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Thread: Support Laminate/Backing for HDU Sign and Mounting Question Too !!

  1. #1

    Support Laminate/Backing for HDU Sign and Mounting Question Too !!

    I have just finished carving the attached design on a piece of 2", 15# HDU...Turned out Great !!
    Finished thickness ended up being an average of around 1.5", with the thinnest wingtips at around an inch. Project will be fully painted and is for exterior use. (This is my first LARGE HDU sign, so its a little different than what Im used to). This is to be mounted flat against a homes vinyl siding. I usually do 24" or so sign, so this is a big step to try a larger project for a change.

    Questions:
    1. Backing board ?? - There is a lot of conflict out there. MDO, PVC, Aluminum, regular marine ply... What are your thoughts ?? (I do understand that MDO edges need attention and how to "post" into the HDU with epoxy, etc). Concerned for stability of design and of course dont want this to warp & crack in 2 years.

    2. Mounting to the vinyl siding. Ive looked at french cleats at the top with a couple anchors towards the bottom, posting through in several locations or tension mounting between angled hangers. My concern, of course, is the stability of the narrow protrusion of the wings & banner. Any ideas, techniques or long-term success stories would be greatly appreciated.

    freedom sizes.jpg
    Thanks so much...I haven't posted much here, but the help I've received has been great !!

    Brad

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Sammamish, WA
    Posts
    7,630
    Very nice work!

    I agree that you need some stability but that will look a lot better is there nothing visible behind it.I'd use the same file to cut a piece of material contoured about 1/4" in from the edges so it doesn't show. Then adhere to the back with a good adhesive, possibly E-6000. My experience with MDO with sanded, primed and painted edges is about 5 years maximum
    before it starts to deteriorate a little and it's too thick for this application since the edges would show. if you use 1/2".
    My favorite material for stability and carefree longevity is dibond or similar, 3mm thickness would be enough. It's a sandwich of thin aluminum on both sides of PVC and cuts easily. It's probably going to run $150 for a 4x8 sheet, I used to pay about $75 but it has gone way up unless you can find a similar imported Chinese product. If you can cut it, .063 Aluminum would also work and save you about $45. As for mounting to the wall, you can use a french cleat and then for something that big I would use at least 3 screws through it. If you drill through the HDU big enough for the heads and tighten against the backing, you can plug the holes and paint to match but still find them if you ever need to take it down.



    Sammamish, WA

    Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.

    "One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher

    "The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green

  3. #3
    I have seen comments regarding warping when bonding dibond to HDU...due to the thermal expansion differences.
    Any experience on this...or are these problems few and far between ??

    Also, do you paint over the dibond after it is attached or just paint the whole hdu project, then attach it to the dibond ??

    Brad

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