Tips for a pattern on a windy day

[signsbydebbie]

We glue all patterns to coro or thin pvc before leaving. Spray contact glue.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

How do you remake the pattern? Seems like a good deal of extra work compared to just lining with tape, but if they are sending you digital patterns, that's a whole different story.

Fun story, we had direct sign wholesale make some letters for a sign in 2010. Earlier this year we got the job to do new plastic faces and replace the LED's. We gave them a call to see, and they had the files for the faces archived, so instead of the old trace and jigsaw gig, we just cut new faces on the router. Cut the time down from several hours to maybe 1. Moral of the story, reach out to your wholesalers for anything you know that you got from them. Chances are, they never deleted that 1.44MB worth of data...

I asked them for the pattern file and just used the plotter and pen tool to draw it on tyvek roll.

 

[jlomps]

Several times a month I have to lay a 25' wide by 60" pattern on a wall for flush mount channel letters. The surface is usually EIFS or painted bricks. I've tried using really good duct tape but it's hard in windy weather on those surfaces. We constantly have 20-30 mph winds and that's challenging with a pattern this size. The only way I get them to stay is screwing large fender washers to hold the pattern and hope I hit where the letters will cover up the holes. We have two buckets and two guys working the pattern and can't move fast enough to get the whole thing flat before wind catches. Anyone have any tips for dealing with this?

Gorilla tape. We sometimes get high winds like that in Vegas as well. Roll out that pattern and tape strips as you level. Slap the tape to make sure the adhesive gets into all the crevices of the walls surface. If it’s super windy, I’ve even gone back and framed the entire pattern edges with more tape so wind can’t get underneath and tear the paper.

 

[Andy D]

I always kept a roll of the thickest but cheapest banner material I could find and print patterns on that.
An additional advantage of printing a pattern rather that a pen plot pattern, on pen plot patterns
the plotter often has to run the paper back and forth length of the pattern several times, so it's not as accurate.

 

[MikePro]

we spray glue to coro for most projects, regardless of wind conditions. half the time, our sales staff or installers don't realize how ridiculously textured/uneven the mounting surface is and coroplast patterns save HOURS of dilly dally.

just make sure to save the coroplast for the next pattern/install. doesn't matter if there's holes in it, as you'll be spray gluing fresh paper patterns over it every time. we get about 4-6 installs out of each coroplast sheet before they get so beat-up that its not worth doing much with them anymore.

 

[MikePro]

3M 77 Spray Contact Adhesive is my go-to
otherwise i've also grabbed some Krylon 7010 from my local hardware store in a pinch.

...pretty much anything labeled contact adhesive really, but the lighter-duty stuff for mounting paper/posters has the best coverage with less-mess, and is cheaper$$$. i wouldn't recommend the 3M 90 spray, or similiar, as it comes out like silly string and is really intended for heavier duty stuff like upholstry.