Original entrance sign. Note the crack.

New replacement sign

Last month I mentioned that I had purchased a stud welding unit for an upcoming project for a local condominium complex. This project was the culmination of over a year of meetings, samples and designs. My wife has been amazed that I have had the patience and resolve to stick with the project and see it through to its completion. Yes, there were a lot of samples made and a lot of designs getting redesigned, but in the end it was a worthwhile project that was appreciated by both the homeowners association and myself.

I was first contacted by Kim Smodic in April 2008 when she explained to me that her condominium complex was looking to update its signage. Our initial meeting was a walkthrough of the complex, during which time I cataloged the existing signs and took photos of each and every sign in the complex.

The complex consists of three, three story multi-tenant buildings, two of which are identical, and one single story area of townhome style homes. To complicate this situation, the two multi-unit buildings that are identical were built by one builder as a complex called Brighthurst, and the other three-story building and the townhomes were built by another builder as Bishops Park.

The desire of the homeowners association was to combine the two complexes, which already shared an entrance sign into one community named Brighthurst. Furthermore they wanted to add an extra sign with the community name at another intersection and update all the directional signage on the buildings. At the initial meeting with Kim, she informed me that the homeowners association was seeking bids and designs from three different sign companies.

Upon initial inspection, I noted that the complex, which had been built in the 1980s, had sandblasted redwood signs that had been repainted several times and were showing a lot of wear and tear. The main entrance sign was split in half and many of the building identifiers had numbers that had been damaged and were too small for identification purposes in the first place. I immediately recommended Corian replacement signs for the complex and made an initial sample on a piece of green scrap Corian that I had sitting in the “vault" ... a vast wasteland of scrap material that I’ll surely find a use for someday.

Initial response to the Corian product was good, and I was invited to attend the monthly homeowners meeting to show my ideas and samples. I later learned that other sign companies had been contacted before they called me and these companies had shown up once and never returned. My wife and I showed up on the appointed night of the homeowners meeting, samples in hand, on time and excited about the opportunity to show off our skills and samples of our work. What we walked into was a community divided on their opinions and not all were happy that we were there. Samples were passed around and we answered a few questions and the show was over. This happened in May 2008, and I didn’t hear from Brighthurst again until January 2009. I guess the main reason I was contacted again was the fact that I showed up when I said I would and provided at least what I thought was a direction for the project.

After the homeowners meeting, my wife decided that she had no more interest in the project, and perhaps this was the reason that other sign companies had given up on it too. I’m not the pushy type who calls a client every other day to see where a project stands. I prefer to let my work and skills speak for themselves, and if the client is sufficiently impressed, then they know where to find me.

This was the case as Kim e-mailed me in January this year. She stated that the community was ready to move forward with the project and had come up with a budget that was sufficient to do the work that I thought was necessary. Kim was not an elected board member when she undertook the sign project, but through her tireless efforts on this project she was elected to the board, and had it not been for her constant pushing, I’m not sure the project ever would have gotten done.

I met with Kim several times to discuss the project, and again samples were made ... in several different color combinations. These samples were ferried to more homeowners meetings by Kim, and following the meetings I would get feedback. Finally the board had decided on a color combination of a tan Corian with lettering v-carved and painted black. Oh what a victory this was ... finally a decision ... but wait! They’d like to see some more designs. They had liked my original designs, but wanted to see something with clipped corners that represented the building architecture.

I did the design changes and again they were off to next month’s meeting.

Good News! They liked the new designs ... but can you do some different fonts? It’s a wonder I’m not a bald man.

OK ... so I did the font samples. They weren’t sure, so they sent me some examples of what they liked. Now we’re getting somewhere ... right?

“We’d like to meet you onsite and go over the signs ... wording, placement and such.”

Alright, I can do that, and it was a good thing I did. Logistics weren’t exactly right for the numbering on the directional signs, and I was sent back to come up with the proper logistical numbering sequences for the building directional signs. Another meeting onsite and I had nailed it! Let the whirring of router bits, flying sparks of the welder and the file crunching of the computer begin. Oh, happy day!

We made short work of building the two entrance signs. Materials had been ordered weeks earlier when I got the deposit on the project and were sitting there gathering dust. Roger had already decided how the project would be built and went to work building the aluminum cabinet that we would attach the routed Corian sign to.

The cabinet for the sign needed to be hollow so I could attach the Corian to the aluminum face without visible hardware. My plan was to drill holes in the aluminum, and after applying a liberal amount of 100 percent silicone rubber sealant, to run screws into the Corian from the back in order to hold the Corian in place while the silicone dried. I made oversized holes in the aluminum to allow for expansion and contraction so the screws wouldn’t end up cracking the Corian or popping it off the surface. The silicone alone should hold just fine for many years to come. I’ve had other projects with this same construction method, and they’ve been out in the elements for years and none have failed yet. I’m sure if you asked the nice folks at DuPont who make Corian, they’d tell you that this wasn’t an intended use for the material, but I’m here to tell you, I’ve been using it for signs for a long time.

The two entrance signs were installed and everyone was happy with the outcome. With that feat accomplished, we set out to complete the interior directional signs for the complex. The old sandblasted redwood signs had been lag bolted to the brick walls of the buildings with lead shields. It was my intention to stud mount the signs to the brick walls.

The design called for an aluminum backer with the Corian signs attached ... again with silicone and screws from the back. I had purchased a stud welder recently for welding 3” studs on the backs of the aluminum. After carefully measuring the brick and mortar joints of the building, I came up with a numeric formula for placing the studs in the mortar joints of the bricks. Mortar is easier and faster to drill than the brick.

On the day of installation we rolled our portable generator around to the different sign locations and quickly marked and drilled the holes in the mortar with a hammer drill.

If you’ve ever tried to drill holes in brick, mortar or stone without a hammer drill it’s time you did some research. The right tool for the project makes all the difference.

Holes were drilled and filled with ... you guessed it, silicone. A liberal amount of silicone on the backs of the aluminum, and it should be there until someone intentionally takes it down. Again, everyone was pleased, and I’ll be getting more projects from Brighthurst. Until next month ... go out and try something new.