Augusta Sign Company

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Signage for The Barns at Mattaponi Springs

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You’d figure since I am very interested in American Indian mounds all across the country, I’d be involved with a place named after a local tribe. I even had lunch with the chief of their tribe and reservation back in the 1990’s!

I have been making custom carved cedar signs for The Golf Club at Mattaponi Springs and The Barns at Mattaponi Springs, in Ruther Glen, Virginia, since 2021. They had noticed my carved signs at the Blue Ridge Tunnel on Afton Mountain and then contracted me for theirs! Over the years I have provided a large sign for their barns complex, a really cool and upscale wedding venue; several entrance signs for their world class golf course; and smaller signs for their quaint cabins and cottages.

The signs are of simple design, usually 2 posts with one or two cross beams that hold the carved cedar panels. The panels are dressed with 5/8″ square cedar trim. All the natural wood is stained with a semi-transparent stain, and the carved letters are carefully primed and painted with black sign enamel. The signs also have decorative metal plates also painted black.

I found that using a paint mask stencil for lettering the sign makes things go a lot faster and the letters are perfect! I am able to cut the stencils on my in-house vinyl cutter and I use Ronan brand sign enamel for the paint, which is very opaque and durable. The cedar trim pieces provide an interesting touch, adding depth and shadows to the signage.

I am currently working on two large signs for the cottages area. If you have a need for a great place to play a round of golf or need a neat spot for a wedding, you should definitely take a trip to their complex just several miles northeast of Kings Dominion. They even have a picturesque lake on the property.

Mark Hackley owns and operates Augusta Sign Company. Call: 540-943-9818!

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!)