Over-the-Street banner finishing

[Rickerer]

How are people finishing over-the-street banners for maximum durability?

We currently produce 4ft x 29ft over-the-street banners out of double-sided 18oz banner, with 1" webbing hemmed in on all 4 sides, grommets in the 4 corners, 10 snap clips sewn in across the top and 6 across the bottom to attach to the cable structure over the road, and 6" windslits throughout. The other day during a wintery wind storm, the banner failed. (ripped grommets out of one side and ripped snap clips off banner)

Are there any tricks we should consider to ensure this does not happen again?

(We have done 20+ of these over the past 6 years and this is our 1st issue, but I do not want this to happen again.)

 

[flyplainsdrifta]

Seems like you did all you could right. Sometimes stuff like that happens in storms with vinyl banners, once its cold enough for long enough it gets brittle and with a good windy storm, youre likely to get a failure. We'd usually do steel grommets all the way around, 2ft or 1ft spacing depending on the town, that's about all i can say we do differently. But we've had similar issues with ones we've sent that stay up in the winter. Unfortunate but can happen occasionally.

 

[Rickerer]

Thanks! I told client that. "Acts of God"... Now they are asking if there is anything else we could do that may ward this off in the future.

 

[flyplainsdrifta]

Thanks! I told client that. "Acts of God"... Now they are asking if there is anything else we could do that may ward this off in the future.

I feel like short of asking the town to temporarily take it down, im not sure much could have been done. Were you by chance in New England for the blizzard that just happened?

 

[DL Signs]

There has been incidents where street banners actually hold up and take down light poles, or even pull anchors and bricks right out of buildings. Street banners are among the most unpredictable, because mother nature is capable of throwing curve balls that you'll never anticipate, and winds channeled down streets between buildings can make them more intense.

 

[Rickerer]

No, Were are in Ohio

 

[flyplainsdrifta]

No, Were are in Ohio

Interesting. Yeah we've had a few taken down by winter weather in the past in the midwest during icy windy times. Had one just get absolutely shredded in Minnesota that was right off the water. Froze in an icestorm and the winds picked up that night and just tore it to pieces. As DL said, street banners vs weather (winter weather in particular), is so unpredictable, every time we think we make it bulletproof, the weather just throws another new thing to worry about.

 

[tulsagraphics]

There has been incidents where street banners actually hold up and take down light poles, or even pull anchors and bricks right out of buildings. Street banners are among the most unpredictable, because mother nature is capable of throwing curve balls that you'll never anticipate, and winds channeled down streets between buildings can make them more intense.

^This. You want your signs / banners to hold up, but not at the expense of property damage. Instead of overbuilding the banner / hardware, it's better to create a safer "breakaway" system so you can minimize damage and control "how" it fails. (kind of how the RS-3 carabiners work for stadiums to prevent tents / netting from destroying structures) -- perhaps stronger fasteners on top, but weaker ones on bottom, so when there is a failure only the (easily replaceable) hardware breaks. Better chance of saving the banner that way too.

 

[citysignshop]

This has been a discussion since the beginning of time!.....I can't believe that the 'standard' is still to cut slits in the banner!....we see this even on fences, where the slits can't even open! I'll try to attach my take on banner hanging, much of it learned from the sign dept. in a nearby windy city!

After a lot of failures ....and potential hazard to the public and property, they manufactured poles with pulleys at the top, and bob-weights inside the pole, which was an excellent solution, albeit with some initial cost....but it effectively Dumps the wind load when needed, saving the banner and poles from stress and harmonic vibrations, without compromising the integrity of the banner itself! (Yeah, I used to be an injunear!)

 

[dannyd1962]

A banner is meant to withstand wind and the temperatures, unfortunately, Mother Nature has other plans....
These failures are not on you!

 

[LarryB]

We only offer over the street net banners from Dixie flag. We have never had an issue where they failed.

 

[WishIWereRunning]

This has been a discussion since the beginning of time!.....I can't believe that the 'standard' is still to cut slits in the banner!....we see this even on fences, where the slits can't even open! I'll try to attach my take on banner hanging, much of it learned from the sign dept. in a nearby windy city!

After a lot of failures ....and potential hazard to the public and property, they manufactured poles with pulleys at the top, and bob-weights inside the pole, which was an excellent solution, albeit with some initial cost....but it effectively Dumps the wind load when needed, saving the banner and poles from stress and harmonic vibrations, without compromising the integrity of the banner itself! (Yeah, I used to be an injunear!)

<graphic>

This is a great response. I cringe when I see people still using wind slits - for exactly the reasons outlined here.

I came here to post a comment about shock lines. I haven't used anything like that, but I envision something like the spring built into a chain on a screen door. Do they make these specifically for banners? Where do you get them? I'd love to learn more about bob lines, too. Is there a good source for more info?