Lightweight Monument Signs

Monument signs have a great look: solid, substantial, historic, even permanent. Such three-dimension constructions have a long history, having been made for generations from stone, earth, and other long-lasting materials, and more recently from semi-permanent materials such as concrete, stucco, and brick.

But you’d be surprised to learn how easily we can achieve that look with lightweight, low-cost materials and processes. Today, monument signs can be fabricated “to order” from man-made materials that give that permanent look while being lighter, easier, and cheaper to fabricate, transport, and install.

Modern Materials; Venerable Look

These modern monuments often begin with a solid core of molded expanded polystyrene or something similar, bonded onto one or more vertical PVC pipes that will later provide space for the sign’s metal anchorage. Various sub-shapes are individually molded, then assembled into the final, full monument arrangement. The completed structure gets sealed inside a thick layer of resin and fiber, urethane, or textured acrylic, and then cured. This encasement process creates a strong shell that protects the monument against sun, weather, and incidental damages.

The resulting monument sign is lightweight, strong, and durable, and gives the appearance of stone, brick, or other traditional materials. However, the entire monument is so lightweight it can easily be transported and positioned without any need for the usual heavy-lift equipment. Nor does it require a time-consuming, expensive concrete slab.

During the installation process, steel rods get inserted into the PVC piping, secured with expanding polymeric resin foam, and anchored to the ground by means of simple, pre-fabricated concrete footings, in compliance with local zoning or other construction regulations.

Costs of today’s monument signs are remarkably low, yet the result is a highly visible, long-life, extremely low-maintenance, memorable landmark.

Call us at (978) 401-9270, and we’ll be happy to show you how modern monument signage can be designed and built to work very well for your location.

– Tom