problem aligning grommets with exterior wall bolts

[pixel_pusher]

I have printed a couple 21' long banners for a furniture store lately, and there have been problems lining up the grommets with bolts placed at odd intervals on the exterior wall. Using the measurements our salesman took from the top of a ladder with arms extended way over his head, I placed grommets in groups of three roughly surrounding each measurement, hoping one of them would line up. The next one, I marked which of each group of three was correct, and only used one grommet at each bolt location. When I got the call that the final grommet was 1/16" from reaching the final bolt, it dawned on me that a sharp drop in temperature could have caused the whole thing to contract enough to make it not fit.

They finally got it to work by taking the whole thing down, stretching it, then hanging the corners first and working toward the middle. Is there any way to avoid having to be that precise with these banners in the future? They will be replacing the banner every month or so, and I'd like to avoid having a heart attack each time they do so.

 

[Circleville Signs]

i would HIGHLY recommend advising them to buy a banner frame. Mount that to the wall, and then it is an easy install each month.


Gary

 

[rcook99]

why not make a foldable template from coro or 1/4in plywood that when unfolded will give you the marks you need. Just use a bolt with a thread locking nut put on just enough to let the two pieces rotate. The plywood will hold up much better than the coro.

 

[Monsterkidz]

Could you mark and grommet on site?

 

[GK]

I am with Gary, its definitely worth it in the long run, they are not even that expensive to begin with, and the installation looks very professional because you can stretch it out and lock the banner in place. Not to mention you can always add more track to the frame if they want to make a larger banner (and not have to worry about more holes and lineup issues)

 

[Mosh]

Banner frame, especialy if you are going to changing these out. No way you will get the grommets in the same place every time, even with a pattern. Off 1/8" and the bannr will not be tight.

 

[jiarby]

Norm Abram says...

"Measure Twice, Grommet Once"

 

[pixel_pusher]

Are you guys talking about the Image One Banner Trak? Sounds like a great idea. Certainly beats the current "shot in the dark" approach.

-JF

 

[Mosh]

http://image1impact.com/banner_systems/btk_1000.html

 

[pixel_pusher]

The customer has asked me about attaching banner trak to stucco walls. Unusually high winds in Knoxville yesterday caused the banner to rip toggle bolts out of stucco facade and blow halfway across their parking lot. Seems like similar wind could have ripped banner and banner trak out of stucco facade.

 

[astro8]

Why don't you just use sailtrack?

 

[pixel_pusher]

Most google search results stem from Australia, so is sailtrack just the Aussie version of bannertrak?

 

[Mosh]

The customer has asked me about attaching banner trak to stucco walls. Unusually high winds in Knoxville yesterday caused the banner to rip toggle bolts out of stucco facade and blow halfway across their parking lot. Seems like similar wind could have ripped banner and banner trak out of stucco facade.

Sounds like the anchors were not installed properly. They need to be installed into the structure not just the stucco on the front. Especially if it is a newer building with the 2" foam and 1/8" faux stucco. On this you need a sleeve pipe though the foam and them anchor to the structure.

 

[astro8]

Sailtrack is an aluminium extrusion that costs pittance that a hemmed banner with either rope or kedar edge is slid into and along. We have several banners up around Sydney that we change every month or two..some 40' x 6'.

Most banners and a lot of billboards are installed this way over here.

 

[JR's]

Hi pixel.
The banner is 21 feet, what you could do is get one bolt in the middle of the banner to line up. And at the end of the banner use bungee cords. Another words passed the banner put in a big eye bolt then go from the banner to the eye bolt with a bungee cord.
If that is too flimsy you could run the cable from eye bolt to eye bolt and just hang your banner on the cable.

JR

 

[Ken1f]

I do a few 3' X 8' banners a year for the local library. To be sure the holes line up I have a template in my design program that already has the grommet holes marked that I use to do my layout on. When I print the design the markings are also printed giving me the right location for the grommets to be placed. No need to measure and they fit well every time.