People like the look of stone. No matter the decade, it’s rare to see a stone structure be considered tacky, antiquated or out of style. It’s this highly regarded appearance and longevity that makes stone structures a popular and effective medium for signage. 

Using faux stones decreases installation time and cost because no masonry work is needed. Photo courtesy of Signs by Benchmark.

 

When fabricating a stone sign, there are many options to choose. River rock, stacked stone and flag stone are all popular pieces, but just because a sign incorporates those elements doesn’t mean authentic stone is the best answer. In fact, for smaller projects, including signage, faux stone is an ideal substrate that allows for design creativity, cuts down on production time and requires little maintenance, all while maintaining the elegant look and durability your customers expect.

 

FLEXIBLE AND FUNCTIONAL

Faux stones are appropriate for a wide variety of clients, including gated communities, subdivisions, financial institutions, hospitals and hotel chains, says Matt Frey, division manager of signs for Signs by Benchmark. For a monument or pylon sign, a typical substrate option is a metal pole with stucco sprayed on top, but faux stones give the sign a richer look, Frey says, which is an appearance many of these types of clients desire—and at an affordable cost.

 

With faux stones, you also have more creativity when it comes to design, says Mike Fetter, sales manager of Peachtree City Foamcraft. Of course, authentic stones are heavy, so it’s not realistic to use them in signage areas other than the base, but faux stones can be placed in various areas. 

 

Photo courtesy of Peachtree City Foamcraft.

“There are a lot of uses for faux stone that you can’t do with real stone,” Fetter says. “You can apply faux stone in more general areas on the signs, so it’s not just on the base or the column, but now you can do capping systems, or you can do curved pieces on a sign that generally wouldn’t be possible with real stones.”

 

When designing faux stone signs, try to match elements from the building for a consistent look. And be sure to pick a faux stone that doesn’t flash a busy pattern or use pieces that are too big for the sign, Frey suggests. Disproportionate and distracting faux stones take away from the message of the sign, which lessens its impact. 

 

“You don’t want to use faux stones that look out of place,” Frey says. “You need to pick a stone that blends well with the sign. You don’t want to draw more attention to the pole cover than the sign. One of the biggest mistakes I see is when you have a little 4-by-6 sign and these gigantic river rocks that just looks out of place. It’s just too big for the sign.”

 

Unlike other signage applications, if your shop offers faux stones, there is no need to carry any inventory, Frey says. Typically, faux stones are custom made because no natural stone is alike, so it doesn’t make sense to keep an inventory of duplicate pieces. 

 

“Every stone looks different every time,” Frey says. “There’s no repetition; it’s as close as you can get to natural stone.”

 

Faux stones are ideal for colder regions because snow and ice do not affect installation. Photo courtesy of Signs by Benchmark.

INSTALLING FAUX STONE

To install real stone, you need the help of a mason, but that can be a time-consuming and expensive process.  Real stones are so heavy that a foundation is required, and building one is a lengthy process. However, says Bill Freeman, vice president of architectural sales for Howard Industries, installing faux stones is simple and requires fewer steps.

 

“Installation is an easy process using some simple tools and construction adhesive,” Freeman says. “Corners and joints may need to be sanded, formed and touch up painted a little to match. The panels may also need to be shimmed or trimmed if the surface is not flat or squared.”

 

In fact, Fetter has seen firsthand how faux stones save a significant amount of time during the installation process. Across the street from the Peachtree facility is a trade school, which incorporated real stones into its signage, but it was not a quick job.

 

“It took them a week to get the foundation and get it poured. It then took a couple more weeks to build the block wall and another couple more days to do the brick, and then they had to wait for the company to do the sign,” Fetter says. “Before you knew it, it was a two-month process, where we can actually install faux stones in less than three weeks.” 

 

Brick is another common faux stone. Photo courtesy of Peachtree City Foamcraft.

Even if you have the time, finding a mason willing to work on a signage project during ideal installation months can also be a problem, Fetter adds. Signage projects, especially in the northern region, are typically installed during the warmer months to avoid inclement weather; however, at that time, masons are usually working on larger projects, such as an entire building construction. Often, it isn’t economical for a mason to accept a signage project when larger building jobs are in the queue. With faux stone, of course, you don’t have to worry about working within a particular time frame. 

 

“When you’re using a faux stone product, you’re not really tied to the weather,” Fetter says. “Materials show up completely done and ready to install, so you’re not waiting for the snow to clear or the rain to stop. It just makes it easier from a sign manufacturing standpoint to sell the product and install it in a short period of time.”

 

Though authentic stones will occasionally be demanded by those few customers who will always want the real thing, the benefits of working with faux stone can greatly outweigh the effort and expense of working with real stone, especially when time is a factor or you want to customize your sign with elements such as LED message centers. The numerous options for customized faux stone monuments and the ease of creating exactly what your customer requests should keep these monuments as a viable product option for any sign shop.