Removing and replacing decals
Has anyone removed old decals and replaced them with new ones? How did it go? What is your recommendations for such activity?
Forum Discussion
I've done it, but I also am fortunate that I know people in the sign business. I used a heat gun and plastic razor blades. There's an art to heating the vinyl enough to loosen the adhesive and not overheating the vinyl to where it stretches like warm taffy. Just to clarify, the warm taffy is not a good thing. On the severely sun cracked decals it's really difficult and time consuming to remove.
After the decals were removed I used Goof off to remove the remaining adhesive. Then washed the trailer with water and hand dishwashing soap. Before you try to install a decal wipe the area off with 70 or 90% rubbing alcohol.
My recommendation is kind of dependent on your trailer construction.
Go for it if you have smooth sides and some experience with installing stickers without bubbles. Use a spray of water and dishwashing soap to moisten the trailer and the back of the decal. This allows you to move the decal around and squeegee the air bubbles out before it becomes permanent.
Use a tool like a credit card wrapped in a bit of terry cloth to smooth the vinyl to the surface.
If you have a big bubble that you just can't push the bubble to an edge, you can poke a tiny hole in the bubble and squeeze the water out through the hole. You'll never see the hole once it all dries.
BUT, if you have corrugated sides do the removal work and then hire someone to install the new graphics. Trying to stretch over the corrugations is not easy. I had a guy with may many years doing graphic installs put my graphics on. It looks great, but it took him over 6 hours to replace all the vinyl.
If you can't find replacement graphics call a few sign shops in your area for a quote. They will need to measure and cut the new graphics. They will also be able to do the install though they will probably call a third party in to do the work.
Take a lot of clear pictures from all sides as well as front and back before you begin. It will really help when the time comes to figuring out exactly where the replacements go.
I also stripped the graphics and used my trailer FEMA style (no graphics) for many months. It looked better than leaving it with the cracked graphics that came off.
In the end my trailer is 14 years old and with the new graphics it looks like new again. I guarantee that I could pass a 10 year rule inspection unless they demanded to see the registration.
I was told that for a regular customer the price would be about $1,200 - $1,500. I don't remember if that included the new graphics or just the install. but I think it was with cutting the new graphics as well.
After the decals were removed I used Goof off to remove the remaining adhesive. Then washed the trailer with water and hand dishwashing soap. Before you try to install a decal wipe the area off with 70 or 90% rubbing alcohol.
My recommendation is kind of dependent on your trailer construction.
Go for it if you have smooth sides and some experience with installing stickers without bubbles. Use a spray of water and dishwashing soap to moisten the trailer and the back of the decal. This allows you to move the decal around and squeegee the air bubbles out before it becomes permanent.
Use a tool like a credit card wrapped in a bit of terry cloth to smooth the vinyl to the surface.
If you have a big bubble that you just can't push the bubble to an edge, you can poke a tiny hole in the bubble and squeeze the water out through the hole. You'll never see the hole once it all dries.
BUT, if you have corrugated sides do the removal work and then hire someone to install the new graphics. Trying to stretch over the corrugations is not easy. I had a guy with may many years doing graphic installs put my graphics on. It looks great, but it took him over 6 hours to replace all the vinyl.
If you can't find replacement graphics call a few sign shops in your area for a quote. They will need to measure and cut the new graphics. They will also be able to do the install though they will probably call a third party in to do the work.
Take a lot of clear pictures from all sides as well as front and back before you begin. It will really help when the time comes to figuring out exactly where the replacements go.
I also stripped the graphics and used my trailer FEMA style (no graphics) for many months. It looked better than leaving it with the cracked graphics that came off.
In the end my trailer is 14 years old and with the new graphics it looks like new again. I guarantee that I could pass a 10 year rule inspection unless they demanded to see the registration.
I was told that for a regular customer the price would be about $1,200 - $1,500. I don't remember if that included the new graphics or just the install. but I think it was with cutting the new graphics as well.
