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Who did it ?

Border

New Member
Damn, someone....was very lucky nobody was killed or seriously injured. That's a big-az sign to be coming down, and right above the main entrance doors to boot!
 

Craig Sjoquist

New Member
Exactly... FS-Keith and Letterman7 ... even I know this and I've never hung a large sign.

They may have mounted into metal studs, but without a plate, this size is a huge sail even flat against a wall, the weight alone will loosen then the winds will make it worse.

Install FAIL ...and why installs have permits because good companies can't seem to police them self in doing better then there best when it comes to safety.
 

StarSign

New Member
The installer was going to use the right materials however, his supplier cancelled his order at the last minute, so he had to make due
 

MikePro

New Member
i don't see sign companies putting up Best Buy signage, ever. I bet whoever the GC was that built the store/fascia was the one who put it up.

also, whoever is building these signs, doesn't overlap their colors. I've seen at least half a dozen best buy locations with light leaks between the yellow/black.
 

FS-Keith

New Member
i don't see sign companies putting up Best Buy signage, ever. I bet whoever the GC was that built the store/fascia was the one who put it up.

also, whoever is building these signs, doesn't overlap their colors. I've seen at least half a dozen best buy locations with light leaks between the yellow/black.

of course it was a sign company, you think a gc assembled this two piece sign on site and knew how to stretch the face? c'mon

Just some hack company who didnt use proper materials. ie: stainless allthread, metal plates to span behind/across the studs.


Thomas Sign out FL had or maybe has most of the work on the east coast. I have heard nothing but bad things about how they build these
 

CS-SignSupply-TT

New Member
I feel sorry for the Best Buy store manager. His December bonus will suffer (albeit temporarily) until the issue is settled and his sign is in place, properly installed.
 

phototec

New Member
Looks like they used a small piece of 2x4 as a backer behind the plywood sheeting. Like others have said, the installer should have used some sort of metal bracing to go across (behind) all the wall studs to support the big sign. Looking at the photo of the store front, it doesn't look like they even hit any studs, they most likely just used the same 2x4 blocking behind the plywood sheeting.

:noway:
 

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visual800

Active Member
There is nothing wrong with using blocks as backer plates for these signs. Thats all i have ever seen or used. You cannot stop high winds. you cannot do enough to halt the damage they will do. They only thing I can imagine that happened is the flex face was damaged and the wind got all up inside the can and snatched it off the building

From what I can see this sign had 10 points of anchor which is sufficiently enuff for this sign. Obviously it was strong enough to pull one of the anhor boards thru the front wall and the brace was still on it. Running a 2x4 across the metal braces it probably would have snapped it anyway. Freak of Nature!
 

FS-Keith

New Member
WOW I dont know where to begin. Its kinda scary that you have this mentality.


There is nothing wrong with using blocks as backer plates for these signs.
When a piece of alum 2x2x1/4 alum angle is a few dollars a foot there is

Thats all i have ever seen or used.
Thats unfortunate



You cannot stop high winds. you cannot do enough to halt the damage they will do.

No you cannot stop high winds but you can make sure you leave a job of this magnitude knowing that anything short of a direct hit from a tornado that sign is not coming off the wall

They only thing I can imagine that happened is the flex face was damaged and the wind got all up inside the can and snatched it off the building
The only thing I can imagine is the company did not install plates BEHIND the wall studs rather just between them. I would also have been much more cautious with using those L clips and rather flush mounted the sign to the building. i onlt Use L clips on concrete. Never want to use them on something hollow like dryvit as you only have the small 2"x2" footprint of the clip to pull tight as opposed to the entire cabinet

From what I can see this sign had 10 points of anchor which is sufficiently enuff for this sign.
The manufacturer requires 19 throughbolts on a 12x24 price tag

Obviously it was strong enough to pull one of the anhor boards thru the front wall and the brace was still on it. Running a 2x4 across the metal braces it probably would have snapped it anyway. Freak of Nature!


yes because the plate was not BEHIND THE STUDS, and maybe it would have broken a 2x4 piece of wood, which is why us pro's use steel/alum and go BEHIND the studs and also screw the angle/plates into the backside of the stud to prevent it from moving at all
 

visual800

Active Member
ooooohhh I see how this is gonna turn out, I'll be the only one that installs signs with 2x4 backers, yep seen this before. Well i'm not! and for the record we use treated lumber not interior studs ANd on accasion been know to use 2x6!

As far as the L clips what are you talking about? Im sure this sign was flush mounted and those were used to "support" the sign while it was being secured to the wall.

I do respect your methods and it is something to think about. Another thing for you to consider is all signs pass inspections here when using these boards. When I started working for the man 25 years ago thats they way I was taught and to this day it is the norm here. I am sure under certain situations it would call for aluminum plates if the sign was an extremely heavy structure, but I damn sure wouldnt hang something that heavy on some crappy a$$ drivit, which I despise drivit.



Everyone has their own way of installs and to date we have never had a set of channel letters or box fall off a wall, so to sum it up whether our methods are looked at not as superior as yours, they have not failed yet. Now I have seen people use big *** washers and nuts behind raceways and that to me is very uncalled for.
 

FS-Keith

New Member
dont try and justify s***ty work, because thats all that was, s***ty work. Gives the rest of us in the industry a bad look. There is no reason other then half *** work that sign came off the wall.

Not a big deal for using wood on small cabinets and racways. but not for big jobs, and at least span behind studs unlike these hacks
 
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