Media 1 Vinyl Apps: All in a Dais Work

Dale Salamacha is co-owner of Media 1 Signs/Wrap This Ink! (Longwood, FL).

This month, we’re going to talk about a vinyl project that features an atypical material. Myriad substrates can be inkjet-printed, and, as the market has adapted, it seems clear that media development has kept pace with printer-technology evolution.

Of course, some self-adhesive-vinyl varieties have existed for decades, long before large-format printing began. We talked about one of these products, 3M’s Di-Noc™ textured, architectural-graphic films, in a previous article. So, here’s another great example of how opportunities for wrap jobs span far beyond vehicles.

About a month ago, a client, the Central Florida Expressway Authority, came to us with a unique problem. Their corporate offices, just down the road from our shop, contain a large conference room with a dais. (I didn’t know what a dais was, so I asked Mr. Webster; his dictionary told me it’s a low platform for a lectern, seats of honor or a throne.)

Then, I realized they meant the long podium that City Council members sit behind when you ask for a sign variance. This one measured 34 ft. long x 4 ft. high, and seats roughly 10 people. However, it’s a growing organization, and the Authority needed to enlarge the dais to seat a few more officials.

All covered up
Obviously, they didn’t hire us to enlarge the dais. They enlisted Clancy and Theys, a nationwide construction company, to handle the renovation. Why did they call us? The original dais features 2-ft.-tall, custom-curved Corian® panels that run the length of the dais as a decorative element. The panels are purple (it must have been designed in the early ‘90s), and guess what? Corian doesn’t make purple material anymore. How could they recreate the 10-ft.-long graphic on the panel? A wrap, of course! 3M’s Di-Noc immediately came to mind.

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After having reviewed all the media’s texture options, the Authority chose a very rich, dark, burl-wood-grain pattern. Then, they wanted to know if we could actually wrap the entire unit. This required covering the existing wood and Corian surfaces, and a standalone podium piece to boot! We thought a physical survey was necessary, so partner Damon Coppola and I went to the Authority facility with several sections of Di-Noc to test its stretchability.

Fortunately, the new, 42-ft.-long dais was built in several horizontal sections. It contains a 9-ft.-long, bottom panel that we could wrap with one, 42-ft.-long piece of vinyl. Next, it features the 2-ft.-tall Corian section, which has a 6-in.-long top section that rolls over the edge to a shelf, and then a 2-in.-tall, back lip that faces the seated officials.

We knew wrapping all the curved, flat-front surface areas wouldn’t present much of a problem, but that top section also rolled onto the top shelf at a completely different bend. It wasn’t a 90°-angle countertop that we could cut and piece in. Instead, it included a radius that would show any seam or cut we made! And, of course, this bend existed on the most visible part of the dais surface.

Damon feared we couldn’t make a multi-curved bend like that. However, after having tested our sample pieces, he felt more confident we could make it work (as long as he came along to help!). And, as usual, the project had to be completed ASAP because the Authority had a big meeting
scheduled one week later.

The right stuff
With a tight deadline, we called our suppliers, Interior Design Solutions (Baltimore), for help. They sent the 4-ft.-wide Di-Noc roll to our shop overnight (the client was happy to cover the shipping charge), which ensured we could deliver the finished product on time.

The vinyl arrived on Monday, so we scheduled a Tuesday installation. To simplify our job, we cut the Di-Noc material into smaller sections. We wanted to keep the full, 42-ft. top length in one solid, seamless section, but we cut the bottom section into a 10-in.-wide, 45-ft.-long portion, and then, for the Corian section, a 24-in.-wide panel. This left them with a 14-in-wide piece to wrap the panel’s face and the shelf, which are both 6 in. wide. Coppola, Pete Dow, Billy Parker and Jon Louree left the shop to complete the challenging installation early Tuesday morning. Damon decided we needed four guys to make that complex top bend happen.

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As expected, they applied the first small, bottom panel effortlessly. Even the 2-ft.-wide, Corian cover-ups were applied very efficiently. Two hours into the project, installation was going more smoothly than expected. However, we still had to install over complex curves.

Our team took the final, 14-in. x 45-ft. piece and started applying Di-Noc in the deepest parts of the curve, and then began applying the vinyl to the face of the dais. They worked all the way up to the radius’ top bend. They applied material along the entire, 42-ft. length, adhering the vinyl to the face of the dais while ignoring the radius bend at the top.

After they’d set the media in place, all four installers pulled aggressively on the film and heated it lightly as they proceeded. They began to stretch the vinyl onto the bend and over the top. They were pleasantly surprised the film did exactly what we wanted it to do – it conformed right into place. In fact, it rolled from that complex top bend, onto the dais top, and right over the back to cover that reversed-curved lip!

The guys were amazed at how well the product contoured to such an extreme shape. Better yet, they completed that entire, top-section piece in only one hour! We considered finishing the installation with only 12 man-hours of labor a success!

The client was thrilled we beat their deadline, and overjoyed with the finished product’s appearance. They received a completely custom, entirely new structure in a fraction of the time and well under budget of building a whole new one!

The next day, I received the following e-mail:

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“Dale,
All I can tell you is it was a huge success. We just completed our first meeting, and I hear nothing but compliments. Thank you so much for working with us on this cost-effective solution to the challenges with which we were faced. You guys are the bomb. I look forward to working together again in the future.Again, thanks!
Ben Dreiling, P.E.,
Director of Construction & Maintenance, Central Florida Expressway Authority”

We were proud to execute a project that provides yet another example of vinyl’s versatility!