The right way to install a 24' x 12' aluminum sign

[nolanola]

The artwork.

Thank you.

 

[Gino]

Thank you for the suggestion the banner frame.
I think vinyl on the aluminum panels will last longer than the banner.
And the client has approved the aluminum already.

The artwork.

Thank you.

This just dawned on me....... are you talking aluminum sheets, as in .050 or .063 or are you talking about composite boards ?? Unless you make lips all the way around with aluminum sheeting, it's not gonna work.

Ya know, there's another way you could do this. You could get some over-sized ACM at 5' x 12.5' and it would only take 5 sheets total to do it. You could get away with a wooded frame of 2" x 6" x 12'ers and have one top and bottom with two across the middle and at the seams a few patched in pieces.

Another thing, it might last a whole lot longer and go much faster and cost much less...... if you pounced the pattern and painted everything on, instead of die-cut vinyl. That whole thing could be painted in 1 day.

 

[nolanola]

Im dying to know if you priced this job already without knowing how to build it. Regardless, if this was our job we would try and sell them on a flex face frame system

I just checked the flex face frame system. Looks very nice.
How long is it supposed to last?

Thank you.

 

[nolanola]

You do know that a majority of large backlit signs use a flex face (i.e. banner type material) ?

How are you fastening the Aluminum to the frame? Hopefully not ugly screws through each panel?

I hope not to use ugly screws through each panel.

 

[nolanola]

This just dawned on me....... are you talking aluminum sheets, as in .050 or .063 or are you talking about composite boards ?? Unless you make lips all the way around with aluminum sheeting, it's not gonna work.

Ya know, there's another way you could do this. You could get some over-sized ACM at 5' x 12.5' and it would only take 5 sheets total to do it. You could get away with a wooded frame of 2" x 6" x 12'ers and have one top and bottom with two across the middle and at the seams a few patched in pieces.

Another thing, it might last a whole lot longer and go much faster and cost much less...... if you pounced the pattern and painted everything on, instead of die-cut vinyl. That whole thing could be painted in 1 day.

There is a corrugated metal wall, so painting is not an option.

Thank you.

 

[Gino]

This thing is 12.5' tall and 40' wide. It has screws about every 6" top and bottom and a foot at three tiers in the middle, if I remember right. That thing is about 40' to the top and right by the side of a road. You can't see a single screw and we didn't paint them white, either. That is all hand-painted.

 

[nolanola]

Looks great.
I do not see seams also.
What material is that?

 

[Gino]

3mm ACM 5' x 12.5' pieces. The seams are there. Believe me.

What most people don't realize or understand is..... if you take your time being careful to make sure everything is perfectly plumb....... people from a few feet away do not see the imperfections like seams, screws or anything else, as the copy or graphics become the focal point and no one notices the little stuff. It just doesn't register on the mind's eye. Even if you are looking for imperfections, they aren't gonna be noticeable.

Below, you can see the seams, before we went back and put all the remaining screws in. You can also see all the screws in the building, holding it together.

 

[nolanola]

What material did you use for the backing?

 

[Gino]

Originally back around 1995 or so, we put up the first sign for them, which was duraply, more commonly known today as, MDO. They were 1/2" x 4' x 10's The backing for them was all 2" x 6" pressure treated battens. They were arranged in a fashion to accept all the joints and whatnot with a few inches left over to spare. The original sign was 10' x 39' So, we had a nice wooden fascia to screw into already there, in perfect condition for about 14 years or so prior. We offset the new sign, so we didn't hit any previous seams. We tested the old signs and framework and found it to be 100% in tact, so no use removing it..... we just went over it.

 

[nolanola]

If there were no old sign on the wall would you screw the ACM panels directly to the wall?

 

[Gino]

Nope. Rarely do you ever screw or attach something directly to a wall. You either make a frame from wood or metal. Attach that to the wall and the sign to that. Even the banner setups are utilizing a framing system of some sort.

You still haven't answered the big question. Are using aluminum sheets or composite panels ??

 

[nolanola]

I plan using 3mm composite panels Max Metal.

 

[grafixemporium]

Nope. Rarely do you ever screw or attach something directly to a wall. You either make a frame from wood or metal. Attach that to the wall and the sign to that. Even the banner setups are utilizing a framing system of some sort.

You still haven't answered the big question. Are using aluminum sheets or composite panels ??

On a corrugated metal building, what are you mounting your frame to? Are you going into the building's steel frame? Or are the corrugated panels holding all that weight?

 

[nolanola]

The corrugated panels will hold the weight.
I like the idea building the frame of 2 by 4's but on the other hand it feels a little brutal.

 

[nolanola]

Thank you.

 

[Gino]

Well done and nicely executed.