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HDU Plaque Fail When Inset in Stone

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HandyManBill

New Member
I did this plaque out of 1" Corafoam 31lb. carved, cold sprayed iron both sides, rusted the iron and sealed with Permalac Satin in March of this year. Just got an email with a couple of photos that are very upsetting...the sign has warped and is pulling out where the mason had mortared it in. I have assured the customer that I will correct or replace the sign but said I needed to find out "why" it warped so this did not happen again.

I have used all of the makers of HDU and Corafoam is by far the best with the least amount of issues so I am at a loss why I have this warping especially since the entire plaque is coated with the same metal. The sign is 19" wide x 16" tall x 1" thick.

I would appreciate any help you can give, let me know if there is any other info you need. I will post a picture of the sign before it left my place and the picture sent to me yesterday.

Thanks,

Bill
 

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Techman

Techman

New Member
is there any backing material on this panel?

Did you prime front and back with a good water based primer first?
 
P

player

New Member
HandyManBill said:
What type of glue to you think would work for both surfaces?
Click to expand...

I am not sure. Lords of some sort. Or maybe Lexel?

It was just an idea... you may find aluminum is not ideal as others have suggested. But backing it up with some type of stronger material might
save the day.
 
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Eric H

New Member
Since it is set in you could kerf the back to flatten it out. I don't think you could glue it to anything as is to flatten it out.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Only seeing those three pictures and not in person, this is gonna be an educated guess.

I'd sooner think, judging by the lousy mortar work performed, moisture, bugs and all kinds of other things got behind that panel and caused some kinda problem. I don't know the climate change or the morning dew rate, but you get enough crap back there..... and anything could go wrong. Heck, even vandalism to an extent could've caused this.
 
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HandyManBill

New Member
Techman said:
is there any backing material on this panel?

Did you prime front and back with a good water based primer first?
Click to expand...

No actually Corafoam is the only material I have used where you do not need to prime before laying down the polyester resin. As for backing no I have not attached any type of backing but was considering fiberglass cloth to the backside to give it more strength.
 
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HandyManBill

New Member
Gino said:
Only seeing those three pictures and not in person, this is gonna be an educated guess.

I'd sooner think, judging by the lousy mortar work performed, moisture, bugs and all kinds of other things got behind that panel and caused some kinda problem. I don't know the climate change or the morning dew rate, but you get enough crap back there..... and anything could go wrong. Heck, even vandalism to an extent could've caused this.
Click to expand...


Hey Gino, I can tell you I live in south central Texas which gets plenty hot and the buyer is in Kansas which I would think has to be cooler than where I am at....add to that it has only been up 4 months really worries me.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
From the precision board site. Yes we all know duna is not hdu. But the principles are the same.

Does temperature cause Precision Board
Plus to expand or contract?
Yes it does. Virtually every material, whether it is metal, glass, wood, stone, or HDU, expands and
contracts as it gets warmer and cooler. This movement, and it’s
different for every material, is calledCoefficient of Thermal
Expansion or CTE. The CTE of Precision Board Plus is 26 X 10 -6

. When an architect designs buildings, dams, houses, etc.

The CTE of each different material is taken into consideration to allow for its required movement of Precision Board Plus.
Call us for how this applies to signage, especially monument signs.

maybe call coastal and ask them about why a hdu panel would curl like that in a monument sign..
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
IMO the thickness was not enough to stop warping. Should have went thicker and possibly used 1" pvc, primed and siliconed. We have the same heat you do here in alabama and I can tell you our heat will destroy signs.

we have had 3/4" PVC warp before. We usually use 1" thick now UNLESS its cut out letters, those seem to be fine. You may also want to keep in mind...all of us signguys need to keep in mind the cheapass materials our distributors are constantly changing for better price and we get stuck with the crap
 
Billct2

Billct2

Active Member
Can't see how it was held in place. If it was just placed on the space and mortared around the edges I'm not sure that would hold it, it's not masonry. I think it should still be studed and glued, or at least glued.
 
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HandyManBill

New Member
Billct2 said:
Can't see how it was held in place. If it was just placed on the space and mortared around the edges I'm not sure that would hold it, it's not masonry. I think it should still be studed and glued, or at least glued.
Click to expand...


I have asked the customer for more information as to whether it was inset flush with the face of stone or if it was protruding out, asked for a front on shot. I usually make standoffs for any permanent install (see pic_ instead of keyhole mounts but since I have not been able to discuss with the mason what he needed it is a guessing game.
 

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Techman

Techman

New Member
I was planning to be a dealer for duna. It is rigid expanded polyisocyanurate, it is made from a different foam compound. You can tell because it machines with chips instead of dust. That is if i remember right
 
Marlene

Marlene

New Member
I have some 1" thick HDU that we did for interior use, never been outside or exposed to extreme heat, sun or any of that and it is warped. have three of them hanging in my office (got them back when we replaced with new food court restaurants). they were primed and painted correctly but stil warped. the 1" will do that
 
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SignProPlus-Alex

New Member
Techman said:
I was planning to be a dealer for duna. It is rigid expanded polyisocyanurate, it is made from a different foam compound. You can tell because it machines with chips instead of dust. That is if i remember right
Click to expand...
Only low density duna are expanded polyunsaturate. all high density foams are HDU
 
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