Refurbishing a carved/routed sign

[outacontrol41]

I have been asked by a customer of mine to refurbish - sand and repaint - a cnc routed double sided sign gifted to them over 12 years ago, well before we met. I have been tasked with giving a quote for this job and bring it back to life. The size is 16.5''H x 30''W x 1.5''D. I estimate I will have about 2-3 hrs. in it start to finish. How much would you charge. I live on the Eastern shore of Maryland near Ocean City. Thanks for any input.

 

[visual800]

if you can do that in 2 or 3 hours Im impressed. I would take it down and take it into shop and sand and recoat with 2 part epoxy primed and then spray metallic gold and then roll the rest with foam roller later, I would also epoxy and spray the hardware just because, couple days of work and might charge about $550-650

 

[Johnny Best]

That looks like it was gold leafed, lettering and deer. It also looks like the inside of letters are starting to get flakey so that has to be all sanded down inside of letters. like Visual said, if you can do it in 2-3 hours then you must be Flash. After you clean every little nook and crany then put a epoxy primer on, paint background, size all the places gold leaf is going and then gold leaf.
Have no idea how valuable your time is but that is a lot of work and knowledge to refurb that d/f sign. would say 2-4 days of actual work stretched over about 2 weeks.

 

[Gino]

Doing one myself at the moment. The sign is about 15 years old and slightly smaller than yours. I quoted $ 1,500.00 but said if things go well, it might come down a little in price. The owners are old business & friends of mine.

Is it wood or hdu ??

 

[outacontrol41]

Doing one myself at the moment. The sign is about 15 years old and slightly smaller than yours. I quoted $ 1,500.00 but said if things go well, it might come down a little in price. The owners are old business & friends of mine.

Is it wood or hdu ??

It is HDU

 

[outacontrol41]

That looks like it was gold leafed, lettering and deer. It also looks like the inside of letters are starting to get flakey so that has to be all sanded down inside of letters. like Visual said, if you can do it in 2-3 hours then you must be Flash. After you clean every little nook and crany then put a epoxy primer on, paint background, size all the places gold leaf is going and then gold leaf.
Have no idea how valuable your time is but that is a lot of work and knowledge to refurb that d/f sign. would say 2-4 days of actual work stretched over about 2 weeks.

Yes, I agree I will have more time in it than previously thought.

 

[Gino]

With hdu, you'll have to be extra cautious, so as not to gouge things. Mine is redwood and sandblasted, so I have lotsa fins to deal with, but sanded wood is a lot easier. Mine is also gilded, but I told her, I' was only gonna use gold leaf paint. Otherwise, you must get the old gold out 100% or you run the risk of the old size letting go and you can't be responsible for something already 10 years old.

 

[outacontrol41]

With hdu, you'll have to be extra cautious, so as not to gouge things. Mine is redwood and sandblasted, so I have lotsa fins to deal with, but sanded wood is a lot easier. Mine is also gilded, but I told her, I' was only gonna use gold leaf paint. Otherwise, you must get the old gold out 100% or you run the risk of the old size letting go and you can't be responsible for something already 10 years old.

What kind of epoxy sealant is used as mentioned earlier? Not sure if mine is gold leaf or gold paint... but I think I will have to seal it in some way as gold paint has a short outdoor lifespan.
Also, I plan to brush scrub the loose gold out of the routed areas to avoid any damage if I get the job.
The prices mentioned earlier ($1,500) would send him thru the roof so I would have to utilize my time wisely to offer a lower fee.

 

[visual800]

I debated whether or not that is real gold, i was thinking if it was real gold why is it in such bad condition, if it has to replaced in gold it certainly will drive the price well over $1000 might wanna substitite a latex based gold metallic

 

[James Burke]

HONESTLY, if it were me, I would matte clear coat it and call it a day. People pay big money for an aged patina look, and here you have one staring you in the eyeballs just asking to be left alone.

JB

 

[Johnny Best]

I debated whether or not that is real gold, i was thinking if it was real gold why is it in such bad condition, if it has to replaced in gold it certainly will drive the price well over $1000 might wanna substitite a latex based gold metallic

Gold looks bad because they probably used quick size, and that breaks down quicker. And, foam not sealed completly and size soaked in at places not sealed. Note: As James suggests might be the best solution, matt clearcoat and charge them $250 for the easy fix.

 

[Billct2]

These are always more work than they look, if you want to do it right. Can easily cost almost as as much as a new one

 

[kcollinsdesign]

It will take forever and never look good. The gold leaf will need to be removed, and the sharpness of the "engraving" will be gone after sanding. So much easier with far better outcome to route a new one. If you decide to outsource this probably around $300 plus shipping (less than $700 for a complete finished sign with real gold leaf). You can sell it for $1000 and make a 30% profit.

I would get it completed by the vender. Mine uses acrylic polyurethane (spray finish), which is much nicer and more durable than I can do with rollers and brushes. Plus I'm lazy.

If I was forced to refurbish this by hand I would estimate in the $1500 range and would explain to the client it would never look as good or be as durable as a new one (for 2/3 the price of the re-furbish - ??!!). You never know, though. There may be sentimental reasons to keep the old sign...

 

[Eric H]

I think I worked at the shop that made it, I don't remember it in particular. But the style and deer I'm almost positive I made it. Unfortunately the shop closed in 2015 when the owner passed away. It would of been 20lb dunaboard, the gold was gold leaf. Depending when it was made it was probably oil based enamel paint although the last couple of years we switched to latex.

 

[outacontrol41]

I debated whether or not that is real gold, i was thinking if it was real gold why is it in such bad condition, if it has to replaced in gold it certainly will drive the price well over $1000 might wanna substitite a latex based gold metallic

Yes, that was the plan, to use gold paint not real gold leaf

 

[outacontrol41]

I think I worked at the shop that made it, I don't remember it in particular. But the style and deer I'm almost positive I made it. Unfortunately the shop closed in 2015 when the owner passed away. It would of been 20lb dunaboard, the gold was gold leaf. Depending when it was made it was probably oil based enamel paint although the last couple of years we switched to latex.

The customer told me he tried to contact the original maker and found they had gone out of business.