I recently was asked to put some vinyl lettering (6 "motivational" words) on an office wall. When I learned that the wall was painted with latex, I warned the client that vinyl lettering may or may not stick over time. I've had mixed results. Well, after a few weeks the lettering is showing signs of lifting. Any suggestions -- short of repainting the walls with a semi-gloss -- to redo/fix the lettering? Thanks in advance.
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Staples or roofing nails
Posted by Jason Davie (Member # 2172) on :
peel the letters off and make a vinyl mask of the letters and paint them on.. or make a vinyl mask and paint the letters with one shot clear and the put vinyl letters over the clear paint..
Posted by bruce ward (Member # 1289) on :
you should never have an interior wall painted in semi gloss. if this wall is painted in eggshell the letters will be just fine. there is nothing you can do but suggest the wall get repainted.
I am assuming the wall is flat right now
Posted by Bill Modzel (Member # 22) on :
Well, I've had luck using Gerber's Insta Change vinyl. It is removable but seems to have a softer stickier adhesive.
Posted by Rene Giroux (Member # 4980) on :
Does everything on earth have to be vinyl letters ??? Posted by Charlie Wade (Member # 6504) on :
Thanks for the suggestions. Yup, the wall is flat now. My first suggestion to the customer was that I'd cut paint mask and do the lettering that way. They wanted cut vinyl though.
Posted by Brian Diver (Member # 1552) on :
Charlie,
I am going through this little nightmare myself. I tried a piece of vinyl on a somewhat hidden area and it seemed to adhere just fine. I asked about the paint and they didn't know... The day I'm installing it they say Latex, I explained that we might have issues. I put the graphics and decided to use a heat gun so I came back the next day and one line had come off Since it was all stuck together I couldn't reuse it so I had to come back on Monday - well some of the letters were curling and my back was killing me from standing up on the ladder for hours heating and using a rivet brush to burnish the vinyl in. If it starts to come off I'll paint it on. I'm not sure what to do about charging them for it or if I should just eat it. I'd at least like to have them purchase the paint... Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
OK Kiddies! Time to act like professionals or quit bitching!
When someone says they want vinyl letters on a flat latex painted wall....look them right in the eye and say "It isn't going to work! You have a choice of repainting the wall with satin or eggshell, or letters painted on that wall!"
If they insist, make them sign a disclaimer! Don't tell me that you might lose the job. Redoing it means you will be losing money on this lil fiasco...so why do you want to have all that grief?
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I explained that we might have issues. I put the graphics and decided to use a heat gun so I came back the next day and one line had come off ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
Since it was all stuck together I couldn't reuse it so I had to come back on Monday - well some of the letters were curling and my back was killing me from standing up on the ladder for hours heating and using a rivet brush to burnish the vinyl in. If it starts to come off I'll paint it on. I'm not sure what to do about charging them for it or if I should just eat it. I'd at least like to have them purchase the paint...