Reflective Signs Offer Less Expensive Options Than Electric Signs

October 10, 2016 By Mark Hackley

Reflective signs offer less expensive options than electric signs. The manager of marketing for a group of several hardware/feed supply stores in Central Virginia contacted me last month to provide options for a new wood framed ACM sign that would help lead potential customers to one of their sites.

Their store in Weyers Cave, Virginia is located off the beaten trail, so she was wondering about the cost of a reflective sign to replace the existing non-reflective one that had been there for quite some time. After seeing that the cost between reflective or non-reflective options was about a 30% difference, she ordered the new reflective sign to mark the turn off the main road.

We knew that standard DOT and traffic signs are okay to be reflective, but we weren’t all the way sure that commercial road signs could be. After checking with DOT’s office that deals with off-premise advertising, we found out that reflective graphics were legitimate as long as they didn’t resemble traffic control signs, such as traffic lights, etc.

The biggest benefit of reflective signs is their cost over internally illuminated signs. When you calculate the cost of the manufacture of the signs, the installation, the on-going maintenance, and especially the installation of a new circuit to provide power, reflective signs are quickly seen as one of the better alternatives.

Mark Hackley is the owner of Augusta Sign Company, Waynesboro, VA 540-943-9818

Using Banners as Semi-Permanent Building Signs

September 5, 2016 By Mark Hackley

Using Banners as Semi-Permanent Building Signs

When the Boys and Girls Club of Waynesboro’s Executive Director e-mailed me about a banner after receiving a referral to me from one of their board members, I assumed they needed a temporary banner like most people.

Wrong!

They were interested in using the banner as a permanent (semi-permanent) sign, or one that’s up for over six months. They got the permit, and I fabricated a nice banner, custom-fit for the area above the entrance to their newly renovated youth center. The banners produced by Augusta Sign Company are either hand painted, made with computer-cut or hand-cut vinyl graphics, or digitally printed. This one was digitally printed. I used the same 13 oz. vinyl fabric as I do for temporary banners and mounted the banner with four eye hooks that were set in lead anchors in the brick mortar joints of the building; fastened down with flexible bungee cord material. I do not think a banner of this type will perform forever, but they should get at least two years of service from it, or at least that’s what I’m expecting. Only time will tell, but for non-profits like the Boys and Girls Club, this type of sign may be just the answer.

Mark Hackley is owner of Augusta Sign Co. in Waynesboro, VA

540-943-9818

Stucco: A Good Material for Long-Lasting Entrance Signs

September 5, 2016 By Mark Hackley

file — **Sign “Before” Renovation. Notice the dirty, moldy background that would not come clean with normal cleaners.**

Stucco: A Good Material for Long-Lasting Entrance Signs

www.augustasigncompany.com-waynesboro-crimora-va-church-signs — **Sign with All Graphics Removed…**

www.augustasigncompany.com-waynesboro-va-wall-letters-church-signage-22980-22901-22801 — **Letters being spot primed and re-sprayed white. (Anyone for alphabet soup?)**

Back in about 1991, I was just a green small-business guy. I had recently moved to the Shenandoah Valley area 3 years earlier, and this was my first full year in my new full-time business, Tree Street Signs. One of the earliest church sign projects I tackled was constructing an entrance monument for Main Street United Methodist Church. The youth pastor at the time, John Tindall, had previously used my company to letter their church van, so I guess I had done a good job and the church called me back with a bigger project. A member had passed away and left money for a nice sign, so I recommended a low-profile concrete block sign faced with stucco and metal letters.

I used one of the best masons in the area to build the sign, Danny Davis. He did a great job as he always does! After the footer was poured and the solid, masonry sign was complete, I ordered two sets of router-cut and painted aluminum letters for each side. Using a paper mounting template and a hammer drill, I carefully drilled the holes for the aluminum studs that would hold the letters to the low walls. After dry-fitting all the lettering, I cemented them all in place with clear, architectural grade silicone, the standard adhesive for these types of sign letters. The sign had a special two-part cross and flame emblem, the established Methodist brand.

www.augustasigncompany.com-waynesboro-va-logos-signs — **Making drill templates for white backers behind original cross and flame emblems to help pop off from dark background.**

