Will silicone work mount to concrete??

[Martin Boekers]

I have a project for outdoor engraved signs, light weight plastic or acrylic.

The will be mounted to concrete pillars. I don't want to run studs or chain them
so I was wondering if an RTV type product would work. Ifigured it would be flexible enough
for weather conditions and won't damage the concrete if they decide to change/remove them
at a later date. Any thoughts?

[Lee DeRaud]

It'll work, for some arbitrary value of "won't damage if removed". The concrete won't be damaged, but I wouldn't take any bets on how easy it will be to remove all the silicone.

[Martin Boekers]

The main thing is, I don't want to drill into the pillars.

So I think this will be the proposed mount.

[Walt Langhans]

There are silicon type (I'm not sure if there is actually any silicon in them, but it looks the same), that are designed just for things like that. Home depot / lowes should carry them. They are referred to as construction adhesive.

[Tucker Alford]

I use 100% silicone for most exterior mounting. It is always flexible and removal is a breeze. The only bad part is having to tape it as it sets up.

[Scott Shepherd]

I use 100% silicone for most exterior mounting. It is always flexible and removal is a breeze. The only bad part is having to tape it as it sets up.

A little VHB tape and then the silicone, you can walk away from the job and it'll be good until the silicone dries.

[Joe Pelonio]

A little VHB tape and then the silicone, you can walk away from the job and it'll be good until the silicone dries.
I have used this method on literally thousands of parking garage signs and it works great. You can scrape most of the silicone off with a razor blade scraper when you do remove them but it will still have a glossy look until you sand off the rest.

[Graham Parsons]

Do you find it necessary to rough up the back of the sign for the silicone to grip?

[Joe Pelonio]

Do you find it necessary to rough up the back of the sign for the silicone to grip?

No, stuck just fine without sanding.

[Rodne Gold]

Acetic acid , AKA vinegar will remove most silicon sealants...dunno how effective it will be on concrete with small micropores tho...

[Joe Pelonio]

I wouldn't worry too much about removal, 99 times out of `100 it's to replace with a new one, so scraping and putting new silicone works fine. I find that years later the VHB will pop off the wall and stick to the plastic most of the time, but if not, you can scrape it too. I always do the silicone in a zig zag pattern so if you do replace it later there is still some un-glued
area for the new VHB to stick.