Augusta Sign Company

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How My Sign Company Made The Sign for Horseshoe Hill

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One afternoon I received a call from a property owner in Keswick, VA wanting a sign for her driveway entrance. After meeting with her at her Charlottesville office I was able to prepare a sign design based on what she had in mind: a small, simple, yet elegant oval sign to greet friends as they entered her property, a beautiful 42 acre lot in the heart of Albemarle horse country.

Finished carved cedar sign in Keswick, Virginia.

Building a wood sign like she had in mind is very motivating for me! Ever since I attended a handcarved sign workshop in Stowe, Vermont back in 1990, I have been interested in all types of handmade wood signs. Then, over time, with the help of computer-aided-design and manufacturing, I became skilled with V-carved and sandblasted lettering techniques. Nowadays, I generally choose western red cedar as the species of wood for sign panels because I’ve gotten to know its track record of carvability and durability over the years; and this is what I selected as the wood for the Horse Shoe Hill sign.

The Horse Shoe Hill sign after it is routed with a CNC machine.

After she ran my preliminary sign design by her architect, who was at that time working on an extensive remodel on the property, she recommended I alter the base of the post by beefing up the scale some versus using a plain 6X6 post column for the sign pole.

Marshall Carpenter sanding the main part of the post outside the shop in Staunton, VA.

I purchased the cedar panel and had the lettering carved per the approved design drawing. Once that was complete, I routed the edge, sanded the letters, background, and edges, and then primed the surface with two coats of oil-based primer. Once the primer was cured, I applied a heavy coat of hunter green enamel over the entire sign. After a few days of drying, I hit the sign with my pounce powder bag and applied the size for the gold leaf. (The pounce powder prevents the gold from adhering to the fresh enamel background.) After the size set to the proper consistency, I applied the gold leaf. As the sign was drying, I constructed a tall 6X6 post using treated yellow pine. Once that was built I primed and painted the post black and installed a large black iron scroll bracket to the top of the post to hang the finished sign from once installed.

The 23K gold leaf applied to the wet size that was prepared for the V-carved letters.

When both the sign and the post were complete, I arranged a date for installation. The architect took care of permitting and I dug a 42″ deep hole to set the post in concrete. I planted the sign post and attached bracing to the post until the concrete cured, after which I installed the sign using stainless steel hardware, and everything was finished. I see that the $6.95 M property is currently for sale in Albemarle County, VA. If you’re looking for it, just look for the nice 23K gold leaf sign! You can’t miss it.

Owner of Augusta Sign Company, Mark Hackley, with a million dollar smile, as he completes the sign for property worth millions! (But since he’s heard the streets of Heaven are solid gold, I don’t think that smile will ever fade!)

Mark Hackley owns and operates Augusta Sign Company and serves the Waynesboro-Staunton-Augusta County area of Virginia with hand-fabricated signs of all types…(and he has been since 1990!)

Custom Estate Signs for $2,000

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Last fall Augusta Sign Company was contracted to make a low profile entrance sign for a home in historic Rockbridge County, Virginia. The customer wanted a carved wood sign. He had found us on a Google search and liked a few of the black and white carved cedar signs we had manufactured for other customers, so we agreed on a design and the cost came to about $2,000.

I found the customer had a similar living situation as my family, where two families are sharing the same house. In their case, a mother/mother-in-law resided with them, in ours its a father/father-in-law situation. The customer recently built a new home and the customer’s mom dreamed of having a nice entry sign with the name of the property and address. These signs are very commonplace and popular here in Virginia, and I remember reading a magazine article decades ago that you can actually increase the value of your country property by giving it a name! After learning about his mother’s sign idea, my customer was excited about getting the new sign up by Christmas.

