The first thing I do is ask such a client: "So, you're anticipating that you will be in business temporarily?"...Then I wait for an answer, giving time for embarrassment to set in. Or sometimes, I'll say, "If you were installing light fixtures, or an awning, would you not drill holes? If I want to be really snarky, I'll say, "What about a fire escape?" You gonna glue that up, too. And who knows, they may have a "good" reason to avoid penetrations in the brick.
At any rate, the industry standard, the "best practice," is concealed stud, screwing the studs into pre-threaded plastic glue blocks. A second, though less desirable method, is drill and tap the plastic itself. Using studs and glue blocks will also allow a small standoff, which can help you compensate for uneven bricks, allowing for an even, cleaner install. Uneven flatness against imperfect bricks is unsightly. Also, and this is just my opinion, a flat flush install looks more amateurish, like the letters were just "slapped" up. And the slight shadow caused by a ⅜ or ½ or ¾-inch standoff mount creates a "crisper-looking" letter edge. Again, my opinion.
There is no reliable adhesive for a flat acrylic-to-masonry mount. The letters will fall. Not all at once, but one at a time. They may break when they hit the ground, and there is an outside chance someone could be struck by a falling letter. Liability could be a selling point for stud mounting, by the way.
I never compromise on this.
I don't glue plastic letters to exterior walls. I will pass on the job if the client insists on no penetrations. Then it can become somebody else's problem. What if they were channel letters? Are you going to glue them up, too? (That may even be a code violation). And what about a lighted cabinet? Adhesive only?
If you wish to go to the trouble,
locate your studs so they all hit mortar joints. Then a repair of the holes after removal is similar to a tuck point repair. A standard brick, as well as a king-size brick, is typically 2½" high give or take, as I recall. A mortar joint may vary from ⅜" to ⅝", depending on the bricklayer. By and large, professional work by journeymen bricklayers is relatively standardized, unless they've got an apprentice on the job. A journeyman bricklayer is like a robot.
In my almost fifty years in
signs, I have easily made more money off flat cutout plastic letters than anything else. Some substrates can be a problem, like shake shingles or coarse aggregate, but the work is never dull. It's always "fun."
Brad in Kansas City
geminimade.com
