This custom address sign is the last feature in a larger entrance project on Schooner Road, here on Pender Island. A couple of years ago I made hand split red cedar entrance gates (pedestrian and driveway gates) and carved a design into the gates of the bluenose ship and treed shoreline. The new address sign is also made from salvaged, hand split cedar driftwood, designed to match the gates and emphasize the street address which is echoed over the pedestrian gate carved into the arbour beam. This is a simple design with 2 posts and a curvey cap piece to cover the joinery and keep it more waterproof. I find this design gives me lots of room to make a large flat ‘canvas’ for the sign details and design. I hand carved and painted the design with 1Shot signpaint, then finished the whole thing with 2 coats of exterior OSMO oil finish. You might notice that I have left a bit of the weathered driftwood look (the way I found it on the beach) on the cap for some contrast to the sanded and stained rest of the sign. To install the sign I drilled up 8″ into the bottoms of each post and hammered in 1/2″ rebar leaving about 16″ sticking out the bottom. I then pushed the rebar and sign down into the ground in place, putting some rocks around the bottom to keep the wood off the ground and help stabilize the sign balance. This works great for signs that clients dont need permenently bolted down (I use metal post saddles set in cement) and up to about 4′ tall. Bigger than that and you might want to go to bigger rebar and more into the ground to keep it stable.
If you are looking for a custom address sign, please send me an email and I would love to work with you on making your ideas happen! I can ship anywhere..
