Storm Season at the Sign Shop: Floor Directories, Broken Trucks, and Fish Cakes | Leaman Signs Vlog #002

Running a sign company in Newfoundland means one thing above everything else: you don't get to plan too far ahead. In Episode 002 of Life at Leaman Signs, that reality hits early — and it hits hard.

When the Wind Wins

The week kicks off with the kind of weather update that St. John's locals know all too well. Gusts of 110 km/h are on the way, which sounds dramatic until you realize this is just... fall in Newfoundland. The week before had already seen gusts in the 80s from the tail end of two converging storm systems, and now another one is rolling in.

For most businesses, a windy day is an inconvenience. For a sign company, it means the entire week's schedule gets thrown out. Large sign removals? Cancelled. Getting up on lifts to install big faces? Not a chance. Any exterior work that involves anything that could catch the wind is off the table. As Greg puts it, the plan you made last week just goes out the window — literally — and you pivot to interior work and whatever else can be done safely inside.

This time of year is a grind for that reason. Every morning you wake up and check the forecast before you check anything else. Jobs get pushed, new ones pile on, and the backlog quietly grows. It's one of those operational realities that doesn't show up on any project timeline but shapes everything about how the shop runs from October through to spring.

The Main Event: A Floor Directory for the Ambulatory Hub

The biggest project on the bench this episode is a large floor directory — a freestanding wayfinding sign destined for the Ambulatory Hub. And when we say large, we mean it: the thing is over six feet tall and absolutely dominates the shop floor when it's laid out flat on the table.

The build involves assembling a frame, applying T-bar and thigh rail components, joining faces together, and carefully handling a massive roll of vinyl that the crew jokes weighs as much as a log. The vinyl application requires heat, patience, and a good technique for managing the backing so you're not fighting adhesive the whole way through. These kinds of interior wayfinding signs look straightforward from the outside, but the fabrication work is precise — every component needs to fit cleanly, and the final product has to look polished once it's lit up on site.

One of the more practical details that comes up: the back panel will be applied with VHB tape on-site after the sign is bolted down, keeping things cleaner during transport and install. It's the kind of small process decision that only comes from experience.

A Wasp, a Truck, and Other Thursday Energy

No week at the shop is complete without a few curveballs. A crew member gets stung by a wasp hiding in a work glove — the kind of moment that briefly shuts everything down while everyone checks whether he's allergic (he's not, thankfully). A few minutes of chaos, then back to work.

Later, one of the company trucks has a power steering line blow in a parking lot, leaking fluid and blocking the loading bays at the food bank during a delivery. The response is fast — someone grabs absorbent, the truck gets moved out of the way, and the plan is to figure out the repair with the mechanic the next day. These are the moments you don't plan for but handle anyway.

And somewhere in the middle of all this, there's a brief segment that can only be described as Cooking with Graham — reheating Newfoundland fish cakes in the shop kitchen using what may or may not be a spatula, with full commentary on the importance of turning the stove on before you try to cook anything.

What's Coming Up

Despite the storm reshuffling the schedule, the team is lining up work for the rest of the week: interior jobs, a new 8x12 sign for Atlantic Cannabis in the Goulds, and some letters for Newfoundland Canvas. There's also a wind-damaged sign that needs assessment — a reminder that storm season doesn't just disrupt the shop's schedule, it also generates calls from clients dealing with the aftermath.

For a behind-the-scenes look at all of it, the full episode is embedded above. And if you want to follow along each week, subscribe to the Leaman Signs YouTube channel — new episodes drop every week.