I’d appreciate your help

[Jason Xuereb]

43 degrees today.

fitting vinyl outdoors everything has to be app taped so nothing stretches and distorts.

Didn’t fit anything today but have fitted in similar coniditions. without the app tape nearly turned into an utter mess.

[Shane Drew]

43 Deg c !! And here I was complaining it was 39 deg c in my shed.

A few deaths I see in the news too Jason, all very sad really. If its not too hot its too cold 🙄

Thanks mate
Shane

[Robert Lambie]

Some deaths here too… 😕 all opposite reasons though…

we need make sure everything is taped up too jason…BUT… because its so cold the vinyl is shattering and breaking into bits on contact with the vans/sign surface. 😕 :lol1:

it hasnt stopped us fitting work completely, but has quartered the amount that can be. the work we can get done has slowed down allot also due to the cold and making things a nightmare for the fitters.
signage is getting done but slowly, vehicles are almost a no-go unless fitted in our own place.

[Shane Drew]

quote Robert Lambie:

Some deaths here too… 😕 all opposite reasons though…

we need make sure everything is taped up too jason…BUT… because its so cold the vinyl is shattering and breaking into bits on contact with the vans/sign surface. 😕 :lol1:

it hasnt stopped us fitting work completely, but has quartered the amount that can be. the work we can get done has slowed down allot also due to the cold and making things a nightmare for the fitters.
signage is getting done but slowly, vehicles are almost a no-go unless fitted in our own place.

do you have heated fitting bays rob? I guess there is a running cost to that too.

[John Childs]

quote Shane Drew:

do you have heated fitting bays rob? I guess there is a running cost to that too.

We have heat in our fitting bay.

We have a row of infra-reds down both sides to heatup the sides of vans. That’s usually enough but, today, we’ve got the 17kW gas blower going as well.

As Rob says, it does slow things down a lot, and it’s come just as we start two weeks intensive van re-branding for a new customer. 🙁

And yes, there most certainly is a running cost!

[Jill Marie Welsh]

I have a lovely overhead gas heater in my garage, I can make my work area as warm and toasty as my house.
Problem is, it adds about $400/month to my heating bill. I have not used it in 4 years.
So I assemble signs and banners on my dining room table in the cold months.
At the moment I have a 4’x8′ alumalite there which will be double-sided and have painted accents. It just plain takes the paint too long to dry in cold weather, even if I did turn the garage heater back on.
I also have a table set up in the basement if need be.
Yesterday when I woke up it was -8°.
For fitting vehicles in winter I try to arrange to do it at the customer’s place, although I have rented out a heated garage or two for a nominal fee.
Love….Jill

[Shane Drew]

Thanks John and Jill,

How do you work around the storing of your stock in the extreme temps.

I know John stores his in the room with the workers, so one assumes that the room is warm, but do you experience any issues with stock getting too cold and damaged.

I guess you store them in the cardboard boxes?

Given that the materials have a temperature range that they should be used within, is it something you are conscious of, or do you fit anyway and hope for the best?

[Phill Fenton]

When the snow first hit, our biggest problem was getting vans into the unit. We had to put off a few vehicles just before Christmas and scheduled these to be done on the Tuesday between Christmas and New year (we had originally planned to be off then but decided to come in to play catch up). Come the Tuesday morning another heavy batch of snow meant we had to spend an hour or so with shovels digging a track into the unit to get the vans in. Then once inside – as the snow melted the floor became waterlogged.

Exterior wise – I have a number of signs that were supposed to have been fitted prior to the christmas break that are still waiting to be installed 😕

[Martin Pearson]

I couldn’t even get near my unit with the car lfor most of last week, the unit is on a small road that leads up to a set of farm gates so it’s not a road that gets a lot of traffic or the Council grit.
Cost of heating makes a huge difference to someone like me who just work on their own especially at this time of the year when it has to be on for most of the day to allow you to work.
What I have found is that if I am just working in the office it isn’t to bad as I have a small oil filled electric radiator in there and as the office is very small it heats up quickly and doesn’t cost a fortune to keep warm. If I have any other sort of work to do then I have to heat the rest of the workshop, I have an area for vehicles, work benches, substrate storage, tools and other machinery but it isn’t divided up at all so I need to try and heat the whole place. Tried microwave heaters as John suggested and they are Ok for heating up something like the side of a van but I didn’t find them that good when trying to heat an area you were working in and space heaters kick out a lot of dust so I use a gas heater that has a head on it like a household gas heater so it’s just giving off radiant heat not circulating it as such.

[Jill Marie Welsh]

My paint is stored in a metal cabinet out in the garage, it’s all enamel based so even if it freezes (I don’t think it does) it’s still good.
I store all my vinyls in the original boxes in my office, which is heated with a small electric heater.

[Shane Drew]

Thanks friends 🙂