5 Things you need to know about banner mesh

Printed fence fabric is also known as scrim, banner mesh or fence wrap. It is commonly seen on building sites, development projects, infrastructure, civil construction and events. Commonly installed on temporary fences, cyclone fencing and security fencing as well as construction hoarding, it offers privacy and helps stop dust and debris escaping the site. And what’s more, it provides a fantastic opportunity to advertise your brand or project!

Jaybro is a leading supplier of printed banner mesh to the civil and construction sectors, and we can print and ship mesh fast with our in-house printing processes.

As experts in printed fence fabric, we often get asked for advice on selecting the type of banner mesh that best suits our customer’s requirements.

To explain the basics, we’ve put together a list of our top 5 things you need to know about banner mesh.

In any case, if you need a hand we are here to help – feel free to give our friendly banner mesh team a call with and we can take the time to clarify any queries for you.

Banner Mesh FAQ

Q. What’s the difference between open weave and premium mesh?

A. Jaybro supplies two styles of printed fence mesh: premium banner mesh and open weave banner mesh. The main differences between the fabrics we use are how tight the weave is, and therefore how high the resulting print quality is.

Also, the difference in weave affects the wind resistance of the fabric and makes each type suitable for different environments.

Premium banner mesh offers a slightly higher print quality due to its tightly woven construction. When the printing press transfers your design onto the mesh, the tighter weave enables better image fidelity, as the higher number of fibres per square metre can catch more ink. With this in mind, premium mesh is recommended for intricate designs or where a very high quality finish is required.

Open weave mesh is, as the name suggests, a fabric that is more loosely woven with small openings in the weave. This open construction still provides a high quality print, but it has less of a ‘block out’ effect, so the fabric is semi see-through. Therefore it is not as effective as a privacy screen if you are intending to use it as a means of blocking views of your site. If you are intending to use banner mesh as an anti-gawk mesh, then the premium version with a higher block out effect may be more suitable.

To put it another way - premium mesh is 80% block out with 20% airflow, whereas open weave mesh is 50% block out with 50% airflow.

Further to this, open weave mesh is more effective at allowing wind to pass through. Installing tightly woven mesh in a windy environment can cause it to act like a sail, adding strain on the banner. The added pressure will increase the chance of rips, tears, and pulling around the eyelets. For this reason, open weave mesh is recommended for high wind areas or for exposed coastal projects.

To compare the two by the fabric weight, our open weave mesh is 175gsm whilst the premium banner mesh is a heavier weight 280gsm. This gsm (grams per square metre) measurement gives an indication of the ‘feel’ of the mesh and how thick it is.

Q. Am I limited to just a few colours?

A. In short – no! We use a purpose built printing press that uses a four colour process. This means that full colour images are no trouble at all, and there is no difference in cost if you choose full colour printing over single colour printing. In either case, our high saturation inks give excellent coverage and the most complex and colourful designs are accurately reproduced on our rolls of mesh.

Q. Is each roll of mesh a standard size, or can I choose a custom length?

A. Jaybro’s premium printed fence mesh comes in rolls that are 50 metres long. You can take your pick of mesh width – we offer both 1.8 metre wide printing which is great for regular temporary fencing. Additionally, a 1.6 metre wide variant is good for covering anti-gawk screens. Furthermore, it can be installed onto a regular temporary fence where privacy is not a factor, and therefore the bottom portion of the fence can remain unclad.

If yours is a small project and you don’t need 50 metres of banner mesh, that’s not a problem! We have no minimum order length so can provide mesh for very small projects.

At the other end of the scale – what if you need kilometres of mesh? Jaybro is a manufacturer and we don’t outsource our work, enabling us to easily set our presses to produce kilometres of printed fabric mesh for large civil and construction projects. Roll lengths are limited to 50 metres but of course you can order multiple rolls and install each length butted up together on long stretches of fencing.

Q. How do I supply the artwork to Jaybro?

A. Each mesh design we create is personalised in accordance with your wishes to best promote your business, products or services. We can offer as much or as little design advice as you need – some customers like to have full creative control whereas others welcome our team’s input into getting the best design for your project.

If you choose to supply your own artwork, remember how big the printed images are ultimately going to be. The most important thing is to provide high resolution images or logos. This will result in a highly professional final result. To put it another way, ensure your images have sharp edges and are not fuzzy or pixelated. If you are enlisting the help of a graphic designer, you might like to contact us for a copy of our artwork specifications that detail all the necessary specs.

Once you’ve sent us your artwork, we’ll lay up a proof for you to approve. As mentioned earlier, our presses use a four colour process. Therefore, we require your graphics in CMYK format. PMS or spot colours cannot be 100% accurately reproduced, however, if you’ve got a very specific corporate colour and need to get the shade just right, we can supply a printed sample for a small cost. That way, you can use a physical sample to check the colour in real life. In most cases though, our digital proofs are sufficient for you to get a good handle on what your finished product will look like.

As soon as you’ve approved the artwork we can get to work on your printed banner mesh, turning around most orders in roughly 10 days.  

Q. How do they attach to my fence?

A. Your roll of banner mesh will arrive wrapped in plastic for protection. Once you receive it on site, it is straightforward to unroll it along your temporary fence, attaching it as you go.

Jaybro’s banner mesh comes hemmed and eyeleted for quick and easy installation. Simply fix the banner mesh or scrim to fence with cable ties, tie wire or rope. The eyelets increase the life of the banner by reducing rips and tears in high wind situations. Likewise, eyelets provide a rugged fixing point for long-term installations.

Installation can be done by one person - but of course, the process is quicker and easier with a helper!

I’ve got more questions!

No worries!

Give our friendly banner mesh team a call on 1300 885 364 or email sales@jaybro.com.au and we can help clarify any queries you have. Our team are experienced and approachable and can assist with anything you need.