Making a sign that will be outside

8 years ago

I have been asked by a friend to make a sign for her home business. She lives outside the city limits and I have checked on the county requirements for such a sign. My friend wants the sign as large as the county will permit - or close - which is 576 square inches. She would like a 33 x 22 oval sign and I am doing both sides.

I made a sign two years ago for a non-profit because they couldn't find anyone else to do it. I told them I was a novice, but made the sign not sure what I was doing - for no charge and a promise to make it again if it didn't last. I used a 30" x 20" aspen board, primed twice with Zinsser 123, all sides, painted the design and used a spray acrylic finish - which I did not like much but worked OK. It has been up for 2 years on a covered porch and held up just fine. They asked me to do another, and I used the same method but used an oil base spar marine varnish since this sign was on the street and not protected from the midwest weather. That sign has been up a year with no problems, though the oil based varnish did dull the colors - as I expected.

Online research has shown me aspen is not the best outdoor wood. I have considered a pvc sign blank, aluminum sign blank, ordering some 2 sided MDO, and redwood - all those choices are expensive, and in the case of the redwood, not available. Since I am priming the wood on all surfaces and will finish with a spar varnish (water based this time) is there an easy to get acceptable wood board I can use. The only one I've been able to find is the aspen board.

Featured Answer

rwiegand

8 years ago

I'm generally a big believer in wood, but for a semi-permanent outside sign I'd use a piece of cPVC sheet (Azek is one brand). It's available at any lumber yard or at the big box stores. MDO would be a typical choice for signs (less expensive), but I wouldn't want to leave the edges exposed making fabrication more effort. I made a sign for the end of our driveway with vinyl lettering on cPVC in a A&C style frame cut from an unknown tropical 4x4 I had in the shop about five years ago and it still looks like new despite being fully exposed to the weather.

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Comments (8)

Steve J
8 years ago
Cedar would be my first choice as it's naturally rot resistant and is used extensively outdoors for siding, decks, docks, etc...
jhmarie thanked Steve J
jhmarie
Original Author
8 years ago
I thought about cedar but I need two smooth sides and a 33 x 22" board and piecing boards together is beyond my skills. I wondered if the aspen well sealed by primer and spar varnish would hold up. If I try to order a wood board the shipping gets pretty high.

She is leaning towards a sign blank, pvc or aluminum. Then I need to figure out correct primer.
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Sammy
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
PVC or aluminum all the way. And, quite frankly, I’ve never heard of Aspen wood being used/available for purchase until this post! I don’t think my local lumber yards/home centers carry it; I guess it’s regional?
jhmarie thanked Sammy
jhmarie
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks all.

I think I shall recommend the PVC sign blank as the easiest to paint - and it is precut - a labor savings that is worth the money.
jhmarie
Original Author
8 years ago
Sammy - this is the board I used. Certainly not a choice to throw unfinished outside, but I had wondered if well sealed any decent wood would hold up.

www.menards.com/main/building-materials/lumber-boards/hardwood-lumber-boards/mastercraft-reg-1-x-24-aspen-board/1046408/p-1444422478354-c-13115.htm?tid=-4601488426527095634&ipos=5

I know kitchen / bath cabinetry is often made of MDF - which falls apart in water, but well sealed is used in bathrooms - so it crossed my mind to wonder if similar would be true outdoors of a well sealed wood (would never use MDF outdoors - not that inexperienced:) However, I do see that outdoors, the possibility of the spar varnish and primer being penetrated to bare wood, perhaps by a hail storm, is much greater then similar damage inside a home.
mike_kaiser_gw
8 years ago
Menards use to sell MDO (medium density overlay) which is plywood with a paper coating held together with waterproof glue/resins. Classically used for outdoor signs but as others have suggested sheet PVC would be an excellent choice as well.

Sealed or not, MDF would be a horrible choice. It just doesn't mix with water and while a veneer of some sort works in bathroom for an occasional splash, have you ever seen what happens to the bottom of a cabinet with a plumbing leak?

Assuming you are using an exterior paint, there's no reason for a top coat. Do painters top coat the exterior of homes?
jhmarie
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you.

I am also looking at MDO - I would need two sided MDO and the price is similar to the pvc and aluminum. I would never do MDF outside - just wondering if sealed real wood board of a lesser quality then MDO would hold up - but my customer has pretty much decided on aluminum or pvc.

The sign will have decorative art on it done with acrylic paints which is why I need a finish coat. The acrylic paints are pretty good, but not exterior grade:)