Fast-forward to 2016, and I was kneeling at that sign again. The head of the church property committee sought me out to upgrade the sign after 25 years! I recommended they reverse the letters out this time around for better visibility. You see, I had learned a few things about sign design over the years, and sometimes it’s better to use light colored letters against a dark colored background when three dimensional sign letters are raised from the surface. These types of letters cast shadows during the day, and also at night from lighting, and many times the shadows can interfere with good visibility. (See this article from Holiday Signs that tells about this phenomenon.)

www.augustasigncompany.com-waynesboro-va-architectural-signage-for-churches — **“After”… The finished renovation!!**

I think I did a pretty good job in completely changing the looks of the sign without having to change the sign background or letter materials, just the paint colors and a backer for the emblem. Painting stucco is rather simple. After bleaching the old moldy stains, I used a quality latex satin paint on the stucco and automotive acrylic enamel on the metal letters. I pulled all the lettering off, repainted the background on site, repainted the letters in the shop, then re-mounted everything. When I was a kid, some of my more daring friends were frequently occupied with mischief. Waynesboro school kids must be either blessed with excellent manners or cursed with low IQ’s because anyone could have pulled those letters off over the course of 25 years, but nobody did until I came along again, this time under a new company name, Augusta Sign Company.

Mark Hackley is President of Augusta Signs in Waynebsoro, Virginia

540-943-9818

How to Make Sign Patterns Using Your Photocopier

September 5, 2016 By Mark Hackley

How to Make Sign Patterns Using Your Photocopier

Back in the old days (early 80’s), I remember using an Art-O-Graph projector to cast images and letters on the wall and then trace the images to pattern paper. I am not sure what happened to that old projector over the years, but nowadays it’s just as easy using a photocopier, at least for small to medium sized signs. For larger signs I can use the old grid layout system, where you print out a scaled drawing of the sign and overlay it with grids that you can then scale up to the surface you are painting.

In a recent case I used the copier to make a pattern for a few real estate advertising signs. The customer had some old fiberboard panels that I could use for the signs and I hand lettered them with basic information about how interested parties could reach them about a piece of commercial property.

I did the layout in CorelDraw X5. I printed the letters actual size by making sure I picked “as in document” vs “fit to page” on the printer/copier. Once the letters printed, I scotch taped them all together, used a carpenter’s pencil to blacken the back where the letter lines were, and then corner-taped the pattern to my signs, traced the lettering, and painted.

All done in very little time and effort and less expensive than having to order vinyl, weed and tape it, etc. For temporary applications it is a great solution. Plus, I don’t get many chances to hand letter signs anymore; something I still kind of enjoy. I reckon I’m just an old timer!

Mark Hackley is owner/operator of Augusta Sign Company in Waynesboro, VA

Contact: 540-943-9818

Many thanks to Holiday Signs for teaching me how to use WordPress 🙂

How to Change a Plastic Face on an Electric Sign

June 30, 2016 By Mark Hackley

How to Change a Plastic Face on an Electric Sign

Many times a sign customer needs to change out or update a face in an existing electric sign cabinet and calls Augusta Sign Company for help. Sometimes they need our help because they have become a new tenant of a space with a sign with a different name and they need it changed; sometimes the face is damaged; sometimes, like in the case of Vailes Home Improvement Services of Waynesboro, they have re-branded their corporate image, and as a result the old sign needed replacing.

The basic options are to: 1) remove the letters and replace with new graphics (if the sign is translucent plastic with vinyl letters on the exterior surface only), or 2) remove and replace the whole face, whether it be a flat face or pan face, like the one in the photo above, if the existing lettering is sprayed on the interior surface of the face.

When I letter plastic faces for electric signs, I recommend 3M translucent vinyls for the graphics on translucent white plastic. If the cabinet is slim with fluorescent lamps, most likely a custom pan face is needed; otherwise if the cabinet is thicker than 10″, a flat sheet of plastic could work for the face. (If the lamps are too close to the face, hot spots can occur. One way to resolve that problem is to re-lamp the sign with LED modules.)

Now that the faces are re-branded, the main sign over the door matches the advertising signs on the job sites, and the vehicles, and the sign at the road!

Mark Hackley is president of Augusta Sign Company of Waynesboro, VA 540-943-9818