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Using Dimensional Wood Signs-Advantages and Disadvantages

January 12, 2024 By jalexspringer

www.augustasigncompany.com-wood signs-va-virginia

STRATEGIZE WITH WOOD

Using dimensional wood signs as part of your organization’s marketing strategy may be a successful approach of blending the distinctive character of carefully handcrafted custom wood signage with your own distinctive image and brand. If your brand would benefit from the ambiance of natural, stained, or painted dimensional wood signage products carefully designed and finished in Virginia, you may want to consider the advantages and disadvantages of wooden signs.

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THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

If you picture your building or office as a “box”, then thinking outside the box relates to your exterior signage attached to the outside areas of your building or campus. The wooden signs that I manufacture are typically 1.5” thick cedar panels with lettering/logos/emblems carved into the outside face of the boards. They can be fabricated at any size, and sized to fit the area in which they will be attached to the wall or ground-mounted support in the case of free-standing monument and post and panel type signs.

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In the case of wall-mounts, signs can be mounted flush to the wall or can also be hung perpendicular to the wall using scroll brackets. For free-standing signage, the wood signs are typically attached to some type of post system or low-wall of masonry or wood. Sometimes the wood signs are set into recesses in masonry structures for a permanent impression. Sometimes to save cost, flush vinyl graphics can be substituted for recessed or raised graphics (see Claybrook sign, a few snapshots down.)

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As mentioned earlier, the major up-side of exterior wood signs is connecting with customers. If your brand is aligned with “natural”, “earthy”, “down-home”, “old-fashioned”, “high-quality”, “rustic”, or “hand-made” messaging, then wood designs can help promote that overall feel. You may wonder how a wood sign can project both a high-quality and rustic image simultaneously: it depends on the finishing of the end product. Hand-painted and polyurethaned precision carved lettering and branding can produce a nostalgic feeling that signals a high-quality brand in the customer’s mind.

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Consider a quaint New England town with hand-carved wooden signs adorning the picturesque streetscape! A dentist office, a law firm, a gift shop, a bed and breakfast, a book store: they are all inviting you to come in and experience top-notch service and attention. Another advantage to v-carved wood signs is, if utilizing 23 karat gold, they can really catch your eye and draw attention. There aren’t many sign lettering options that surpass the quality of signs with real gold leaf.

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The biggest potential down-side of exterior wood signs, especially in areas south of the Mason-Dixon Line, is exposure to the elements: humidity and UV exposure being the two biggest threats to the longevity of wooden signs in Virginia, where most of my customers operate. The cost of regular maintenance is a definite consideration when planning to purchase a wood branding image. Cleaning the signs each spring and fall can extend the overall impact of your investment and lengthen their effective lifetime, and repainting or re-finishing wood signs on a three to five-year maintenance schedule is recommended. The initial cost of designing and building wood signs is also greater than using alternative signage materials, but the value of visual impact may be higher than other material options.

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INSIDE THE “BOX” APPLICATIONS

Wooden signs are great for outdoor applications, but don’t overlook their suitability for interior signage projects as well! I have not regularly promoted interior usage, but have worked on a few projects where the customer determined the look of the natural wood fit the identity of their product better than other traditional wall lettering options like dimensional metal letters and flush vinyl graphics. A few years ago I worked with Jon Styer, who at the time was the brand administrator for Eastern Mennonite University, to create an interior wall sign for the university’s coffee shop. An awesome graphic designer, Jon was able to blend the natural aura of stained cedar with a clean, clear, glossy acrylic cover that formed the background for the vinyl branding. It was a neat approach that utilized wood, plastic and vinyl lettering. Usually a sign is made of one or the other substrates, but this case blended all three signage materials into a great looking sign that was spot lit from above.

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YOU MAKE THE CALL

If you’re looking for a way to incorporate natural or painted wood signs into your business or organization, please reach out to Mark Hackley, owner, Augusta Sign Company, serving a large geographic area of Central Virginia seeking quality signage products and services. Using wood signage for branding certainly has advantages and disadvantages, but perhaps Mark can help you determine if wood is a good fit for your signage needs. And how much does it cost to go with wood versus less expensive urethane and aluminum composite options? Mark will be happy to meet with you to discuss!

