Rocco

Has anyone ever dealt with these folks? They have a Wilkie 52 that I'm interested in buying but I'd like to know if they are good people to deal with. Thanks for any input.

Congrats on 30! I've found some interesting things in holes, but that tops my list by a good margin.

What they are banking on is that they WON'T get the same response from everyone. IIRC the quote is "there's a sucker born every minute" and these nationals are figuring that there are sign companies that open every day. Go fix a XXXXXXX sign for us and some newbie will bite because that's a "great account to have", or so they think until they don't get paid. And yes, I do love the "we have XXX budgeted for this job". One recent "emergency" service call with a budget was to fix an interior neon sign (obvious broken unit) that was 104 miles away from me - each way. Their budget was ~$300.00 and they wanted it done in one day.

You folks are making me want to move someplace sane. I've been asking account execs as well as the responses here and it seems to just be a northeastern US thing - for now. At least I charge by the hour for permitting (with costs additional) so it's not all bad. It's getting so that on small jobs the permitting can be more expensive than the actual work.

In my area, we have to get permits and sealed plans for most anything, even inside malls. Heck, we recently had to get sealed plans on a set of FCO letters behind a cashwrap inside a store. Total size 24" x 60". It's all a case of CYA. The township doesn't want to be responsible for saying that the design is acceptable. They require sealed plans so the finger can be pointed at the engineer, who would point at us. It's all due to huge legal fees, lawsuits, judgements, etc IMHO. The first thing that people think is "who can I sue" after they trip over their own two feet. Maybe old Will was right - ''The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers,'' "

We all know that just about every outdoor sign requires a permit of some sort. Permits are the bane of my existance some weeks (months, decades) but I manage. My question is about permits inside malls. In my area, most municipalities (but not all) require a building permit with the occasional township wanting a zoning permit as well. I cover most of NJ, eastern PA plus the northern half of DE. What about the rest of the country and Canada? I'm not so concerned about the details or difficulty, just if needing a permit inside a mall is more common than not. I'm asking because recently a few account execs have acted surprised that permits inside a mall would be required. One just didn't believe me and wanted to 'check with the mall' even after I gave her the name/phone number of the local construction officer. Whats it like in your neck of the woods? Are permits required inside malls or not?

Thanks folks. I'll make some phone calls. I could get them from a wholesaler, but am still not sure if I'm "allowed" but we will see.

I got an RFQ from an architectural firm for a Sprint store in a mall. They want a cost to make and install the signs. BTW, it's channel letters with no specs other than " to match mall criteria" (sigh) and a drawing of two elevations. I'm not an approved Sprint fabricator and so would want to pass this to whoever has the Sprint account. Hopefully I can get the installation work. Anyone know who does these signs these days?

1960 (yes really) 85' skyhook HD crane for parts or restoration or... Mounted on a 1985 Chevy truck - not running. Manual outriggers. The crane is set up to run on 24V but will need a pair of new 12V batteries (darn thieves) to operate. With new batteries it operated all day without needing a re-charge. The tubes are straight but the beast needs an overhaul (cables, wiring, etc). This was used regularly til the truck died. However, it's more involved to restore this than I have the time/inclination for right now. Lincoln welder generator is also available separately. Photos on request. Located in Pennsauken NJ - 08110. Price - $2500.00 OBO call Rocco @ 856-663-6001

And here I was going to complain about having to be outside last week for a night job where it was a wonderful 9 degrees when we got to the jobsite. That was almost tropical compared to a -48 windchill.

The FAA may contact you and ask you to turn it down a bit. ;) Nice rig.

JJ Kane has regular auctions just outside of Phila. Of course it's buyer beware at an acution but when I drive past thier lot (off the turnpike near Norristown) and they have loads of trucks when thier sale day is drawing near.

"To obtain a State Sign Contractor’s License the company must be represented by a Master Sign Electrician (12,000 hours of training minimum)," From thier site. That can't be true. 12K hours is 1500 eight hour days = six years at 40/hr week. Perhaps you can file a complaint with state about false licensing claims? However I know nothing about TX licensing so that could actually be technically correct - i.e. 12k hours of working in the trade = "training"?? Also, thier "quality certified sign technician" link brings you back to thier website or rather thier .org site. Some people! I hope that your lawyers gets you some gratification.

We have Harleysville (and thier various subsideries) for all of our insurance although I don't know if they do all areas of the country. The only company that I would recommend against is CNA.

