Neil Bell interviewed Selective Structures Matt Schulze on the Bell Board Podcast.  Here’s what Matt said about billboard maintenance.

Talk to me about structure maintenance — painting, head bolts. You bring this up a lot.

I asked two engineers the same question around 2009: what’s the life expectancy on a billboard? They both gave me the same answer independently. A properly built sign should last 100-plus years — if you have a soil test, engineer it to the correct spec, and paint it every several years. Paint, paint, paint.

Head bolts are a real issue. On a center-mount sign, engineers recommended changing them out every 15 to 18 years. On a full-flag, every 10 years. In coastal areas, every 10 years. But every single year, every time your finishers are up there, they should paint those head bolts. After 10 years of paint buildup, rust can still get through if you’re not on top of it. Most structural failures come from rust.

The greatest thing missing from this industry is maintenance crews. There used to be crews whose only job was to maintain signs, and they’re basically gone now. Installers can’t charge what they need to make it worth their time — they make more putting up a new sign than they do painting one. If someone listening could figure out how to build a nationwide billboard maintenance company, they could do very well.

And here’s something I learned just a couple of years ago: once you torque a head bolt down, you can’t take it off and reuse it. It’s done — throw it away and use a new one. Same with safety cables: once a safety line has been used and taken a load, it’s done. The stress changes things.

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