You have spent months on the specification. Install day is the four hours where the client either sees the vision or sees boxes. Having installed for designers across Central Florida, here is what separates the projects that finish early from the ones that run long.
Send us the plan, not just the address
The single biggest time saver is an elevation, or even a rough marked-up photo, showing what goes where. Without it, the crew is asking questions you have already answered in your own head. With it, we walk in, confirm, and start hanging. If placement is still fluid on some pieces, flag those specifically so we sequence them last.
Tell us the outliers in advance
We size the crew off three things: the heaviest piece, the highest wall, and the total count. A single 120-pound mirror changes a two-installer job into a three-installer job. Oversized canvases, antique frames with fragile hanging hardware, and anything destined for a two-story foyer all need to be known before the truck is loaded, not discovered on site.
Have the art on site
Art still in transit is the number one cause of a rescheduled install. Confirm delivery at least 48 hours ahead. Leave pieces in their packing but staged in or near the room where they belong — unwrapping on site is fine and often safer, but hunting through a garage for piece 14 of 30 is billable time.
Sequence the trades
Art goes last. Paint touch-ups, wallpaper, millwork and lighting all need to be finished and cured, and rugs and furniture should be placed so we can hang to the actual composition rather than to a guess. If drapery is going in the same week, drapery first — rods and returns often dictate the space left for art.
Give us the building’s rules
For condos and gated communities, we need the certificate of insurance requirements, the loading dock or service elevator window, and the parking situation. Certificates of insurance are routine for us but take a day to route, so ask early. Access delays are the third most common reason a job runs into a second visit.
Decide the client’s role
Some designers want the client present for final placement sign-off; others want the room revealed complete. Both work — but tell us which, because a client offering live opinions on a gallery wall layout changes the pace of the day. If you want approvals, we will lay out with painter’s tape and confirm before drilling.
Protect the finishes
We bring drop cloths, felt pads and a vacuum, and we patch the small stuff. What we cannot fix is a decision to anchor into a wall that cannot take the load. If a piece is above roughly 200 pounds, or if something is being hung from the ceiling, that install has to be engineered properly — we will tell you what the structure supports and what it does not.
Trade terms
We work with designers on a repeat basis: crew-size pricing for 2, 3 or 4 installers, commercial and multi-day rates for large FF&E scopes, and direct coordination with your receiving warehouse or delivery crew. Send a scope and we will tell you the crew and the hours before your client sees a number.
Firehawk Art Installers is an Orlando-based art and mirror installation team working with interior designers, luxury homeowners, commercial properties and government agencies across Central Florida.
