Neon signs can be a great way to decorate your space, whether it is your home or office. In a business setting, neon signs can also be helpful in guiding your customers and in indicating the location of your premises.
However, like all types of signage, neon signs can get damaged and have to be repaired every now and then. It is important for you to understand all about neon sign repairs, such as their average costs, the factors that affect said cost, and so forth.
In this post, we will guide you on the average neon sign repair cost along with some other important related aspects.
Let’s get started.
Understanding a bit about the construction of a neon sign
To get a proper understanding of how a neon sign is repaired and what costs it entails, it is important to first understand how they are made.
Neon signs consist of glass tubing that is filled with a certain type of gas. There are electrodes on the ends of the tubing, which are used to put an electrical current through the gas.
This causes the neon sign to glow.
This is the description of how proper, old-fashioned signs work.
Nowadays, there are other cheaper variants of neon signs that have different construction and different ways of being repaired. This post doesn’t cover those types of neon signs.
What parts of a neon sign need to be repaired?
Everything in a neon sign, from the tubing and the gas to the electrodes and the wiring, can get damaged. But the good part is that everything can be repaired.
- Broken or cracked glass: If the glass is broken, it can cause the gas to leak out and the sign may not work properly. The glass could also be cracked on the outside, but even that has to be repaired so that the problem doesn’t worsen. In cases like these, the glass can simply be replaced. (The neon sign repair broken glass cost is usually a bit more than the other types of damage.)
- Faulty electrodes: As mentioned earlier, the design of a typical neon sign consists of electrodes on either end. If these electrodes stop working, the sign won’t light up because of the absence of the electric current. If this is diagnosed to be the problem, the electrodes have to be either replaced or fixed.
- Brightness fading: If the brightness of the sign is dimming, which is causing it to not properly show up from a distance, it could require gas refilling.
- Wiring problems: Neon signs can also stop working as a result of wiring problems. The wiring that is supposed to supply electricity to the sign can get frayed and damaged. In case of such problems, the wiring has to be replaced.
How much can a neon sign repair cost on average?
Neon sign repair cost can vary drastically based on what exact component has to be fixed and what problem the sign is presenting. If there is a simple electrode replacement or a simple wiring issue to fix, the repair can cost around $50. On the other hand, if the sign is complexly designed and needs some major glass repairs as well as gas refills, the repair could cost up to $1,000.
Hence, an average neon sign repair cost can be placed around $100 to $500.
What factors affect the neon sign repair cost?
There are many different factors that affect the total costs. Here is a detailed breakdown of them all.
The Size of the Neon Sign
This is pretty straightforward to understand. The bigger the sign, the more it will cost to repair.
If you are looking to repair a small sign that you use inside your house or inside your office in some little space, it won’t cost you a lot. But if we are talking about a large sign that hangs outside your business premises and is made to be spotted half a mile down the road, then it would be costlier.
With a bigger sign, you would need more glass, more gas, bigger electrodes, and a larger amount of wiring for the repairs.
The Complexity of the Design
Another factor that matters a lot in the neon sign repair cost is the complexity of the design.
There are some brands and businesses that use neon signs for simple purposes, such as indicating whether the shop is open or closed. In cases like these, the sign consists of a single word “Open” or “Closed.”
These types of signs aren’t very expensive to repair because there isn’t much to work with.
On the other hand, some brands and businesses can use customized neon signs to display their complex logos or to create an elaborate image with multiple small components.
The complexity of the design plays a big role in how much the sign costs to repair. The more complex the sign is, the more expensive it will be to fix because it will take more time, effort, and materials.
The Color of the Sign
In a neon sign, different colors are achieved by putting specific gases in the tubes. For example, neon creates the standard orange look while argon creates a blue hue. The combination of different gases leads to more specific shades.
If you have a sign with a simple color, it won’t be very expensive to replace the gas or refill it, etc. But if there are multiple gases in the sign, the price of the repairs could rise drastically.
This is because some gases are rarer and more difficult to source than others. Plus, blending the gases together to create the right shade would be the job of a skilled expert, who would be expensive to hire.
The cost of the gases and the cost of the labor combined could make up a hefty bill.
The Placement of the Neon Sign
The placement of the neon sign can also affect how much it costs to fix.
If you have a neon sign installed way at the top of a building, making it difficult to access, your hired experts can charge you more because of all the extra effort they’d have to make.
On the other hand, if the sign is close to ground level and is easily reachable, you won’t have to worry about being charged extra.
Is it better to repair a sign yourself or hire a professional for it?
Unless you have experience repairing neon signs or similar electronics, it is better to hire a professional instead of doing it yourself.
Doing DIY repairs on a neon sign is unadvisable for a few different reasons.
For one, you can end up damaging the sign even more and render it completely useless. You may have to buy a new sign and spend even more money.
Other than that, however, doing a DIY repair is also not a good idea because it can be potentially harmful. If you don’t have experience working with glass, you could cut yourself trying to fix the tubing. The gases inside the tubing can also be harmful, especially mercury gas (which is sometimes used for its color).
Hiring a professional, on the other hand, saves you from all of these troubles. While you have to spend some money, you won’t have to worry about injuring yourself in any way. You can also rest assured that the sign will get fixed instead of getting even more damaged.
When it is better to buy a new sign instead of repairing the old one?
In some cases, while repairing a neon sign can be cheaper than buying a new one, it can be less economical in the long term. It is important to understand when it is better to buy a new sign instead of repairing an old one.
- If the damage to the neon sign is limited to faulty electrodes or frayed wiring, it is better to have it repaired.
- If there is a gas leakage, due to which the color/brightness has faded, getting a repair is more economical as the problem is less likely to be recurrent.
- If the neon sign is large and intricate and took up a lot of time and money to make in the first place, repairing it is almost always the better choice.
- If the sign isn’t customized and has sustained considerable damage to the glass tubing, buying a new one can be a better choice. This is because the repairs can get recurrent and eventually cost you more.
In other words, as long as the glass tubing isn’t compromised, having the sign repaired is the better choice as compared to buying a new one.
Final Thoughts
Let’s wrap it up by recapping the main points.
The average neon sign repair cost is around $100 to $500. The cost can be as low as $50 if the damage is minimal but it can also go up to $1,000 if the sign happens to be large, intricate, and in need of multiple fixes.
Unless you have experience fixing neon signs yourself, it is usually not recommended to go DIY. It is more advisable to hire a professional.