this business.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
My local distributor had some MDO which was perfectly flat... 1/2" or 3/4". It was from Finland. It was also very expensive and they stopped carrying it cause other than me and a few others, hardly anyone was buying it.

Our problem is getting the flatbed to print to full sheets. The little bit of cupping prevents us from having a true flat surface to print to, thus causing some fuzziness cause of head height.
 

blufftonsignguy

New Member
Mdo

Here in Southern South Carolina we haven't been having any problems with MDO. I use an exterior Sherwin Williams primer and Sherwin Williams exterior paints on it. I have only been in the business for 5 years, but haven't seen a problem with it yet. Like anything else, if you don't prep it right and take care of it, mother nature will only destroy it.

GP have you tried Alumapanel? They carry MDO in as many ways as I can think of i.e. Good 2 sides, primed one side or 2, gloss finish one side or 2, and etc.
 
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