As per this site:
http://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/billboard-vinyls/
Just wondering how stiff they might be, are they easy to cut and can you ad grommets?
I have used them - they are WAY cheaper then good quality tarps, and last longer. They are stiffer, but not bad. Easy to cut - I just use sharp scissors or a razor knife. If you have a grommet installer, yes, you can install grommets. I don’t have one, but a friend brought his over, and we punched several grommets in after making a cut.
So, I used a couple on the front of my hay barn. In past years, I went through a new tarp EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Good quality, $90 to $120 each, ouch. Our winters only last a few months, but we have wind and rain which is hard on tarps. Then I bought a couple of bill boards - now granted, it means I have Coors Light emblazoned on my hay barn (actually, I hunt the print to the inside;)) and they lasted through three Winters. The grommets start to rip out, and eventually they do start to shred, but they are so much tougher then any tarp I had ever bought.
The billboards I bought were twice the size of the tarps and half the price.
I know a few people were buying them for other purposes too. We contacted the advertising agencies directly - they will sell them as long as you swear you aren’t going to re-sell them. We paid $50 each…
We used them as a cheap and durable means to cover a chicken yard. We made a rounded PVC frame and pulled the billboard tarps over the frame. They are crazy durable and huge! The material is thick, heavy, and a little stiff. We ended with a somewhat redneck chicken yard, but it was totally functional. I think the original billboard was advertising a furniture store.
We used one for about a year. It was OK but not great. Awkward to handle in the big size needed to cover the sawdust pile in rain or snow. It didn’t get so stiff as to crack or rip, but not “that waterproof” either as puddles oozed thru the fabric. It came with worn areas, being a used item. The two pieces came apart over time. I did put grommets in, it worked alright.
Cost a bit more, but consider getting a semi truck cover tarp. They are heavy fabric. It stays quite flexible in even very cold conditions. Ours had a lot of grommets on all sides above a wrapped rope edge as backup should grommets rip. Never ripped even in severe winds, but it was ready to stay if a rip happened! Probably very useful on a covered trucks load while hauling. Tarp had nylon webbing across the width with many D rings on webbing to allow various way to resize how you could tie tarp over your load or item under it. I really appreciated that as sawdust pile got smaller. Let me keep it covered without extra getting in my way.
This was a quality tarp, 1000% better than any farm store tarp I ever found. Better priced than farm tarps if I remember right.
Truck tarp was good for 3 years, then starting to show some wear with daily handling. That was also when husband started helping with daily chores. Kids had moved out, so I was doing horse chores by myself for 6-7 horses barned half a day, every day. They are OUR horses, he uses them more than i do. I told him to find me a tractor with loader or I would go buy a new one. Not going to be shoveling stalls AND clean sawdust. He hunted and got a good deal on a used Kubota that I enjoy using. Bonus points for him.
Husband started helping with daily chores as his work allowed. He got rather angry having “to deal with tarp” in bad weather, getting bedding. Funny how that happens! He built sides and a roof for the sawdust bin during a short span of good weather in January!! We can drive in with FEL and take load to the stalls now. Really nice. So after probably 20 years of me and kids fighting to keep bedding dry under tarp, moved from pile to stalls in all weater, deep snow and ice on tarp covers, he suddenly understood our complaints. He fixed the problem because now it affected him. I was amazed!
The Sawdust Palace is quite wonderful, I appreciate it daily driving in and out. No tarp handling at all now.
The truck tarp was such a better tool, more usable than sign vinyl, lasted better in use and for much longer it was worth buying. All the grommets and D rings were handy to have. I still have the tarp, use it to cover loads of hay waiting to be unloaded.
You can buy the truck tarps in various sizes, get what you need. We just did a search and ordered online. Can’t remember the vendor.
I bought some last year and I find them a huge improvement over even the fanciest tarps I could buy at the hardware store. I needed smaller pieces, and when I bought, mine happened to be all scraps of virgin material rather than billboards. They are lasting longer, they look nicer, they are more waterproof, and they cost less.
I am using mine with clips from farmtek. The clips are a little annoying and you MUST put the screws through to hold the material.
They are much heavier than a regular tarp. It took some getting used to, but they also stay in place much better with the heavier drape. I have some very heavy scissors and they were easy to cut with those.
One of our local hunt clubs used a billboard tarp for the tops of the hounds’ kennel runs. They cut one up in a few big pieces. I think they lasted a few summers.
A water based latex paint, can be used to paint over the advertisement if it is not something you want to look at it.