A carved or sandblasted wood sign generally takes approximately 6-8 weeks to complete, especially if there are posts and installation involved like in this particular case. After receiving a deposit and final proof approval, I ordered a cedar blank and cut the outside shape with a jig saw, and had the V-carved letters cut on both sides with a CNC router. The next step was to thoroughly sand the panel, ease over the outside edges of the sign and then prime with a stain-killing exterior oil-based primer. Once the primer was dry, I chose to use an oil-base sign enamel for the background finish and then lettered the recessed lettering with a squirrel-hair lettering quill and black lettering enamel.

The customer liked the look of an iron scroll bracket, so I ordered a standard black 36″ wide bracket which conformed well to the 30″ wide wood sign that would hang below. I inserted 2 stainless steel eye bolts and epoxied them into the cedar. I fastened the scroll bracket to the custom 4X4 post I made. The custom post was adorned with a nice CNC-turned cedar ball finial at the top and included a build-out portion at the bottom to give it more meat at the base.

After having the underground utilities marked, I dug a 42″ deep hole and planted the sign post in 800 pounds of concrete to keep it plumb. The rural area gets lots of wind so I wanted to make sure the sign and post could endure years of harsh environmental treatment. The cedar wood should last a lifetime, but will need maintenance to keep it looking like new every 5-10 years or so. The treated post should last at least 30 years and probably more, and the iron bracket and stainless steel hardware should easily last a lifetime.

My customer was very happy to see the sign installed by Christmas and I am sure his mom was too!

If you are interested in having a custom carved cedar sign designed and fabricated for your home or business, please contact Mark Hackley at 540-943-9818, or e-mail him at [email protected].

    Even the Animals Like Our Work!

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    Animal Instincts

    As I was putting the finishing touhes on signage for a new animal hospital in Waynesboro several years ago, a little Terrier-type dog stopped over to wag his tail for me. To me, that was an indication that even the animal kingdom appreciates my work! Or maybe I was over-reading the friendly wag and getting a false notion that she was wagging at the new signs going up; Maybe it was just a great new spot to sniff around!

    The new building during the construction phase.

    In summary, here is the way my company handled a neat sign project for the Waynesboro Animal Hospital in Waynesboro, VA: I initially got a call from the owners of the veterinary practice who were constructing a new animal hospital and they needed signage. Their archictect/GC partner had planned out where the signage would go and pulled the applicable sign permits required for the project. They just needed me to provide the lettering and installation for the signs. One would be located at the stucco wall over the entrance door; and another would be a 2-sided free-standing sign out on the main road at the edge of their nice, new parking lot.

    The monument sign before receiving the EIFS finish and lettering.

    After discussing several material options, they chose flat-cut-out acrylic (FCO). I designed the sign graphics to fit the applicable spaces, got customer-approval, and ordered the lettering. It took about 3-4 weeks to get all the lettering completed, and it was perfectly coordinated with the contractor’s crew who built the free-standing sign monument.

    The front facade after the FCO letters were in place.

    The stucco was barely dry when the lettering arrived, and it was time for the installation. I used scaffolding to install the wall letters in the morning, and then spent the afternoon installing the monument letters. The monument also displayed the hospital’s logo and logos of an affiliate organization that was important for customers to know about. For these, I used FCO and applied 3M digital prints to the outer surface. All the lettering was blind-stud-mounted. I made a pattern of where the holes would go and then inserted the studs on the backs of the letters into the holes and cemented them in with a special adhesive product.

    The Finished Road Sign.

    Another Successful Sign Job

    All in all it was a smooth project. I met with the customer prior to nailing down a final color for the letters to make sure he had the color plus the visibility he was desiring for the job. This involved bringing several samples of various colors. The final color choice was not just a random selection. I like to think of it as a pre-engineered choice! Maybe that was the reason for the wag…perhaps that Terrier was owned by a Virginia Tech engineering student! I think I do remember noticing a slide rule clipped to her collar.

