Front-lit channel letters are a very popular sign type for storefront signs and building signs. Front-lit channel letters are hollow metal letters. The back and returns are welded together while the faces are attached with trimcap so the faces can be removed pretty easily. This feature is great because the sign can be serviced easily, and you can switch out the faces if needed. A Supercuts store in Culver City reached out to us because the “E” was out on one of their two signs, and there were a few other letters that were dimming. The sign had been up for a while so it did not use LEDs. LEDs are the new industry standard when it comes to electrical signs and they are much more energy efficient compared to fluorescent or neon. Since they were having issues with the lighting anyway, they decided to do an LED retrofit on the sign that was having issues, and on the sign that was installed on the awning above the entrance.
An LED retrofit requires us to remove the faces of each channel letter so many clients will decide to get new faces and trimcap at the same time. The faces were made from red acrylic, and they are attached to the return of the channel letter with trimcap. We went out to the location for a site survey and took a pattern of the existing faces so we could replicate them. We did not make the original sign so we didn’t have the measurements. We made the new faces at our shop and when we went back to do the LED retrofit, we replaced each face as we converted the channel letter to LEDs.
Now the sign looks as good as new and is more energy-efficient, all without having to pull a new permit for the sign.