Originally Posted By wonderingalice ...or having it done? The little good-for-nothing freaks with too much time on their hands tagged our split-block wall overnight. Painting over it really isn't an option because of the rugged texture of the wall - that would look bad. I've left a message with a removal service, but I'm wondering if anyone here has ever had it done. I have no idea what would be considered a 'fair' cost estimate. Thanks!
Originally Posted By friendofdd Our city has a removal service. We just call them and it is done at no cost to us. Perhaps there is one where you live, as well.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Unfortunately, here they only paint over it unless it's something decorative belonging to the city/county. The first company I called just gave me a quote of $300. That seems more than a bit steep for the very small magnitude of this job. I'm going to call around to a couple of others. Home Depot also has a couple of products we can try - they're spray-on solvents that are then scrubbed with wire brushes. But if it still leaves a 'shadow' of the vandalism, that's not going to be good enough.
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Originally Posted By wonderingalice Okay... Never go with the first, over-confident (read "smug") person you contact... good rule, eh? ;-) Just got off the phone with John... His company is coming out this afternoon. They'll take photos to e-mail to Metro's gang unit, cc: me ... and handle the removal for $100. MUCH better! And it may be handled before the rotten little waste-of-space even has a chance to show off his non-talent to friends.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Thanks, Jim... It was a very frustrating way to begin my day - first thing I saw as I headed off to work this morning. Mr. Alice has lived in our home for nearly 15 years - this is the first time we've been nailed. But as the punks have been hitting neighboring areas, I knew it was just a matter of time since our home is on a corner and the wall is right out there - an easy target. :-(
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I understand wonderingalice. Not what you need to see to start your day. UGH! Our downtown office that we rented was tagged a couple of times a year, we called the police station and they called the volunteer who painted over it with the paint we kept in the back closet. Worse was when the idiots scratched into the front glass. Hugs to you for having to deal with something so senseless. $100 sounds very reasonable.
Originally Posted By ajnhollysmommy after they remove it could you power wash the wall so that it all looks clean and more even?
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Thanks amazedncal2... *HUGS* Thankfully, the idiots around here seem to stick with block walls... having to replace glass would really bite! Not sure what you mean, ajnhollysmommy... Our wall is decorative, split-block (speckled/colored cinderblock that's been specially cut to give a rugged appearance instead of flat block) and spotless - with the exception of the two or three identical 'tags' left by the creep last night.
Originally Posted By Ursula I find removing the hands of the "artist" usually does the trick. If you can't do that, a shotgun is most helpful. And yes, I am serious in that I believe that taggers need to be maimed on site.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA wow -- I used a word for donkey -- got admined. Maybe it's considered a personal attack against taggeds.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice *LOL* Jim... And Ursula, I totally agree with you. If the creep makes a return visit and I have the opportunity to catch him, I will be armed (for self-defense, of course). A couple of bullet holes to the palms could be a great detriment. Funny, some people thought our Mayor Oscar Goodman was nuts for suggesting thumb removal as penalty... The idea made perfectly good sense to me.
Originally Posted By Buzz Lite-Snack Good Ol Oscar. Maybe he learned a thing or two when he was defending Anthony Spilotro. Definitely harder to hold a can of spray paint without the opposable digit.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA When we lived in Pasadena, they had a whole graffiti task force on the city payroll, and those guys were on it. You could call in graffiti and sometimes within hours, it would be painted over. Here in Merced, it's sort of hit and miss. There's a graffiti hotline, which I call quite a bit -- but it's very inconsitent as to when it gets painted over. I think it's a much smaller team doing the abatement.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice No doubt, Jim... It's a tough business - the mess is so widespread now. If we had just a 'regular' block wall, I'd have the county team handle it (they're pretty quick here). I just hope we don't get hit again... and again. It could get really expensive. *LOL* Buzz! Oscar's a very colorful character! Our town definitely has a love-hate thing going with him (personally, I really like him). Good, bad or indifferent, he's a great, outspoken spokesperson for Las Vegas!
Originally Posted By bloona gggrrrr, how annoying, I can imagine how you feel! hugs I hope that they dont repeat the crime. There's a large house just been built nearby, it's been beautifully built, real attention to detail. The week after it was finished, some nutter wrote his name (Ziggy) in huge letters on the side of the cream painted wall.Its been like that a few weeks now!
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Thanks, bloona... *HUGS* How awful for the folks in the beautiful new home! Hopefully, they'll have it painted over soon. Mr. Alice just called me... The removal tech is there now. But he also spotted another and much worse 'mess' across the street from us (I was so distracted by the tags on our wall that I missed it this morning) ...This one is in darker blue spray paint (indicating a second monster teen) and it's a huge, ermmmmm... obscene private part. I've already called the county to handle that one. The homeowner is never there and they don't maintain the property as they should when they ARE at home, so it would probably take forever if we wait for them to call or fix it. We will NOT be beaten by these punks.
Originally Posted By bloona ooooh it makes me so mad. Id like to think my children would never do anything like that. My eldests motto is "treat others as you would wish to be treated" I hope he always feels that way.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling Wonderalice, I am so sorry you got tagged. That just sucks. That is one crime that really gets under my skin! I hope the tech is able to get it all taken care of for you. I haven't ever been tagged (*knocks on wood*) but I know one thing that can be done is to put a barrier coating your wall so that if it happens again it will be easier to remove. Theoretically, once you put up this clear coating, you'd be able to just rinse the grafitti off. I found a couple of links that looked helpful. Or at least interesting. <a href="http://www.graffitihurts.org/community_resources/removal.cfm#apply_coating" target="_blank">http://www.graffitihurts.org/c ommunity_resources/removal.cfm#apply_coating</a> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yugrks" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/yugrks</a> <<We will NOT be beaten by these punks.>> Good for you! You go get 'em, sistah! I have an acquaintance who works grafitti removal for the city and getting the grafitti off asap is the key to discouraging/preventing it according to them. Good luck, sweetie!