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Utility box wraps

gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
I'm bidding on a job to wrap a couple utility boxes for a local city. I've never done one of these before, what are some things to consider so I don't underbid the job? I went to the site yesterday to take a look and get measurements. A few questions:

Both boxes are over 6ft tall so the tops are out of view. Should the tops be wrapped?

Both boxes have dual access doors on one side that are locked, and presumably locked for the install. Just work around the doors and trim along the cracks/edges?

One box has some kind of extension/fixture on two of the sides. Haven't figured out how to work around those...probably do a tracing or template of those sides and trim out the void before installing, then wrap the extensions separately.

How to work around door handles/other hardware?

Access on the right side of the smaller box beside the meter box looks really tight. Is it doable?

I'm thinking of passing on it, but wanted to see what those with more experience have to say first. Here's a shot of both boxes, the two large ones and not the one on the right with a meter on it.

20220627_193957.jpg
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
I doubt you will have access to inside of the cabinet if it's hot, it's pretty straight forward. You could always ask them if they are going to pull the meter but Id seriously doubt it.
They are doing these around here, it's stupid. Why draw attention to what is already an eyesore? Plant hedges around them or just leave them green/gray so there are more inconspicuous.
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
There's a bunch of wrapped boxes in one of the cities here, done by another sign shop. I saw him out last summer under a pop up canopy for shade, we had a heat wave for several weeks but he had to get them done. He didn't look happy. The ones I'm bidding on are shaded by trees so the install won't be that brutal.

No idea what I should charge for labor/installation. Is 6-8 hours for both boxes a realistic ballpark number?
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
How will you wrap around to the inside of the doors ?? To do it correctly, you should remove the handles..... or do a hack@ss job
 
H

highrolling24

New Member
Did you go and check out what the other ones look like and how they did it to get a better idea, thats where i would kinda start, because I think the worst is going to be cleaning and prepping going to take the longest I would think.
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
I'm going to check out some of the other wrapped boxes in town to see if any of them have doors like these two do. I stared at the handles for a bit trying to figure out how to wrap around them, I think there would have to be seamed panels of vinyl on the doors to work around the handles.

I'm okay with not making a huge profit on labor because I consider it paid education, but I at least want to make a reasonable guess. What all is involved in cleaning and prepping? A complete wash with soap & water, then clean with IPA or RapidTac?
 
Boudica

Boudica

I'm here for Educational Purposes
GAC05 said:
If there is a will, there is a way. I once had to partial-wrap & gold pinstripe a casket that had the owner already inside. Included the inner panel of the lid on the half they open up for viewing at the funeral.
Click to expand...
I remember you mentioning this before.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
We do 40-50 of these a year.

They always open the boxes for us and you can wrap around. Generally you don't remove handles - there will be a cut to get past them, but they don't care.

The utility companies don't care if they look pretty or not, they're buying wraps because it's a cost effective detterance against graffiti.

We piloted a project here a decade ago - wrapped 100+ boxes, they said if they last more than 6 years they've made their money back because they don't have to pay someone to paint or clean the graffiti off.


Ask for shop drawings - every utility company has them, then making your template is easy. The box on the side is easy when you have them.

Pick a busy design - makes it easy to get past the hurdles like the sides of the boxes, and helps prevent the graffiti in the first place. Over here all the boxes are specced and go out for bids with 3m 8528 overlam... It's a nice graffiti / mildew resistant overlam, so if someone does tag it... A bit of iso will wash the ink off easily.


It's a bit more upfront cost, but in the long run they save a ton of money wrapping boxes. We do at least 50 a year, and I'm sure every wrap shop around here also does 50... It's more rare to see a box without a wrap than it is to see one with a wrap here.


And yes, we wrap the tops - people on the second floor of the building right behind it can see them.. and tbh, you'll have a lot of "wasted" material due to the box sizes... So you can slip in a join or two uptop since the only ones who see it are 50 ft away. .

