Prices
Signs are charged per letter, using the height of a capital letter (e.g. "T"):
| Up to 50mm | £6.00 |
| 50 - 75mm | £8.50 |
| 75 - 100mm | £12.00 |
| 100 - 125mm | £16.50 |
| 125 - 150mm | £22.00 |
| Plus postage and packaging £8.00 | |
Extras:
| Painted lettering | £1.00 per letter |
| Oiled finish | £20.00 |
| Joining boards edge to edge (For very wide signs) | £20.00 per joint |
Please email or call if you have any other sizes in mind or other requirements such as logos, etc. I will calculate the cost and get back to you promptly.
Payment
Full payment is required before I can start work on your sign. You can pay using BACS or cheque.
BACS is my preferred method, as it saves paper (the cheque, envelope, paying in slip), fossil fuels (delivery to me and me driving to the bank), money (for postage costs), time (it arrives immediately in most cases), etc..
What's included?
These prices cover the time spent designing and carving and the cost of the timber. I can provide 50mm stainless steel screws for mounting, or a brass hanging plates or hooks. I can also accurately drill and countersink mounting holes if required.
What's not included?
Postage and fitting are not included in the price. Anything that will take extra time will also have a small extra fee. For example, an oiled finish, painted letters, non-rectangular signs, carved logos or shapes, very small or very large letters and any extra hardware, such as brass chains for hanging the sign.
Postage
Postage for "normal" sized signs is charged at a flat rate of £8.00 within the UK for insured standard parcels service (3 days). Please contact me for a quote if you live outside of the UK. If you are ordering a very large sign, or require next day delivery, then I will need to quote individually too.
Fitting
If you live within 15 miles of Kingham (Oxfordshire, UK), I offer a fitting service for £25.00. Alternatively, I can accurately drill and countersink holes for free, to allow you to mount the sign using screws.
Finishes and maintenance
Oak and other durable woods such as mahogany (and its relatives) can be left unfinished and unmaintained, and they will naturally "silver" as the sun bleaches the colour out of the wood, and this will look very natural and rustic. The sign will develop tiny splits and checks, and look "old" quite quickly, but it will last a very long time. If you don't specify a finishing option, I will default to no finish.
Another option if you don't mind the maintenance is UV resistant danish oil by a company called Liberon. If you choose this finish, the sign will have several coats of oil before it gets sent to you, and ideally it should have another 2-3 applications of oil per year, which is straightforward to do. Simply wipe the oil on with a small clean rag or a kitchen towel then let it dry. Applying the oil in this way takes less then five minutes. To keep the sign looking its best, please do this anytime the sign looks "dry" (2-3 times per year) and your sign will stay looking great for many years. Before and after winter are great times to oil the sign. The Oil finish is great if you'd like to keep some colour and sheen on the sign, but without it looking too artificially glossy.
Yacht varnish is another weather-protecting finish, which requires little or no regular maintenance, but sometimes varnish does peel and flake, which looks terrible. Another issue with varnishes is they can turn a yellow/amber colour over time, and so if used, are best used only on darker woods such as black walnut and mahogany. For these reasons, I don't offer a varnishing service myself, but I am happy to supply the sign unfinished and you are free to varnish it if you must!
There are too many options!
If you're finding it difficult to decide what you'd like your sign to look like, then leave it to me. I've got some sensible, attractive options that I like to default to in cases of indecision. They are as follows: Optima typeface, Approx. 60-70mm lettering (for a standard house sign), chocolate brown painted lettering, natural finish (no oil), oak, softened square edge.
More Info
Please contact me if you'd like to know anything else, I'm happy to answer any questions I can!