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Contact Mark Hackley, Augusta Sign Company- 540-943-9818; [email protected]

Filed Under: News and Updates Tagged With: Carved Wood Signs, interior signs, Sandblasted Signs, VA, Virginia, Waynesboro, Wood Signs

Custom Estate Signs for $2,000

January 12, 2022 By Mark Hackley

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].

    Filed Under: Sign Knowledge Tagged With: Virginia, Wood Signs

    Why I Like Making Signs for Eastern Mennonite University

    December 5, 2018 By Mark Hackley

    Why I Like Making Signs for Eastern Mennonite University

    www.augustasigncompany.com/University SignageLONG PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

    It’s been going on for decades! Why I like making signs for Eastern Mennonite University, that is.

    You see, back in the mid-90’s when I owned and operated Tree Street Signs, I did a few sign jobs for their Facilities Management Department. You know I can’t even remember the jobs from way back then, but at that point I was used as a pinch-hitter when they were having some issues with their usual sign supplier.

    www.augustasigncompany-Harrisonburg-VA-College-Signs

    CENTRAL LOCATION FOR MANY SIGN SHOPS

    Harrisonburg is in a great spot for any organization needing quality signs and service. For large projects and custom electric signs, Eddie Edwards Signs is right there in town. For quality trophies, plaques, banners, and just about any type of custom commercial signage, there’s Signs USA, where I worked on jobs for Eastern Mennonite once again in the mid to late 2000’s (…that’s always a weird decade to denote, the decade from 2000-2009, I hope I got that right!) At any rate, back then I did several custom wall lettering jobs. I remember designing and www.augustasigncompany.com-waynesboro-va-why-i-like-making-signs-for-universitiesinstalling dimensional letters that commemorated a major donor, naming a new wing in his honor. Also, I remember lettering room names with dimensional wall letters after new construction.

    COLLABORATING WITH MARKETING AND FACILITIES MANAGERS

    Then, from 2011-2015 when I was an account executive with Holiday Signs of Chester, Virginia, I worked with the university again to design, manufacture and install an entire exterior wayfinding system after discussing their signage needs with their Director of Marketing. It waswww.augustasigncompany.com-staunton-va-24401-why-i-like-to-make-signs-for-eastern-mennonite-university at this point that I began to serve them with pole banners,large banners for their athletic fields and events, and yet more exterior directional type signs.

     

    A CONTINUING BOND

    After a year of being back in full-time business for myself with Augusta Signs I continued serving up custom signage for the school. Banners, site signs, wall signs, displays, office signs, window signs, light pole banners, dimensional letters, vehicle lettering. These are some of the types of sign projects I’ve been involved with.

    My expertise in making signs for campus-type customers goes all the way back to my beginnings in the sign industry,when I worked as an intern at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center’s 44-acre campus in Maryland. After that I was a signpainter at Joint Base Andrews where I www.augustasigncompany.com-staunton-va-school-mascots-wall-lettersdeveloped my skills in signs and customer service at a facilities management level. Eventually I made it back to the Bethesda Naval Hospital where I morphed into an engineering technician for many years. It was in this role that I developed my skills in signage design on a facilities management level.

    I moved to Waynesboro, Virginia in 1988 and worked for two years as an intern architect in Charlottesville, further developing my skills in design. It was in April 1990 when I plunged full-time in the sign biz. At Tree Street Signs I was active in the design, manufacture, installation, and maintenance of many sign products for colleges as well as lower education facilities. I produced signs for BRCC, WWRC, EMU, and more public high schools, middle schools and elementary schools than I could even think of listing!

    But to answer the question of why I like making signs for Eastern Mennonite University: because I enjoy making www.augustasigncompany.com-waynesboro-staunton-harrisonburg-va-signagesigns that fulfill the combined needs of facilities and marketing managers. Marketing people want their school brand to be recognized across the campus while facilities managers want people to be able to find their way around campus and also want them to be safe out there. I believe my signs help. And that’s why I enjoy making signs for Eastern Mennonite University. Many thanks to my college sign customers there and across Virginia!

