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HansonSigns

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Everything posted by HansonSigns

  1. How blessed is your life! Thanks for sharing!
  2. Yeah, we don't have a plastic recycler anymore either, so it gets dumptserized. Same with our wood, but we do have a few locals that come out and get some of the usable stuff for sheds/coops etc. And we have taken sign faces home for yard projects (around the bottom of my green house). It is a shame that so much gets tossed.
  3. I would never complain about a FREE website that has provided me with so much awesome/useful and in some cases MONEY SAVING information. And I, too, like the new format. Thanks for everything, Erik!
  4. I happened to be on Signweb (horrible forum site, but I had time to cruse thru the crap to find some relevant posts) that ImageWorks is out of business? We haven't done anything for them lately, I was just wondering if it's true...
  5. Exactly the same in Washington State - the ones who play by the rules get the shaft with fees/inspections etc. There are a few cities that work with us but the majority just want their $$.
  6. Sign Shop CnC / Printer Production (Silverdale) compensation: DOE / Health, Dental, Vision. employment type: full-time Mon. -- Fri. 7:30 am -- 4:00 pm. No nights or weekends required Duties Include: • Large Format Printing (Roland Printer) – Some experience preferred.. • Laminating Digital Prints • Plotting, Weeding and Transfer Taping Cut Vinyl • Trimming Prints to size • Apply printed and cut vinyl onto various substrates • Vehicle and Window graphic installation • Knowledge & use of CnC router • Be well organized & punctual Typical Physical Demands: • Ability to stand for long periods of time • Must be able to lift 40 + pounds (for loading and unloading vinyl rolls) • Be able to lean over a waist-high table and use back and forth hand motions to apply vinyl lettering and graphics to a substrate. Please send resume to nancy.bergATwavecable.com
  7. We got a 1999 Ford 30' bucket truck - it's really a spare truck incase we need a hand with installs or service. Not a bad deal, and I80 did drive it out here (we are in Washington).
  8. We got a 1999 Ford 30' bucket truck - it's really a spare truck incase we need a hand with installs or service. Not a bad deal, and I80 did drive it out here (we are in Washington).
  9. Well, aside from needing a new battery and some minor wiring repairs, the truck we bought works great for our needs. So- good experience for us!
  10. We had a company come out and pick it up whenever we had a pile. We didn't get paid for it but they did all the work. Unfortunately they aren't doing it any more. Now it's just trashed.
  11. We have a graphtec - our designer hates it, says it misspells words and gets scales wrong... He had his own one man shop before he came here and has a summa and absolutely loves it.
  12. Wasn't that part of ImagePoint's downfall? and I have a form that asks for net 45 - in writing -with a signature. Lien if not paid in 60 days and the lien fees will be added to their invoice. I've not had to do it yet, but if someone goes over the 60 day mark they become a pay up front customer. And if they won't sign it we don't work for them.
  13. Eric, we didn't use our sign associations - it seemed like we were just sending money out for nothing. Then we found out some interesting programs. Our local county was changing the sign code and we had lots of input. Long involved process, but ISA had all the info in the right order and actually sent out James Carpentier to go thru the ordinances and attend meetings. That was a huge benefit! And our local sign association (NorthWest Sign Council) is trying to get cities on board with an engineering program - they have engineering specs for signs, so if the city/county will accept it, we can use it at $70 versus $200-$300 for a "wet stamp" engineer report. NWSC also sends us weekly safety meeting sheets and keeps us informed of any city/county code changes. There are more programs in place, we just never made the effort to contact anyone about them. I've looked in the RCW/WAC codes for Washington state and still can't determine if it's legal for out of state contractors to hire us to work. But we do it for nationals that we like - the ones who pay on time, send us QUALITY product and have all the testing lab labels. We won't install crap. We always prefer installing signs we make in our shop. We had a great year last year and this year looks to be even better.
