Don't use pegboard for a backing

Made a Parkland Plastics screen to hang free from hooks on the ceiling a few months ago. Used a caulking gun and a couple of tubes of adhesive to attach it to pegboard then framed it with poplar.

After a few months bubbles began to appear in random places on the screen. They are absolutely impossible to fix and the screen will have to be thrown away. I know that pegboard has been suggested a few times, but even if it worked for some people I would recommend using contact cement and a solid backing such as paneling or regular Masonite instead.

John

Bill,

I used elastomeric adhesive caulk and troweled it very carefully to make sure it was even. Pressure - weight - the whole nine yards.

I think that because it was free hanging in my really dry living room (heat and so forth coming from the radiator these past few months ) that the air entering through the holes in the back dried out some of the thinner areas and caused the polymeric adhesive to shrink thereby creating the bubbles and consequently an even larger pocket of dry trapped air, etc.

Add to that a slight warpage of the wood frame to help it along as that dried out too (not much kiln dried lumber sold anymore these days).

Pegboard is risky business. Best is flat against a wall. Second best where that is not possible (as in my case) is a SOLID backing not one with holes in it.

The theory was that the holes would allow the squeezed adhesive to push through the holes and then harden to form adhesive "hooks" to hold the sheet on better. Looked like that theory was sound after I finished it, but time proved otherwise.

John

Thanks Bill.

I have another piece of Parkland in the basement anyway for another 80 inch 4:3 screen. When the Christmas Village display finally comes down there will be room again for the 120 inch Wilsonart screen - a much better (more durable) screen that needed no backing at all.

John

I agree: That syyrofoam insulation idea posted the other week was a really clever idea.

Managed to salvage the screen material and the poplar frame (which wasn't warped after all). Cut a piece of 3/4" Tuff-R (urethane foam insulation board) to fit the inside of the frame with a utility knife then cleaned off the back of the vinyl Parkland sheet and Velcroed and stapled it to the frame. Seems to weigh about half and is nice and flat.

John

Or contact cement might have worked as well. Thanks for the suggestion, but I like the light weight foamboard backing. It seems to weigh 1/3 to 1/2 as much as the pegboard screen.

John