Has anyone ever worked for Burton Signworks of N Carolina? I've been asked to take over a job in mid stream and can't find any info on them on the net. Usually that's a good thing but you never know. Thanks!

I'll second the motion. Keep that insurance though I expect it's probably basic. Full Blue Cross/shield around here with prescription coverage, etc would be about $1400/month per worker.

Oops is right. I have to admit that it's actually easy to "miss" something like that if you are young and inexperienced. Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth I was about 16 and working with my Dad. I had recently gotten my drivers license as well. We had just finished a job with our 65' crane (all manual btw other than the hydraulic cylinder) and he was inside talking with the customer. I decided to show him that I was a capable adult. I put the crane up so I could pull the tubes back in, pulled in the outriggers, put the welding leads back, etc and drove the truck around to the front of the building. i sat there in the drivers seat with a smug smile on my face and just couldn't understand why he came out the door yelling at me. After a minute or so he pointed up. I hung my head out the window to see the crane straight up in the air. Oops! I was lucky that I hadn't whipped the truck around but had driven it gently or it would have ended up on its side.

Hmm, we do service for them and haven't had much of a problem. Not a huge amount, but about 8-10 calls a year. What they want you to do is go there, and start to diagnose the problem. Once you reach the NTE amount you STOP and do nothing more - this amount includes your travel back and forth btw. You can usually call them and get the NTE raised if it's not way over the amount. Say you have a ballast and four lamps which (with your travel & site time) would be $412.80 and the NTE was $275. I'm picking numbers ouf of thin air, but you prob already guessed that. You call them, explain what it will cost and they'll usually give you a verbal OK then and there. If it's way over thier NTE, you just got paid to survey the sign for a future service call. You would go back and issue a written quote, they submit it to the customer and then you go back and finish everything up, including your first trip charge. A couple of times we did not go back and finish the call but were always paid for the first trip. It has been a couple of months since we did anything for them, so things might have changed. They are a bit picky about the paperwork requirements, require before/after photos and you need to call in/out. Also, they deduct $7 (or is it $10?) from the invoice for "overhead", but it's easy to deal with that. Now I have never done anything 50 miles away for them, so that might be part of the issue. I'd call and discuss it with person issuing the work order. Of course if you can't reach an agreement, then you just don't go. YMMV

I haven't read the whole thread but... In the Phila area you can be a one man/woman owner operator and also a member of the sheet metal union. It's a bit of a complicated affair in this area. I personally have a shop (good ahead and google me) and all of the expenses that go with it. Quite often I think I'd be better off working out of a large garage from home. If you don't fabricate (I still do a bit of this and that), but just do service and installations you don't need a large shop. No Landlord to pay, no building insurance, no need to heat/cool XXXX square feet, etc. Darn that sounds good right now when I need to call and order heating oil. There are a number of small operations around the Phila area. I think that the union reps are hoping that someone will become the next Persona. I too am in need of a web site, but it's just another of those things that I'll do when I "find a spare moment." However those "spare moments" as rare as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and I just can't see myself paying anyone to do it for me. I'm cheap, I admit it.

Wow, I wish I could get $5 each, let alone $25. On my last scrap run we got about 10 cents a pound though scrap was low at the time. Has copper gone back up high again? Phillip, to be quite honest, I wouldn't want the old transformers even if you gave them to me. "back in the day," my dad would send me out quite often to put in a used transformer as way to save a customer some money. At least 90% of the time I was back within a couple of weeks/months (or even days) putting in a new one and all we got was an annoyed customer. I'm sure that these are in great shape, but I won't put in a used part due to those experiences. I use my old transformers as weights around the shop when I glue something up. I'll be doing just that tomorrow morning.

This hits it right on the head. Say "LED" to someone and it's immediately assumed that it must be miles better than old fashioned neon lighting. I've had more than one customer ask about retrofitting a sign from neon to LED's and they have already assumed that the LED's will cost next to nothing to run. Add in the labor costs and most retrofit jobs need to be very carefully examined to be worthwhile. There is one thing that does "help" with the cost, at least in a public relations way. You can get much positive press for changing to a "green" lighting solution even if it isn't really worthwhile. I'd bet that Genesee Beer got lots of free advertising this way. ;)

TBH, table saws are pretty dangerous, especially when the guards are removed. In fact, I can't remember being in someone's shop who hasn't removed the guard. My father lost part of two fingers to a table saw by being careless so I know first hand (no pun intended) that the results of a table saw accident really are gruesome. What Big Brother will eventually come up with will surely add to the cost of these saws. However, if it adds $50 (or even $250) to the average saw cost it will probably end up as a net win given the huge cost of health care, especially emergency room fees. When I get back later today I'll have to find MY guard and put it back in place. Thanks for the reminder. IIRC there is a product that will stop a saw in mili-seconds if the blade comes in contact with a body part. And no, I don't recall how they made it work. They had a video showing someone touching a hot dog to spinning blade and the saw stopped without cutting through the doggie. I think the cost was around $250 as an add on, but would be much cheaper if produced in mass quantities. I'll have to try to remember to research it and post a link here. Keepinig all my fingers will be worth the money to me.