  14. We do charge for travel time, but they try hard to eliminate it. One of the most frustrating aspects of our job is our state Labor & Industries. We have to have so many licenses just to walk out the door it's silly. and in Washington state, we can work on parking lot lights and replace like-for-like parts, but we can't replace the entire fixture with - say - an LED fixture. And the rules get interpreted by each inspector (especially the newbies) differently. That's a real buzz kill.
  15. We are also busier - to the point of looking for more employees. Our guys are very well paid also and moral here is generally good. But I totally understand about the requirements from the national sign companies - my techs absolutely HATE those call in/call out requirements. The nationals do that so we can't charge them time to travel to the sites. And those low "NTE"s just kill me. They always say to call from the jobsite if the NTE needs to be adjusted. We don't have our techs EVER quote prices for the customer, the techs can call the office with what they need and we call the customer - and most of the time can't get an ok to do the work, so they have to pay another trip fee. Just ridiculous to spend time sitting at a jobsite waiting for an ok when we have so much work to do. I actually prefer photos of the sign working - a manager's signature doesn't mean much because most of the time the managers don't even know the sign is out. Since we all have smart phones now I just signed us up for DropBox and we can easily download the photos now. But it is pricey. Then again, what in this business isn't?
  16. We have been asked by Tom from Trac Services to do some work at a local gas station. Seems like a reasonable guy, but we have not worked for these people before. Their website is the worst - much of it is badly worded (the website must have been developed overseas, the syntax is poor). We have not received a purchase order, but I just got a call from them verifying our physical address as they are sending us the product. In the background I heard a woman, obviously talking on a telephone, saying "Well I hope we have the money". So - I was hoping someone had done business with these folks and could let me know how it went. In advance thanking you I am!
  17. There is a company called signsearch - www.signsearch.com. THey are pretty handy, and I know lots of national companies use it. We pay $288 for the year and have always had enough Sales from the contacts to pay for itself. YP and Dex don't know beans.....
  18. I think we received the same info from a national co to do work for a teeny tiny budget. We bid on work for our local store, at our price (not their stated budgeted amount) and refused work on the other locations they wanted. We haven't heard back from them. In Washington State, you have to be a licensed crane operator; rigger & signalman licensed; licensed electrician with 24 hours of continuing education every three years, CDL driver for your crane truck, 1st aid card and a few more I can't recall. To install signs in most of the municipalities here, the signs have to be national testing lab certified (UL, Met, etc) shop. Our crane has to be certified every year.... not to mention that our labor & industry (workers comp) rates for our install crew is about $3 / hour.... add all the needed insurances, pay scales and benefits and there is no way we could work with some of these little budgets. Oh, and the shop has to have an electrical administrator (who oversees the rules and makes sure they are followed), electrical contractors license, construction contractor license, state business license, license for every incorporated city and county,and pay taxes for everything and everyone.......
  19. I thought I posted this a week ago, but we bought the S14 LED lights for a customers sign to replace the incandescent chasing lights. Everyone remarks on how cleanly the lights chase now - truly instant on/instant off, and nice and bright. I'll try to get a photo to post. Thanks, Erik!
  20. Well, we just bought the LED Utopia S14 bulbs for one of our customers - he has chasing lights on his sign and you know incandescent lights just don't last. These are great - everyone remarks how bright they are when they come on, it's a nice clean transition when they go off and on. I'll try to get a photo of the sign. The customer is VERY happy!
  21. Even if you don't want to read the book State of Fear by Michael Crichton, read the appendix - it's a free download online, and there's interesting stuff on his website. “Why Politicized Science is Dangerous”
  22. I did one once. When they got work at the site (a popular electronics store) they said we charged too much and got someone else to fix it. I was foolish to think it would pan out, but ... live and learn!
  23. Found this on HomeAdvisor.com - TNT Complete Facility Care, Inc.4.68 | 10 Verified Ratings Write a Review 224-245-4452PO Box 6017 Elgin, IL 60121 It seems like they are a home repair place... I don't know if this is helpful. Good Luck!
  24. Fortunately, the company who subbed a couple of those out to us paid us (SignsPlus NW !) pretty quickly. I hope they got paid!
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