OK, so this is what happens when you don’t think ahead.
I got this print for my husband for an anniversary present. It’s 64"x48" (we had a really big empty wall in our new house, and several other space prints in that room). What’s the best way to display it? The local frame shop quoted us about $600 to frame it. Is that reasonable, or not? We can afford it, but it’s definitely more than I would have wanted to spend. Is there another way, other than tacking it directly to the wall with nails?
Go to Home Depot or your fave homimprovment retailer and ask for window shrink film. It is used to internally seal windows mu8ch larger than your print.
Get a sheet of polystyrene insulation foam (3/4" thick, 4X8 ft )
Instructions:
Trim the foam insulation sheet to the exact dimensions of your print
unroll the plastic shrink film and lay it on a smooth working surface bigger than your print (smooth, clean floor if a large enough table is not available)
Place your print face down on the plastic
Put the foam on the print and align edges
Pull the plastic edges up and over the back of the foam and afix with strong tape (Duct tape works well.
Trim excess plastic
Lift up your work and lean it print side out against a wall
Use a hair dryer to shrink the plastic until it is smoot, wrinkle free and shiney
you’re done!
Total cost (less print) under $50
Note, you can use the duct tape to make a hanger mount on the back, too)
You could ask the frame shop how much they charge merely to drymount it. Same end result as Full Metal Lotus’s method but considerably less work. (I would hesitate to drymount something myself that’s that large.)
If you hang something that large that isn’t framed but just drymounted, over time the foamboard will bow; to what extent depends on various factors, but it will definitely not remain flush against the wall. It won’t “curl” because foamboard is too thick but it will definitely warp.
If you want to prevent this, ask the frameshop to add the cost of a frame to the drymount, without glass. Any glass over 32X40 is considered “oversize” and it’s very expensive. $600 bucks to frame something that large is not unreasonable, depending on what kind of moulding you selected. Obviously thin metal moulding is much cheaper than thicker wooden moulding.
If you downgrade the moulding you select and subtract glass–thus merely getting a drymount and a frame–it should make the price considerably lower.
And it never hurts to get several estimates at various frame shops. The prices can vary rather widely.
I’m an ex-custom-framer, btw, and got used to the sticker-shock on peoples’ faces when they brought in very large pieces of artwork.
I have a very large silk WWII pilot’s map that I took in to a framer’s and got the same sticker shock **Audrey Levins ** described. So I took it to one of those frame-it-yourself places and . . . framed it myself! The people there showed me how to do everything and, frankly, did a lot of the stuff for me. They cut the glass, taught me how to use a miter box, etc. I think my map is easily 48x48. They might have those places in Seattle. My price went from at least $400 down to about $125, and my frame is perfect.
If you want a wood frame, there is probably about 24 feet of moulding needed. If there is a wholesale framing supply shop around, you can probably get nice moulding for about $3-4 per foot (ours comes by the truckload, so it’s a bit cheaper). The ones in the Atlanta area wouldn’t think twice about selling it by the “stick.”
Or you can use moulding you find at your local home store (chair or crown moulding).
Joining might be tricky without a v-nailer or similar tool, but not impossible.
For something that big - actually, that’s edging into monumental - I’d have it professionally dry-mounted* to black-core gatorboard, then mount the board to a back frame (cheap 1x2 wood, painted matte black and set back a couple of inches from the edges) so it looks like it’s floating on the wall.
Yes, you might be able to get away with plain foamcore, but gatorboard is much stiffer so it’s not going to warp or curl on the wall.
You stand to ruin $150 worth of art and another $50-150 in mounting board if you goof. You’d need a gang of at least four assistants to attempt mounting something this big with spray glue, and even then there’s no guarantees you won’t set it down crooked or with wrinkles, either of which will be permanent and fatal.
Everything gotpasswords (and also Audrey Levins)said is true. That’s particularly big, beyond oversized. None of the frame shops I worked in had a drymount press that large, so call around first before you drive. GatorBoard that large by itself is at least $150, but it won’t warp (much). Use hangers like this on the back.
OK, I called some frame shops that said that they did oversize prints. One guy (who was very helpful on the phone) is recommending ProLam. Has anyone heard of this? Any comments pro or con?
There’s a guy in Tacoma who does framing in his basement. I’ll bet he could do it for much less than $600. We were pleased with the piece he did for us.