OMG. For some reason my browser showed this as a current thread. Sorry about that. BTW - I still like Dewalt better than Makita, but I'm well known to be quite weird. ;)

I have several of these drills. While they will never take the place of my Hilti, they are great for a few tapcons, etc. Next time get one of kits. I have bought several and the last one included the hammer drill and the impact driver for about $75 more than the drill alone. The driver is much lighter but still powerful enough to set lags, drive 4" screws, etc. Of course then you'll need the saws-all, light, angle grinder, etc. At last count I think I have four chargers and 9 or 10 batteries plus loads of tools. My only prob with Dewalt is that the batteries wear out after a few years of hard use. Hmm, I don't have the radio. That will go on MY xmas list this year!

I don't know the exact reason why Ocean Decided to leave NJ, but I don't think that the cost of electricity is the only reason. Property taxes (though I expect they get a huge break from the local township) are really high in NJ and have been going up regularly. As an example my home property taxes have gone from ~$3500 in 2000 to ~$6700 this year. OK, so that might not be much compared to L.A. or NYC but for a 1/4 acre lot in 08110 that's been quite a jump. Also, auto insurance costs are very high. I've been told that NJ has the highest auto insurace rates in the nation, though that is just via hearsay. I will ask my insurance agent when I see him tomorrow to sign the paperwork for my annual renewal. My business ins package has "only" gone up $500 this year. Sigh. Then there is the cost of living in NJ, in general. I regularly work in Allentown PA, have family who have lived in that area, and can tell you that it's much cheaper for an individual to live there. OK, so that doesn't directly effect the company, but they can hire local workers who will accept a lower wage scale because thier cost if living is less. Plus IIRC there isn't as much of a union presence in Allentown. Yes, most places say that they are business friendly, but try doing business there. I haven't done any work in Bordentown in a while so I don't know what the township is like. Let's look at something we all do - get a permit for a sign. Getting a sign permit in many, many places in NJ is difficult. There are places where you get your paperwork back in a week: sometimes less. One town even approved paperwork overnight and it took 36 hours in the hospital for my heart rate to get back to normal ;) But there are places where you have to go to a review board (or two) to change the lettering over a door or, God Forbid, put up an electric sign. Then there was the town that insisted on sealed plans to install a set of styrofoam letters on the wall INSIDE a storefront behind the glass. IMHO, on average getting a permit in that part of PA is easier than in NJ. Let me stress the "on average" part. There is one town just outside of Allentown that takes about five-six weeks for a sign permit (plus reams and reams of paper) and God help Ocean spray if they moved into "name withheld to protect the annoying* township. Just because the address says "Allentown" doesn't mean that it's actually the City of Allentown. By the way, Allentown proper has the most helpful set of city officials that I've ever run into. On the other end of the scale in Pa there is Philadelphia, who couldn't care less about your permit and/or business. I've had a permit rejected in Philly because the site plan (not the sign drawings or mounting/electrical details) was off scale by the width of half a pencil line - yes, really. Has anyone noticed the recurring theme, that I HATE getting sign permits. And yes, I know folks in CA and NYC who have told me some real horror stories. Permits are the hardest part of this business anymore. The bleeping things are probably the main reason why my hairline is er, um...gone. Permit rant is now over. All in all, moving to Allentown PA is probably a good move for Ocean Spray as a company. Oh, and for the record, NJ is #11 (2008 data) on the list of most populace states. It's not a small state by any means. OK, so CA has 37 mil (about NY and FL put together) but at 8.7 mil it's not the size of say Delaware. IIRC, it's also the most densely populated state but I could be wrong there. 250 jobs is a drop in the proverbial bucket, but O.C. is a household name. Losing that name is what hurts the Gov more than anything else I'd bet. I'm not trying to be a hard case, just pointing out that NJ isn't a small state in terms of populace. Physical size on the other hand... :)