How To Determine the Correct Hole Patterns for Your Yard Signs

If you have ever ordered signs and they did not fit into your old frames or on to your posts correctly, you learned the hard way about the importance of correct measurement and placement of holes on a sign panel. Different sign companies use different hole patterns so if you are using sign panels from one company and frames or posts from another company, it is very important to know how to determine the hole patterns your signs require.

If you follow these steps, you should be able to determine the correct hole pattern for your signs.

1. Position There is usually 3 positions that holes are on a sign; top, bottom, and on the side of the sign. For each position determine how many holes are needed. Normally 2 holes are needed on top and 2 holes are needed on the bottom. Some signs need side holes and others do not.

2. Quantity Most signs will need 2 holes at the top and 2 at the bottom. Some may require more.

3. Hole Size For signs that hang from a post, the standard size is 3/8 (technically 11/32 inch holes with a 3/8 inch grommet). For signs that go into an angle iron frame or fasten to the strap of a rod frame the standard size is 1/4 inch.

4. Location of the holes is important. By location, I am referring to whether the holes are centered, corner holes, or a single hole. Most signs have 2 holes centered at the top and the bottom.

5. Distance between the holes is very important. The measurement needs to be done from the center of the right hole to the center of the left hole, not the edge of the holes. A common distance between holes is 17 inches on the top and 14 ½ inches on the bottom. If you have a post with hanging hardware, it is important to measure the distance between the hardware exactly. By doing this measurement correctly, your sign panel will hang straight down on the hardware instead of veering either inward or outward because the distance between the holes on the sign is different than how the hardware hangs. If you are planning to hang riders below your sign, make sure the bottom holes of your sign match up with your riders.

6. Edge Distance For frames this measurement is especially important. Again, the measurement needs to be done from the center of the hole to the edge of the sign to determine the correct edge distance. Do not measure from the edge of the hole. A common edge distance for top hanging holes is 1/2 inch and for bottom holes 3/8 inch.

7. Grommets Last, let your sign supplier know if you require grommets on any or all of the holes of your sign.

If you follow these steps, you and your sign supplier will be speaking the same language and your signs will be ordered to fit your frames and post.

Written by Ted Crank, Sales and Marketing Manager for Lowen Sign Company

Another Lowen Milestone

Can you remember an early achievement that prepared you for life’s journey?

Whether it was making a good grade in a tough course in school or getting the lead part in a play, those milestones can be life-shaping experiences.

Successful businesses also have milestone achievements that propelled them to greater heights.

Throughout its six decades of service, Lowen Sign Company has recorded a number of milestones, including the first to introduce a lightweight steel rod frame alternative to heavy angle iron signs and the first sign company to mass produce metal signs with a shiny and durable powder coat finish.

Lowen Sign is now pleased to announce another innovation, this time in the pricing of custom-printed signs. Gone are extra charges for adding colors, photos, or changing copy. The new price tables have just one complete price at each price point for any custom printed sign.

It’s simple and cost effective. Now, you receive unlimited colors at one low cost. And, it’s not a time restricted special offer. These prices are everyday low prices.

Lowen Sign will even provide a free design if you want to upgrade your current sign layout.

For more information, visit our online catalog or call 800-545-5505.

Atomic Ranch It Is!

Atomic Ranch Homes are homes built after the Cold War. They have unique features to them and show off a post-modernism appeal. Note: This is not the house we found- our picture has been removed because we’re contract pending

The minute Adrian and I left the Atomic Ranch we had already planned on returning later that day for the Open house. We thought this would be good because other people would be there and we could overhear some of their comments.

In the mean time, we headed over to a local grocery store and checked out some home décor magazines. Yes, we were already trying to decide how we were going to decorate our Atomic Ranch.

When we got back to the house, we listened to what other people were saying. Obviously these people were too into the cookie-cutter homes that we had no interest in. Instead of being offended though, we thought, “Perfect, that means we have a chance!”

During our second walk-through we talked to the realtor who had listed the home and found out some more dirt on the home and the only con there was to hear is that the AC unit had been stolen during its time on the market. However, since the home was empty and we have several friends that live in that same neighborhood, we weren’t worried about future possible robberies. Also, in the agreement with the sellers, they had noted that they would have  professional company come back and install an AC unit once an interested buyer came about.

So we went back to the original plan and decided to sleep on it. I don’t know about Adrian, but all I did was dream about the house as I slept, so the next morning we decided that we needed to make a move.

I guess homes are kind of like wedding dresses (although we’re not married and I wouldn’t know the feeling of finding a wedding dress, I am told you should stop looking once you find the one you like.)

Soon after our decision we went through pre-approval and are currently working on the next steps. I can’t believe it’s really happening but I couldn’t be more excited!

What new homeowner advice can you share?

Until next time!

Agents Not Returning Their Signs? Here’s How To Eliminate That

When I am working trade shows or visiting with customers, I often hear real estate broker-owners complain about their agents using a yard sign that the company has paid for, but not returning it back to the office when the listing is sold. While this scenario is good for the sign business, I am not going to celebrate this as a way for us to sell more signs. I would certainly be frustrated if I were a broker-owner having to buy more signs just because I had agents not take care of the ones my real estate company provided them to use.

I would like to share with you what some of our customers have told me they have done to avoid signs not getting returned by agents.

