Hye all, first new to this place so appreciate any help, second looking for some guidance and help from people who know what they are doing. We have been asked to put up new graphics on two 15’x48’ prismaflex tri-vision boards for a company that owns them. We have a great guy who worked for Lamar for many, many years who knows the ins and out of fixing them, working with them but what we need help on is the installation of the graphics, the best way to do them, and the best materials to use.
The boards are probably about 5-8 years old and they are using pressure sensitive vinyl. The guy who is fixing these boards and pulling them down for us, said that normally they pull down the boards using a crane and a box and then we would put the graphics on at our shop. We do graphics all day long but haven’t done this before and with this new client, we really want to make sure we do it right and help them look good because we could come off with more work because of this.
From you guys who have done this before, is there a best way to make sure this is all done right and any recommendations on the type of vinyl being used, any installation tips/tricks you can pass along? Do you number the boards as they are coming off the face to make sure they go back up…I believe there are 139 boards if I remember correctly?
We were told to print the vinyl in 4’ sections and then apply them to the boards and then just slit them once on them…is this correct, is there a better way to do this?
Again, just want to come off helping out this new customer look good so we can keep working with them. Appreciate any feedback.
We used to have some of these, and they are incredibly tedious to install. Your basic steps sound correct, but I would urge you to call up all the CBS, Clear Channel and Lamar outfits you can find, and get their input. I have found the larger companies are more friendly because they won’t view you as competition. Tell them what you’re doing and I’ll bet you’ll find one knowledgable, nice guy out of the group that will help you. Don’t forget that what you are working on is pretty rare – it’s like calling airplane repair shops for tips on fixing a P-51 Mustang from WWII – so not everybody will be able to help.
I hope that we get some more posts on this, but if not, that’s what I’d do on Monday morning.
Were are the signs located. And are you giong to be doing the work on them yourself. I have always posted the advertisment on the sign and not had to remove anything by crane. It can be quite exspensive bringing a crane out on site. The pressure sensitive vinyl you are refering to is it 3-M stickyback material ? And on the numbering yes it is a good idea it makes putting them back up much easier.
Actually located along the highway and they are up there in height. Since we have never installed these before, it’s VERY windy up there and not sure how we could install them on site, especially with no ladders up there. It was suggested by an ex-Lamar guy who knows this sign and said to do the crane version.
I may give Lamar or them a call to see what they would do but welcome any other suggestions.
I was refering to the state or area the signs were located in to see if I could help in any way. I am located in the Atlanta area. I do everything from installs, electrical, maint., installing strucutres, etc. I do just about everything. If I can I will try to help as much as possible. Wind can be a big problem with installs on trivisions because of the light weight material, but the wind is a problem with and type of sign work. And a ladder is a must for posting a trivision and always make sure it is a fiberglass ladder. Any metal ladders or material can be hazzardous to your life on a structure. There has been to many cases with a metal ladder or metal rods coming in contact with power lines. I dont think this can be talked about enough, there are to many people taking the cheap way out with this only to effect some ones life. Sorry got a little carried away with this, we just had another guy hit a power line in the Atlanta area with a metal rod. If you would like you can send me an email if I can help you in any way. crazeoutdoor@aol.com
i have done these with nothing more than a hook ladder(yes, it is aluminum), a wide silk screen squeegee and a razor knife. i cut the vinyl vertically in workable widths, usually 24"-36". roll it up and start at the top, unrolling it and peeling the backing as you go down the ladder squeegeeing it as you go. the large squeegee is helpful in getting it down quickly. use a small hand squeegee to finish it off. i start early in the morning or late in the day this time of year. we have even worked at night to beat the wind and heat, although i don’t recommend it. you will need at least 2 guys. one on the ladder and one on the catwalk. the guy on the catwalk can reach up and assist the guy on the ladder once he gets down closer to the catwalk. you do not want to attempt this in high winds or in direct, hot sunlight. be careful to get your vinyl on straight and keep it straight or it will get ugly. you will need to overlap each verticle sheet about 1/4". try to make your overlap in between a pair of triangles. there is plenty of material to do this and it will not be noticeable. use your razor knife to separate each triangle. you will need to cut the vinyl on every edge. there will be a small strip from between each pair of triangles that you will remove and discard.
pick a calm day, get up early, take your time and it can be done. it sounds worse than it is, but it is definitely no picnic!
A metal hook ladder on a sign is not something I would take up there, I know it is lighter than fiberglass but a friend of mine almost lost his life due to touching a metal hook ladder to the power lines. The only thing that probally saved his life is the ladder was touching the structure between him and the lines. To this day you can see the marks were it arked on the sign were the ladder was touching. I am pretty sure this is something that could cause a fine from Osha having metal ladders and rods on a sign. You might want to check on this, there fines are not cheap. And you do not have to touch the lines 15,000 / 20,000 volt depending on the lines, you do not even have to touch them with that much current it can ark across. If people choose to use metal hook ladders or metal rods for the pockets I guess this is there choice, you cant stop people from making bad choices. But when they get hurt from these kind of things it looks bad on the billboard industry.
No. Power can jump across lines that are many feet away. There have been many industry deaths and injuries from electrocution. I know someone who did the very thing discussed here (touched a metal ladder to a power line) and now has the mental state of a five year old. Electricity is much scarier than it looks from the street. It took me a while to truly respect just how dangerous it is.
Frank is very correct many people do not understand electricity, it is a very hazardous to work around ! No the lines the guy touched was not inches, we are talking about a 20 foot ladder. It is a bad lesson learned for someone who does not respect electricity.
There are MANY people in the billboard industry who do not need to be working on or around electrical equipment on the sign because they are not qualified !! Just because they think they can, dont mean they are qualified. Have you ever seen a light that is not burning ( and this light does work properly ) but still has electrical current going to it. Ran across this not to long ago someone had the sign wired 240v ( that is 2 legs 120v on 1- 240v breaker ) they had 1 of the 2 legs ran thru a timer/photocell with the other leg running all the time straight to the light. This had the power bill thru the roof. This is why the billboard company sent me out there ( power bill ). This was causing the ballist to dump the power to ground ( throwing the billboard companies money right out the window ) with only 1 leg of the 240 running to the light. It will not work but still has power going to it for the person who is not aware of it about to work on the light, this is not a good thing for someone who is not qualified as I was talking about earlier. Just think about this working on this light not knowing it has power to it sitting on a 75’ ground rod, that is what the sign will become if you touch the power.
Working on billboards you are around them (power lines) and need to respect them. I even had my brother working with me on a sign once, I kept telling he to be careful of the power lines below the sign. He dropped the rope and it fell right across the top line, you talking about giving someone the third degree, he got it ! I drilled him for doing this after I told him many times. If the rope would have been wet he would have more than likely not been here today !! If you are a billboard company make sure the people you have working on you electrical are qualified, and the equipment on your sign is safe.
As Frank was saying about the guy who hit the lines, would you want to be the billboard company this guy was working for. For this to be on you, or for this to shut your company down. This could have been prevented so this guy would have had a normal life !