What? Monument signs made from foam? I must be daft, you say! But guess what, you’ve seen them even if you aren’t sure what to call them. They are the signs that are built from stone or brick or some form of masonry. They look solid and built to last forever. But are they really stone or brick, or do they just look like that?
The quicker turnaround times and lower costs of high density urethane (HDU) foam-based monument sign that is formed or sculpted to simply look like brick, stone or masonry is increasingly popular. And they are popular for a number of reasons including this major point: the foam-core style signs can be a great deal more complex in appearance than a comparable mason built sign for a lot less money.
There is no doubt that a skilled mason will produce a beautiful and long lasting monument sign. These do at times require deep footings and a lot of labor which add cost and time to a project. While prices vary around the country; some estimates indicate $40 to $60 per square foot for a 6 foot tall brick wall is a good number in our Upstate, for example. An installation time might be 50 to 60 hours for this example. In comparison, the equivalent foam-core sign might be $40 to $45 per square foot, depending upon the design and will require only a few hours of labor to install.
So if you desire a faster turnaround time, lower cost, and a lot less digging, the HDU based sign is the way to go. It can be custom made or one can choose from a very large number of standard designs ranging from perhaps a mere 4 feet high and 4 feet wide to 8 feet in height and 12 feet long or higher and longer still. All that and it requires only a few post holes! Correct, these can be placed into the ground using POST HOLES with some ground treatment for the base using stones or decorative concrete, mulch, flowers or by any other way one can dream up a way to decorate the base.
One other concern at times with natural stone is its reaction to harsh climates. Temperature ups and downs coupled with a lot of rain and ice can cause chipping, spalling or cracking of the stone. The expansion and contraction of water/ice can also affect brick and mortar joints that haven’t been properly made or sealed. If you want the job done right, putting up a masonry sign base requires a good mason. Ground heaving resulting in a no longer level brick or stone wall is a far less worrisome problem with a foam-core style design, because it is more easily rectified should such a thing happen.
And speaking of appearance again, I have pointed out foam-core style signs from a real stone or brick monument to a number of folks, and so far, no one has noticed a difference. Foam core based finishes can be stucco, smooth, designer blocks, brick, stone or a combination. Additionally, the manufacturer we use hand sculpts their product. It is not digitally produced to look like brick or stone, but in-house artists handle the work. The monument signs are as beautiful as the real thing.
A proprietary hard coat guaranteed not to rot, rust, peel, crack, and blister or deteriorate in any way finishes off the final product. This manufacturer is the only monument sign producer whose product has been approved to withstand 175 mile per hour wind loads, and they even have a coating so tough one can take a hammer to it – and it survives! Weed-whackers or the random stone being thrown from a truck passing by or a lawn mower blade will not damage this monument.
If you have any questions about this type of signage, give me a holler, and I will be pleased to help.
