My first wall job done.

[signmeup]

Sunday was spent standing on a plank with a brush in hand. I used One Shot lettering enamel. Smells and acts just like Tremclad but has way more pigment in it. I only needed one coat. Must have used 4 or 5 ounces of paint total. Good stuff. I found it got thick in my paint tub so I had to keep thinning it as I went along. A smaller can would probably have helped there.

I had quite a few passers by ask about my ladder jack "staging" so I included a pic that you can see it fairly well for those of you who aren't familiar with it.

I also had one really old guy tell me that my "S" was upside down. He seemed to really get a kick out that.

The job took 5 hours to paint. Probably spent an hour messing with getting my patterns made. I made most of the letters out of bristol board. I made the E out of the L pattern and the H out of the B etc. to cut down on the number of patterns I had to make. I taped the patterns in place and drew around them with a pencil. I lived in terror for most of job worrying that I would look up at the end and see "Hargain Barley's"

Thanks to all who took the time to give me advice before the job was tackled.

 

[Jillbeans]

Hey at least you didn't get the old droop in the middle caused by "give" in your board!

5 hours is not too shabby for your first wall job.
I'm sure it won't be your last!
Love.....Jill

 

[Gino]

Looks great !!

Yeah, five hours from start to finish ain't bad a'tall.
​

 

[tanneji]

Fantastic! I'm jealous as I would panic the whole time. With channel letters etc you can re-do them a little bit if there's an error.

 

[SignManiac]

Good job! Especially like the ladder jacks, quite ingenious...

 

[Steve C.]

I made a set o ladder jacks with chain once. I didn't like the way they tend
to swing. What kind of brush did you use? Looks good!

 

[Marlene]

nice and clean looking job.

 

[J Hill Designs]

Looks good! The S is upside down...and the I is backwards...hehe

 

[square1]

Great work! Very clean looking!

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Very Nice!

 

[JR's]

what kind of ladder jacks are those. I don't think thy are OSHA approved.

looks good tho

 

[iSign]

nice job!
did some of my first wall work this past week too...

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

Home made ladder jacks gees well it worked, but siding suppliers have really nice ones very adjustable Aluminum even todays prices should be well under $100..I also understand they are not used much ... I like scaffold better, but when needed jacks are great

looks like a nice job , the use of rounded ends really helps on rough walls and speed, compared to sparp corner or serifed ends, a great way to start rounded ends, also hang on to those cut outs for layout also a easy way to do simple layouts, compared to layout on wall or on paper and pounce.

Hope ya get more to do , I know a advertisement painted on a wall looks way better, has a better image, and can read better compared to a mounted sign, experence business people know this and rather have it painted.

 

[Si Allen]

Good job ... only criticism is that the rounded letters such as the G and S should extend a little above and below the flat letters ... otherwise they ted to look smaller.

 

[GypsyGraphics]

nice job & ladder jacks!

 

[Flame]

Nice! Good one to learn on, my first wall job was 4 colors, 30' up in the air. Ughhhhh. lol.

Looks like you nailed it too.

 

[signmeup]

Thanks for all the thumbs up.

I have had my ladder jacks for 25 years at least. They are made from 2 x 6 Hemlock. The eye bolt for the chain goes all the way through the 2 x 6 and the eye is welded shut. I used to use an open hook to secure the chain in use. When I got them back from my brother after he borrowed them he had replaced the open hooks with those threaded take-apart chain links. (he also lost one... I used to have 3) I thought that was a good modification.

Anyway, I can get the folding ladders, a ten foot plank and my jacks inside my van and close the hatch. Something I can't do with scaffold. (which I also own 6 sets of)

The jacks won't swing if you set them up so the plank lies flat on them. Especially since they are wood.... lots more friction than aluminum jacks. If you're real Nervous Nelly you can drive a screw through the plank into the jack.

When I did siding we had steel jacks that weighed a ton..... and they were wicked cold on the hands setting up in winter. I much prefer my wooden ones.

I also have wooden roof brackets.......

 

[signmeup]

I made a set o ladder jacks with chain once. I didn't like the way they tend
to swing. What kind of brush did you use? Looks good!

The brush was a 1 inch "Royal & Langnickel" golden taklon from the local lumber store. It was $10. Didn't hold much paint. Looks like new still though. It would have gone quicker with a slightly stiffer brush I think. Those fricken ribbed bricks were a bitch to drag a line of paint across.

It also took me while to realize the paint was getting thicker and thicker as I went along. Once I discovered thinning, it was much better.

 

[Marlene]

nice color for a building too. the white letters look nice on it. looks like there's a same color on the building across the street. I can see a little of the sign and like the green with the blue. did you make that Pub sign?

 

[signage]

Nice job Signmeup