There's a few hacks around here who do such a shitty job and have 2-3 splices on each panel just so they don't waste any vinyl... They tend to not get many jobs after the first, so price any waste into your bid.
 
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Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
GAC05 said:
If there is a will, there is a way. I once had to partial-wrap & gold pinstripe a casket that had the owner already inside. Included the inner panel of the lid on the half they open up for viewing at the funeral.
Click to expand...
I thought the same thing(not about a dead dude). You could cut an x right where that handle is and slide it over before you put it on. Those locks also have a number on them which tells you which key to use, they are universal. I'd also have everything ready and pop that meter out for 2 mins while I did the can. Nobody will know what happened, just put the seal in your pocket when you leave. Everyone wants to make things difficult.
Why wait for you to finish the striping before putting the dead guy in the coffin. GACs place is on the way, no need to make 2 trips.
 
Boudica

Boudica

I'm here for Educational Purposes
We have them wrapped all around town here too. We had nothing to do with it, but I know the guy that wrapped most of them. I can ask him about it... I'll be seeing him soon I think.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
photos.app.goo.gl

Kiosks

69 new items · Album by brandon Blum
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl

Heres a few random ones I've done in the past few years. Nowadays I'm not the one wrapping them... But there's some close ups of key areas, as well as before / afters.


I suggest go in with pricing anti graffiti and make sure you spec it... If your town hasnt done many, point out the benefits of it... Once they see how it can be a big ROI in a short period it may make them go with you even though your price is higher (gf film is expensive)


One of the easiest things to wrap, and good money! And if you get in food with the companies... Odds are they'll have work every year for you. You'll notice most of the photos in my album are of the same graphics and box shape - we have 2 cities who just budget xx amount every year and re use the same artwork so it's cheaper. They do it so they don't have to repaint... We do have some cities who get custom graphics on each box though.

It's peaceful going out for a week and just hacking away at 20 boxes.... Not having to go into the shop and deal with other crap.


Oh... You need a generator, or portable heat gun. A torch works in some cases - over here we use LNG and were not allowed to use flames, so it has to be a special heat gun...so it all depends on what type of utilities you're wrapping. You can cold wrap most of it... But again, if you run into rivets (and you will) or have to adjust something having heat is key.


Sorry for the long posts! Its kiosk season so I have them on my mind. Just finished printing 6 rolls / 40 kiosks and cutting them all up today, now I'm working on a schedule for install...
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
It still looks stupid. It's like putting a bow on a turd. Your work looks good but the idea itself is retarded. It's like painting the panel cover in your house pink. They're just one of those things that aren't supposed to stand out.
 
Boudica

Boudica

I'm here for Educational Purposes
So what? Just, look away. Quit being such a picky b@sturd. You think flowers are lame too. :p
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
The ones with the round post were our first pilot project with the company. They've been up 8 years now and looks just as good as the day we put them up. They've gotten graffitid a few times... And all it takes is one of their guys to wipe it down with alcohol and it goes away.


They said they had to paint them every year to get rid of cuss words and other stuff - so by now they've more than paid for themselves in savings. You'll notice a few of the 20 year old boxes have so much peeling of paint due to age and all the layers... Personally I like the ones we do for Vancouver... They use local artists art, so then it looks unique and like a "pop up museum" and is at least interesting.... I'm not a huge fan of the flower ones either! But it definately looks better than all the defund the police, or gang tag messages that we wrap over.


We wrapped an oil pipeline that went through a residential area.. it was like 8 ft circumference and 40 ft long... We wrapped it to look like a log, it was hilarious and actually looked like a downed trees from far away. Another "project" was downtown ones... We made them have maps and wayfinding along with historic facts about the area. You can do some unique / creative stuff with them, doesn't just have to be flowers! But again.. rather than pay the $100ish art fee for a new setup... They just want it covered and graffiti resistant to save money.
 
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