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help tips for removing cast vinyl
Hi i have a friend who’s company has picked up a LWB sprinter, the problem i have is it has been wrapped around the bottom 1/4 with an orange cast vinyl, he has tried stripping it as you can see in the pic but with no joy… as any good sign maker i usually tell the customer to strip it as its a thankless task but he asked me about it and to price it, my question is is there an easier way to do this than heat and picking?? the vinyl is coming off in wee bits 🙁 would vinyl removal gel or any of these things work better?
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10 Replies
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In a situation like this I normally put the ball back in the customers court by giving him an hourly rate to remove the vinyl and explain that you do not know how long it will take until you actually come to do it.
Wallpaper strippers (steam device) are best for something like this – you can get one from Argos for about £10-£15
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quote Phill Fenton:In a situation like this I normally put the ball back in the customers court by giving him an hourly rate to remove the vinyl and explain that you do not know how long it will take until you actually come to do it.Wallpaper strippers (steam device) are best for something like this – you can get one from Argos for about £10-£15
that’s what I do Phill, tell my hourly rate and plus £5 or £10 an hour for the blisters….. it’s amazing how keen they are to remove it themselves then. I was saying to John earlier that they then usually come back with ‘clean glue’ that still needs removing, so off they go again or pay for me to finish!
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cheers guys, ive never used the paint stripper idea does the steam soften it more? and hugh i know only to well about the old "i didnt get time to take the glue off" line, i dont tell them about tar & glue remover 🙂
he got a quote of a firm up where he is that has been doing their work for yrs and they came in with £575 + VAT
on the other hand i had another call from a different client today saying he had his man out stripping a cab of a lorry and its taking the paint off, could i cover it for them, glad i dodged that removal job 🙂
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lol, removing reflective is worst. i did some at a body shop and the owner of the recovery trucks -to keep costs down, decided to help as he’s done it before. time we met in the middle of the bonnet he’d gouged out enough holes to use a whole tub of filler!
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Thats the problem Hugh, They usually destroy the bodywork and then expect us to hide all the damage with our magic vinyl. I offer £75.00 per hour to strip and clean and bring to a state ready to apply new livery. That usually focuses their minds. I explain how the vehicle needs to be presented for new livery and they usually let us do it as they know they cannot do it themselves.
For that vehicle John, I would say a minimum of 8 to 10 hours to get it to a position of readiness.Peter
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yeah, the latest one i mentioned he says it looks like his guy has stripped it with a bolster and lump hammer 🙁 and can i hide it all haha
not a bad idea Peter to go in at a good wedge as its not work you want so some will run and some will go for it
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When you take your car to the garage do they put the hourly rate up for jobs they don’t like doing?
I hate this form of pricing and would never band about figures like £75 an hour to a customer. A fair price for a fair job, it’s what I expect when I go to other businesses and what we always try to deliver here.
If you don’t want the work turn it away, my own feeling is that will be less harmful to your reputation.
G
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gav as i say i push it back to them as its a thankless task, the customer doesnt see the days work in it for 2 men.. i price it at an hourly rate but i also see the other side of it as price it as you dont want it, if you get it your not doing anyone a wrong turn or harming your name in any way.. at the start of the post i said the first quote he got was for £575.00 + VAT and thats from the firm they have used for years.. if you are happy to do the removals all day and hold up good jobs then fair enough but it is what it is.. this stuff is stuck like poo to a blanket and there is also the sore hands for a week after that you have to account for..
and i think you will find that car garages charge alot more than us, if you will help justify audi quoting me £105 per hour to put my car on a computer and hand me a print out……….
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I’ve done a few like this recently. I’m only a small firm but I charge £45.00 per hour or a days rate of £220.00 +VAT whichever comes first.
This is what I charge anyway & although it’s painstaking work, it’s all profit as you use no materials apart from a bit of glue remover.
The key is to get heat into the panel, not just the vinyl surface.
A bummer of a job, but hey, it’s all work.
As an aside, I do agree that as a profession, we signmakers are way way too cheap for a highly (IMO) skilled job.
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quote Gavin MacMillan:When you take your car to the garage do they put the hourly rate up for jobs they don’t like doing?
I hate this form of pricing and would never band about figures like £75 an hour to a customer. A fair price for a fair job, it’s what I expect when I go to other businesses and what we always try to deliver here.
If you don’t want the work turn it away, my own feeling is that will be less harmful to your reputation.
G
probably, yes, the bmw garage is dearer than the equally impressive audi dealer next door too. The valeters round the corner….. "any car cleaned internally for £8" or whatever it was, my mate, another valet, got a 2yr old mini in which looked like chickens had been living in it, he sent his boy round to his cut price competition with it and they refused to do it at the normal rate, wanting £40!
being serious tho… to a small degree I agree but, I can be doing far more profitable work than sat on my backside on the floor, burning my fingers with a heat gun or soaking them in chemicals while my lungs get battered by the fumes… i’m sure coshh applies somewhere here!
when i do profitable work my labour / time rate is £X amount per hour for fitting, on top of that I will make profit on the materials / the job as a whole, to be limited to just that £X amount would effectively be reducing my income to do work i don’t like doing anyway. I’m sure if i earned £X amount an hour all day every day then i wouldn’t worry about doing it but, I don’t, my time (our time) has to be used as efficiently as possible ie. do I want to do a mornings artwork and quotes which will lead to maybe £500 profit or, restrict myself to much much less? I can only do 5-6hrs a day -other than pc time -max, so it has to be as profitable as possible.
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