Sign Services
Sign Installation Chicago & Surrounding Suburbs
Licensed installation across Chicago and the suburbs: lifts, electrical hookup, inspection. For signs we built and for signs somebody else did.
- Licensed sign contractor
- Own lifts and crew
- Electrical and inspection
- Licensed Chicago sign contractor
- Built in our own shop
- Permits and drawings handled
- One team from quote to install
The problem
Installation is where sign projects go wrong
What customers tell us before we start, and what we do about it.
What usually goes wrong
- The sign arrived and the installer discovered the wall would not take the fixings.
- There is no power at the sign location and nobody worked that out until install day.
- The crew turned up without the lift the job needs and the day was lost.
How SignFreaks handles it
- A survey before install day, which is the entire point of surveying.
- Wall construction and electrical established in advance, and the fixings specified for what is actually there.
- Our own lifts and our own licensed crew, so the equipment matches the job.
What you get
What installation covers
The parts that matter, and why each one is specified the way it is.
Site survey
Measurements, wall construction, existing electrical, access and anything that will complicate the day.
Fixings
Specified for the substrate. Brick, EIFS, precast and metal panel all need different anchors.
Lifts and access
Boom and scissor lifts as the job requires, with traffic management where the pavement has to be closed.
Electrical
Connection to the supply, a disconnect where required, and testing before we leave.
Inspection
Booked and attended, with any follow-up handled.
Removal
Of the old sign where there is one, with the wall made good.
Compare
Fixings by wall type
What the wall is made of is the first question on any install.
| Wall | Consideration |
|---|---|
| Brick | Fix into the brick, not the mortar, wherever the pattern allows |
| EIFS | Needs a proper standoff and sealing, or water gets behind the system |
| Precast concrete | Straightforward but needs the right anchors and drilling |
| Metal panel | Backing required; panel alone will not carry a sign |
| Glass or curtain wall | Usually cannot be drilled at all — a different solution entirely |
Swipe to see the full table.
Approvals
Permits and what to expect
The part of the job most likely to move your timeline.
We install signs other companies made, and we are happy to. What we will do first is look at it: the fixing points, the electrical requirement and whether it was built for the wall it is going on. Occasionally we find something we are not willing to hang, and we would rather say that before the day than improvise on a lift.
We handle the drawings and the filing as part of the job. There is more detail on our sign permit page.
On the day
What happens on install day
So you know what is happening and when.
- Site set up and made safe, with the pavement closed if the access needs it.
- The old sign removed where there is one, and the wall checked underneath.
- Mounting points marked and drilled, with fixings appropriate to the substrate.
- The sign lifted, positioned, levelled and fixed.
- Electrical connected, tested and any disconnect fitted.
- Site cleared, photographs taken, and the inspection booked.
Our work
Projects we have built
Real installations, photographed on site.
Get a real number for your sign installation
Send a photo, a rough size and your deadline. You get a written quote with line items, not a range and not a guess.
Who uses it
Industries we build this for
The requirements change with the building. These pages go into how.
Commercial Businesses
Learn moreShopping Malls
Learn moreCorporate Buildings
Learn more
Coverage
Where we work
The City of Chicago and more than 150 suburbs, from three by-appointment offices. Every village writes its own sign code, so we check yours before we design.
Budget
What moves the price
Roughly in the order they matter.
We do not publish price lists, because a number without your size, site and deadline attached would be fiction. Give us those three and you get a real quote.
- Sign size and weight, and how many people it takes to handle.
- Access: ground level, lift, or a lift plus traffic management.
- Wall construction and how involved the fixings are.
- Electrical, particularly where a new circuit has to be run.
- Removal and disposal of an existing sign.
- Time of day, where the location means working outside business hours.
Questions
Questions we get asked
Call (872) 250-4743, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Questions we get asked
Will you install a sign we bought elsewhere?
Yes, regularly. We will want to look at it first — how it is built, how it fixes, what it needs electrically — and we will tell you if anything concerns us. Very occasionally we decline, and it is always for a reason we will explain.
Do you handle the electrical?
Yes, including the connection, the disconnect where it is required and testing before we leave. If there is no supply at the sign location, running a new circuit is a separate piece of work we will identify at survey rather than on the day.
How long does an installation take?
A straightforward wall sign is usually a single day. Freestanding signs take longer because of the foundation, which has to be poured and cured before the sign goes on. We give you the sequence for your job rather than a general figure.
What if the wall cannot take the sign?
That is what the survey is for, and it is why we survey rather than measure from photographs. Where a wall will not take a direct fix, the answer is usually a raceway, a different anchor system, or occasionally a different position. Better discovered before fabrication than on the lift.
Do you close the sidewalk?
Where the work requires it, yes, with the appropriate permissions and traffic management. It is usually needed for anything at height over a pavement, and we factor it into both the quote and the schedule.
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