With signage installation, it’s rare to get a second chance at a great first impression. Your business’s signage is essentially a piece of branded outwork. It’s your spear to snag a customer’s attention, a call out into the wild. If it’s poorly installed, then you might lose your sign to the weather or vandalism. Worse, a poor installation can undercut the effectiveness of a gorgeous piece of signage altogether.
So, how do you handle a signage installation? That depends on the type of sign you’re dealing with and the resources you have available. In this guide, we’ll break down how we handle signage installation as a professional team, and give you a few tips to think about as a business owner.
Start with the right foundation.
Every good signage installation begins long before anyone touches a drill or a ladder. The prep work matters just as much as the final fixture. When we look at a site, the first thing we assess is the environment where your sign will be situated.
Sun exposure, prevailing wind, foot traffic, wall structure, and surrounding architecture; it all matters. A sign that thrives on a sheltered brick facade might struggle on a narrow, high-wind corner, so it’s important that we understand the spot where the sign is going as much as possible.
As a business owner, this is worth thinking through before you sign off on anything. Where will people first see your business? What angle are they approaching from? How visible is that space at different times of day? All of this will shape how the signage installation should go.
Choose the right method for the sign you’ve got.
Your exterior signage installation will vary depending on the kind of sign you’ve got. For example, a light ACM panel is very different from a chunkier 3D-fabricated sign, a window graphic, or a freestanding pylon. If you’ve worked with a team to design and fabricate your sign, chances are they’ll handle the installation, so the pressure will be off you.
But if you’re working on your own, then you’ll need to know whether your sign needs structural fixing, adhesives, drilled anchors, or custom bracketing to keep it in place.
Some signage installation projects need exact measurements, down to the millimetre, so that they can sit level. Others need carefully plotted alignment so they don’t fight the architecture around them. And some require electrical compliance checks if they’re illuminated or backlit.
All of these aspects likely factored into the sign’s design in the first place, but if you didn’t go through a signwriter to create your signage, then these are all factors that will impact your installation method.
Prioritise your safety.
One of the biggest misconceptions about a signage installation is that it’s just about putting up a single piece. In reality, any installation involves a bit of precarious fiddling, and more complex projects might require you to navigate tricky angles, lift awkward objects, or avoid live wiring.
If you’re thinking about tackling a small installation yourself, ask yourself if it’s in your comfort zone. Anything involving height, sharp edges, or live wiring should be passed to a professional. The risk from going it alone in those cases simply isn’t worth it.
Think about weatherproofing.
New Zealand weather is famously chaotic. Sun, rain, wind, hail, all in one afternoon. A sign that isn’t properly sealed, reinforced, or aligned to withstand that will age fast or fail early.
Professionals factor this in automatically: sealing joins, reinforcing weak points, choosing the right fixings for the surface you’re installing onto, and ensuring surfaces are clean and dry before installation. This is the stuff most people never see, but that’s the point. Great installations should be functionally invisible, leaving only the sign to be observed.
A sign endures because it has the right weatherproofing quietly built into the installation, so it’s vital not to skip these considerations! When in doubt, always chat with a professional about weatherproofing before you affix a sign.
Ensure you’re meeting regulations.
Finally, one of the most important steps you need to take as a commercial property owner is to look up local council regulations for signage installation on your building. Depending on the district you’re in, there will be certain limitations for the types of signage you can install and the methods you can use to install them.
For example, if you’re operating out of a heritage building, you can’t permanently damage the façade, but you might be able to install a strong temporary installation or use an alternative to traditional signage.
Any great signage installation is just a combination of all of the above. Design, placement, safety, and weatherproofing; those are the four corners of any robust piece of signage. With all four neatly ticked off, your sign will serve you well for many years.
As a business owner, all you need to do is understand the basics of a proper installation and trust an experienced team to handle the rest.
Get a professional team to handle your signage installation.
We’re Langham Signs, your trusted signage studio. After many years of servicing the Christchurch area, we’re ready to help you design, create, and install the perfect signage for your business.
We take signage seriously. Tap our creative team and access signage beyond imagination today.
