The Framers Forum

I rarely get jobs back - i like to think I do a good job and problems should be caught in the workshop. So I was horrified when a customer wrang to ask if I would look at a couple of frames i had supplied a few weeks ago - the backs were bowing and the print had cockled. Pictures were returned to my workshop and I undid the backs to find that the back of the mount had bowed. i hadn't mounted the prints so couldnt vouch for the quality of the materials used but i have never seen such a strange bulging appear. The problem turned out to be the back of the customers mount - a greyboard had been used and this had just bulged in the middle. the effect was so extreme that it had forced out the corricor back - once away from the frame the corricor relaxed back to its normal state - the greyboard - now removed is still bowed.

greyboard has now been replaced with a new board and all seems to have gone back together well. I suspect that the frames must have been in a damp atmosphere to have affected the greyboard.

I doubt that any lesson can be drawn from this apart from offering a friendly enough service to know that your customer will come back to get things put right - job returned to a happy customer who will hopefully realise that we take care to provide a good service that includes good aftercare if things go wrong.

Additional causes can be too tight a package to allow for expansion............

not enough allowance around the board
the physical attachment with nails, tabs, points, etc are too tight

Yes!- i would agree - I didnt mention that the grey board was attached on all four edges with glue - this would have stopped the even expansion causing the middle of the board to expand outwards. Its down to poor mounting and unless you take the package apart you realy dont know untill a problem emerges. If I had mounted the print it wouldnt have happened - but a lot of the jobs come in premounted - I will look for potential problems with more vigour next time.

Hi Mark

I can relate to your problem, the work may have been left in the cold damp car overnight by the customer, or hung in a damp room,

my advise is to the customer each time photographs or prints are collected is to avoid this as the work may cockle if left in such situations.

The pictures were returned to the customer. The obvious question was asked "have you hung the pictures where they may have been affected by damp"? The answer: No! we have just had the room built. I had to point out that it could take many months for the new plaster to dry - satisfied that I had got to the bottom of the problem. Try as you might, you cant help customers who don’t help themselves. The fact that i had two pictures with the same problem - one that i opened immediately - the other i left overnight - both had settled back to a reasonable state by the morning, gave me a clue that the hanging conditions were not too good.