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  • 1.  Metal Suggestion please

    Posted 08-29-2018 11:42
    We have a super cool Murals and Mosaics club on our campus and for the past year they have been painting some beautiful murals around our campus.  

    They are painting a very large Shakespeare mural for me to put on the side of my auditorium.  They want to paint it on four 4X8 sheets of metal and then secure it to the building.

    Can anyone suggest what kind of metal sheets I should be looking for, where is the best place to find this product, and any suggestions for type of paint to use to withstand the Arizona heat and monsoons?

    Thanks in advance!

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    Jeana Whitaker
    Theatre Director
    Mesa AZ
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  • 2.  RE: Metal Suggestion please

    Posted 08-29-2018 12:36
    On something like this, my first reaction would be to talk to a couple of local outdoor signage companies and see what they say. 

    You not only have the metal itself (I would guess galvanized sheet metal) and the primer and paint to deal with, but also the supporting frame if any, the location on the building and how they will be secured to the surface or the structure, how much of a standoff you need to allow water to drain down the back side, whether you need to allow for expansion and contraction of the metal, and similar variables.

    In this day and age, I would make sure my i's are dotted and my t's are crossed before moving forward with this.

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    George F. Ledo
    Set designer
    www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
    www.georgefledo.net
    http://astore.amazon.com/sdtbookstore-20
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Metal Suggestion please

    Posted 08-30-2018 19:26
    My first thought would have been aluminum, but with a concern for issues such as expansion/contraction, rigidity, material spec, and surface prep. You'd have to find a willing architect or structural engineer to help you calculate expansion, consider the other issues, and to deal with anchor hardware. Plus, priming and painting on aluminum properly will make some difference in longevity. Aluminum might cost more depending on the thickness you decide you need, but an 1/8" sheet of a common grade should cost less than $100. Until I thought about common diamond plate steel, I would have rejected steel. This is the stuff they use to build pickup truck tool boxes. Consider painting on the back. If you can actually find a volunteer architect or engineer, it would be worth considering both. With steel, even standard galvanized, you might eventually deal with rust. It will add to the cost, but stainless steel might be considered. Oh, aluminum comes in diamond plate, too!  If you have a friendly welder, they might be able to reinforce thinner sheets of steel with angle iron enough to hang with pretty standard hardware. Even if attached properly to galvanized sheets, with angle iron be aware of environmental issues like rust where the framing is left inaccessible on the back of the panels. A good welder is likely to understand enough of these issues if you use the common materials, but there is no substitute for the type of experts mentioned above.

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    Tom Hird
    Hayward CA
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    Original Message


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