1. You can implement a check-out system where an agent must check out a sign from an administrative assistant that is in charge of signage. Once the listing has been off the market for a desired period of time, the agent is required to check the sign back in. If the sign does not come back, the agent pays for it. I know a few companies that even keep their signs in a locked room or garage with only the administrative assistant and the      broker-owner having keys to the sign storage area.
2. It is becoming more common for agents to purchase their own signs. There are a lot of advantages to doing this. The agents will most likely take better care of signs they have purchased themselves. If you go with this practice, the agents can also place their names and contact information directly on their signs rather than using riders for names and phone numbers. Then the riders can have additional information about Virtual      Tours, QR Codes, or other messages about the home.
3. You can use a sign installer than not only installs and removes signs on your listings, but also stores your signs. You can even have your signs shipped directly to the installer.
4. You can hire an employee to do the job of sign installation and that employee can be in charge of anything to do with your signage such as storage, keeping the signs clean, and organizing the signs so you have an idea of what you have in inventory as far as riders, open house signs, listing signs, etc.

The last point I would like to make is that I am not suggesting that real estate agents are unorganized or careless. They are hard working people that often have so much going on that it is hard to keep track of everything. If you implement one of the above strategies, I think everyone will work in a more organized way with your signs.

- Ted Crank

Sales and Marketing Manageer

Removing 3M Edge Sealer

What do you do when you have completely removed the vinyl and window perf from your customer’s vehicle and you only have a little edge sealer to remove?  Well I checked online and never found anything on edge sealer removal so I checked with our Lowen Certified/3M Preferred training instructor , Ray, and he gave me some tips.

1. Be extremely careful of the cars paint .  Edge sealer is a permanent sealing solution for vinyl edges that are vulnerable when exposed to moisture and really doesn’t have a common removal procedure .
2. Test the chemicals I am going to recommend for removal in an inconspicuous place to be certain you don’t damage the vehicle.
3. Here are a few chemicals that have the best chance removing the permanent edge sealer. The best to least effective. Xylene or Xylol( same stuff),  Acetone, 3M thinner CGS 80, Lacquer      thinner and 3M Citrus Cleaner.
4. Follow the labels direction on application.
5. Don’t expect it to rinse right off. It will take some effort.
6. Good Luck!

- Dennis

If you’re interested in learning more tips and tricks for vehicle wraps or other vinyl applications, sign up for one of our training classes today!

Somtimes House Hunting Throws You Off Guard

Well in my last blog I talked about how we were going to take a break from house searching because we weren’t finding what we were looking for. Instead of doing that, I still continued to look and even met up with a person who was looking to put her home on the market soon. We had several conversations back and forth, which really pumped me up about seeing this cute bungalow-style home.

The day finally came where the house was ready for us to see. I will tell you, the seller is super motivated and put in a lot of work to make sure that the house was ready to go. We called our realtor and scheduled a viewing. When we got there we walked around and saw all the great features. The house even fit most of my criteria, as mentioned in my previous blog.

The house was in a great neighborhood, had a basement that could be fixed up, roomy and easy flow through the whole house. However, there was still a lot that we would want to do to it in order to update it further so it was decided that this super cute house wasn’t the one for us.

Fortunately, our realtor had spotted another house nearby that she though would be a perfect fit for us. We agreed to go see it and immediately we fell in love. The house fit our criteria, plus so much more. The home had been on the market for almost a year and is very well maintained.

We were so surprised; we didn’t really expect to find a house that day. We thought we would see something that we liked and then see where the universe wanted us to go.  But we were thrown off guard, because it was hard NOT to love this home.

One of the features that struck us the most is that there is so much natural light that flows through the house. And to tack on the extra energy savings, there’s a wood burning fire stove instead of a fireplace as well!  The back yard is a great size and even comes with a built-in deck with a wrap- around bench.

We’ve already started reading up on this magazine. There’s a lot of great ideas, however we’re going to tone down the colors….at least we think.

The house is labeled as an “Atomic Ranch,” which fits our style perfectly. We want something that has a character that can accept our style. We decided after seeing the house that we would sleep on it and see what we wanted to do. We’d have to make a decision quick though, because the house dropped in price and it was going to be a hot commodity.

The search is starting to get exciting! Can’t wait to update you further.

“I Want to Make a Class Statement With My Brand”

And to do that, this REALTOR® decided to go with a vehicle wrap. J.P. Finley, with RE/MAX Choice, told our vehicle wrap designer that he not only wanted to make a class statement with his brand, but also that he wanted, “to be able to pull up to the valet parker at the Opera in a wrapped vehicle that doesn’t look gaudy.”

The graphic below is what we ended up with. It’s a partial wrap that incorporates the lines of the vehicle, but also advertised his company in a pleasing way. What do you think?

Also, with vehicle wraps, they can easily accommodate to change. When Finley decided he wanted to ditch the Venza and drive a Mercedes, our vehicle wrap designer was able to take the previous design and re-work it to fit the new auto body type. Below is a sketch of what the vehicle would look like.

Vehicle wraps don’t always have to be over the top designs with crazy colors; they can be elegant, professional and classy. Do you use vehicle wraps for your marketing?

Follow the conversation at Facebook.com/LowenSignCompany