     

     

    Mark Hackley is owner of Augusta Sign Company located in Staunton, VA

     

    Filed Under: News and Updates Tagged With: Signs for Colleges and Universities, Virginia

    Five Advantages of Carved Wood Signs

    March 1, 2017 By Mark Hackley

    Five Advantages of Carved Wood Signs

    Five advantages of carved wood signs over say choosing other various forms of signs are not really hard to see, if you look closely.

    First, the main advantage is interest. The carved letters make the letters interesting. Since light reflects at an angle, the V-Carved letters serve to boost reflectivity. Add gold leaf and, “Wow!”

    “The lettering on our new church directional sign looks great,” said Kenneth Lee of Rodes United Methodist Church in Nelson County, Virginia. I just completed a carved wood sign for Mr. Lee after his former sign was destroyed during routine mowing. (See accompanying photos of this nice little sign.)

    Here are four more advantages of carved wood signs:

    Carved signs last a long time: Since the wood is usually cedar, redwood, or mahogany, these species are insect and rot resistant. With 10-year maintenance periods, the signs will long outlive www.augustasigncompany.com-Five Advantages of Carved Cedar Signsmost sign buyers!

    Carved signs value is much greater than signs made with less-precious materials and less-tedious labor. These signs are truly the Cadillacs of signs, but if you’re okay with a Kia then that’s your prerogative.

    Carved signs can be designed to blend in with the environment, yet stand out as graphics.

    Carved signs look awesome when spot-lit!

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    I’m sure there are even many more reasons why your church, your professional office, your medical practice, your law firm, your downtown retail store, your florist, your retirement center, your hospital, your school, your veterinary clinic, (see where I’m going here?) would choose a carved wood sign over other options. Let us know if you’d like to see your name in WOOD!

    WOODN’T YOU? I SURE WOOD! (But I’m partial.)

    Mark Hackley is owner of Augusta Sign Company, Waynesboro, VA  22980

    Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: carved, signs, Virginia, wood

    Who Makes Bronze Plaques in Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County?

    July 11, 2015 By Mark Hackley

    Who makes bronze plaques in Waynesboro, Staunton, and Augusta County? I do: Augusta Sign Company that is.

    I, Mark Hackley, founded Tree Street Signs in 1990, two years after settling in Waynesboro, Virginia. Fifteen years after selling the sign company in 2000, I am once again back in business!

    One of the things I did well then and now, is designing and installing custom plaques.

    Back in the 1990’s I made plaques for many people, including the Waynesboro Airport, the Waynesboro Public Library, along with many area churches, schools and non-profit organizations across Augusta County. The neat thing about making plaques is in the design and selection of materials to use to honor the person, or people involved. There are many choices to consider for long-lasting plaques:

    • Solid Cast Bronze
    • Solid Cast Aluminum
    • Plate Metals
    • Porcelain Enamel
    • Hardwoods
    • Gold Leaf

    The plaques I made in the 1990’s are still around, quietly boasting the efforts and achievements of the greats around Augusta County, Virginia. If you or your organization needs help with selecting the right plaque for your special person or occasion, please contact us anytime.

    Read about my back-in-business story in the Waynesboro News Virginian Here!

    Many things are the same and some things are different than before:

    WHAT’S THE SAME?

    • Licensed Class B Virginia Contractor
    • Dedicated to Product Quality and Customer Service
    • Strong Sign Design Capabilities
    • Specializing in Hand-Crafted Quality, Custom Wood Signs
    • Good/ Better/ Best Options
    • Range of Customers will be from Small Entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 Companies
    • Many Returning Customers

    WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

    • Many New Customers
    • No Sales Office; I come to you when you need help with a signage project
    • Smaller, More Selective Workload: Our products and services are valuable to your image and worth the wait in scheduling your project!

    Filed Under: News and Updates Tagged With: Bronze Plaques, VA, Virginia, Waynesboro

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