    Mark Hackley is President of Augusta Sign Company, Staunton, Virginia. Contact: 540-943-9818; [email protected]

    Simple Estate Signs for Around $1,000

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    How a New Sign Made Happyland Much Happier

    If you’re looking for a simple home, farm, or estate sign in the ballpark price range of $1,000, then Augusta Sign Company could be a good starting point in your search! Last spring, a commercial sign customer contacted me about upgrading the wood sign at the driveway of his home in Augusta County, just a few miles from where I live in Arbor Hill, VA.

    Happyland sign before renovation.

    First I took a look at his existing sign. It was very deteriorated, but the 4X4 treated posts were salvageable and I quoted the customer a new sign that would be mounted between the existing posts. The old sign was a hand-painted board with white background and black letters. The customer liked the simple black on white design, so I came up with a few mock-ups. Once I made a few tweaks to the design option he liked best, things were ready to go.

    Gluing the end caps on the 2-sided carved cedar panel.

    It is my policy to ask for 50% of the total project cost up-front. I received the deposit and ordered a chunk of cedar large enough to do the job. The sign was v-carved on both sides using a CNC router. After the routing and sanding were complete, I primed the raw cedar with a dependable primer and stainkiller that is great for blocking the tannins in the wood, and then top-coated the entire sign and inset letters with white sign enamel. Once the background was painted and completely dry, I then moved on to lettering the sign with black sign enamel.

    The freshly hand-painted sign out on the shop table.

    When it was all ready to be hung, I traveled to the site, removed the old sign, sanded, primed, and repainted the two posts, and then installed the sign between the posts using four long galvanized lag screws. Some people in my industry call these end-pins.

    www.augustasigncompany.com-wood-signs-estate-signs-staunton-va-waynesboro-virginia
    An updated sign is now complete!!

    The customer was happy! Now the name Happyland resonates well across the property!!

    Mark Hackley is owner and operator of Augusta Sign Company in Staunton, VA. Mark hopes you have a blessed day; take a slow, deep, breath, and say a word of thanks to the Creator that you have been given the opportunity to have a happy day, no matter the situation around you!

    Donor Wall Project

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    Customer Needed Guaranteed Completion

    Eastern Mennonite University has been a regular customer for many years. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak we had worked on designs and proposals for a special donor appreciation display to honor those involved in the construction of their new science center building. Once COVID hit, like other things, this project was put on hold. I received an e-mail from my customer this past August that they wanted to reinitiate the project and would like to have it, if at all possible, for their Homecoming Weekend in mid-September.

    In order to speed up the process, they would have their Marketing Department provide all the finished graphics, and have their Facilities Management Department complete the construction of the curved base. All I would have to do is provide and install the finished lettering and plaques. (But this was no simple task considering the short time-frame.)

    The Donor Wall was constructed of maple-veneered plywood epoxied over a solid aluminum sheet base that was rolled to fit the radius of the block wall, a focal point as people eneter the new science center building at EMU.

    Experience Needed

    Our preferred manufacturer for custom dimensional letters and plaques had just sent an e-mail out saying they were experiencing a high rise in volume and could not guarantee lead times for new projects. Working with the company’s sales rep however we were able to rush the job through in time for the special dedication deadline.

    EMU facilities management personnel assisted our crew in lining up the engraved brused aluminum donor plaques.

    Our part of the project involved providing four large engraved brushed aluminum plaques that listed a huge number of donors supporting the new science center upgrades. We were able to quickly provide proofs for EMU so the many involved in the project could check over things for accuracy prior to final manufacture. Once that process was complete, I managed the production of these plaques along with cut out letters with matching finish for the header.

    The finished donor wall project!!

    Install Date Goal Achieved

    Everything went smoothly. EMU finished the specialized curved base which was constructed of 1/8″ aluminum with a maple plywood front piece. Once it was up, we installed the header letters and plaques using various size spacers according to the design drawings. We completed the work on a Tuesday which was three days ahead of the Homecoming Weekend activities. All were happy and our nice donor wall was even featured in a special ceremony for all involved!!

    Mark Hackley is President of Augusta Sign Company, Staunton, VA 540-943-9818