Stencils, spray paint, gator board and teamwork

Today has been an interesting metal exercise. Our program would like to advertise some structures that will be coming to neighborhoods soon, stormwater facilities, aka: green streets. So we have run through several ideas, starting with yard signs. The first yard sign is nice and glossy and will be used for a special event, but it costs $200. To mark all locations we need something very cheap since we’re looking at about 200 sites, so I start off thinking little Corex (corrugated plastic) signs. That would be much cheaper and they could be reused, at least the ones we get back. Of course, there is the storage issue, we have no place to store them when not in use, and I would have to track where they have been posted. Too much work, I don’t have that kind of time!!

Then a co-worker has the great idea that we use a stencil. (I’ve told you before I work with geniuses.) So now the discussion is, do we use a simple stencil sheet we can lay on the road and give a quick shot of paint to, or do we look at a larger, foldable stencil that would allow us, or the survey crews, to mark the actual outline of a facility? The first version of the big foldable idea had it made out of hinged plywood. I pointed out that would be too heavy and large for easy use or storage. The next suggestion was to use gator board instead of plywood.

(Our discussion on this topic has been via email. I love email, at least when it’s not spam.)

Gator board? I’d never heard of if so I turned to my pod mates and asked if they know what it is. Stephen thought it was the mesh you use to mount tile. He’s been tiling his two bathrooms for the last couple of weekends so he can be excused the thought. David popped up and asked if that is when you try to waterboard an alligator. I’m not sure what David has been doing in his off days, and maybe I don’t want to ask.

It turns out that Gator Board is a brand name for a foam core type product. (I also love Goggle!) It’s more durable then foam core. I’m still thinking we need something thin and pliable, like maybe something you can roll up and put a rubber band around when you’re not using it.

The second issue we’re faced with is spray paint. It’s basically nasty stuff for the environment and since we are an environmental bureau we should try not to harm it anymore. So I did what else? A Goggle search for eco friendly spray paint. Boy were there a lot of people who have posted questions about the availability of such a product, but not very many products. I found one brand that carries low VOV latex spray paint. It’s still aerosol though. I’ve sent the info to the team we’ll see what they think. Our only other alternative is an electric paint sprayer, not very handy. The paint companies need to busy on this idea!!

I love this whole process. We start with a very simple idea: get our future facilities marked. In a matter of a few emails shared between about six people we are moving toward something that will be better than anything just one of us could have come up with. I love good teamwork!