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What We Do

Custom Exhibit Fabrication

A fabrication schedule works backward from the truck's departure date, not the show's opening date — by the time a structure needs to be on the road to make a Raleigh Convention Center move-in slot, the shop has already finished, cured, and crated it.

Custom Exhibit Fabrication priorities

Once a design is approved, fabrication runs on its own calendar: framing, panel work, finish coats, graphics application, and a test-fit before anything gets crated. Each stage has a cure or dry time that cannot be compressed just because a shipping date is tight.

  1. Framing and structural work built to the approved drawings, with a dimensional check before finishing starts.
  2. Finish coats and graphics applied with drying time built into the schedule, not compressed against it.
  3. A full test-fit assembly in the shop before crating, so surprises show up here and not on the show floor.
  4. Crating built for the specific freight method — air, ground, or local drayage — rather than a generic crate.

Working backward from the truck date

A show's move-in window at the Raleigh Convention Center or the NC State Fairgrounds is fixed well in advance. We set the shop schedule against the truck's required departure date, then build in the cure and dry times finish materials actually need.

That means a fabrication timeline sometimes looks longer than a client expects — it is accounting for a laminate adhesive or paint finish that needs real time to set, not shortcuts.

Test-fit before anything leaves the shop

Every custom structure gets assembled once in the shop before it is broken down and crated. That step catches panel misalignment, hardware issues, or graphic registration problems while there is still time to fix them.

Skipping a test-fit is the single most common reason a crew finds a problem on the show floor instead of at the shop.

Building for Raleigh's climate and freight realities

Summer humidity in Raleigh affects certain adhesives and laminates during the transit window between the shop and the venue, so finish selection accounts for how long a piece will sit in a trailer before it is unloaded.

Freight routed through RDU for exhibitors shipping in from out of market adds its own handling constraints — crate weight and dimensions get checked against air freight limits when that is the shipping method.

Repairs and refurbishment between shows

Structures that travel to multiple shows a year come back to the shop for touch-up between events — graphic panel replacement, hardware tightening, a finish refresh — rather than getting rebuilt from scratch each time.

That refurbishment cycle is usually faster and cheaper than a full rebuild, and it is scheduled the same way a new build is: backward from the next truck date.

A structure that shows a full season — a spring trip to the Raleigh Convention Center and a fall regional event — often needs a hardware audit between the two, since connectors and panel clips loosen with repeated breakdown and reassembly.

Where the shop is and why local matters for revisions

Being based in the Raleigh area means a last-week revision to a graphic panel or a hardware swap does not have to travel across the country before it reaches the venue. A crate that needs a quick fix can go back to the shop and return the same day rather than losing a full shipping cycle.

That local turnaround matters most in the final week before a Raleigh Convention Center move-in, when a change request that would sink a schedule with an out-of-state fabricator is still a same-day fix here.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a custom fabrication build typically take?

It depends on structure size and finish complexity, but we set the schedule against the required truck departure date, not a fixed number of weeks.

Do you test-fit every structure before it ships?

Yes, every custom build gets a full shop assembly before it is broken down and crated.

Does Raleigh's humidity actually change how you build?

It affects finish and adhesive choices for anything sitting in a trailer during a summer transit window, so yes, the season factors into the fabrication spec.

Can you fabricate for a show shipping through RDU?

Yes — crate weight and dimensions are checked against air freight limits when the shipping method is air rather than ground.

Do you refurbish structures between shows or only build new ones?

Both — a structure that travels to multiple shows a year usually comes back to the shop for a hardware audit and finish touch-up between events rather than a full rebuild each time.