All-Natural, Timber Frame Interpretive Sign Frame
A rugged and beautiful structure, our Interpretive Sign is a great addition to any park, museum, or municipality hoping to highlight a natural feature or historic building to the public. A curving cherry beam ties together the Black Locust posts with traditional mortise and tenon joinery. The timber members are all made from Black Locust, a naturally rot-resistant wood species from our northern New England forests. As part of the kit, we supply metal mounting brackets that easily attach to your display panel. If desired, TimberHomes Vermont can help facilitate design and production of your display. Placed low to the ground, the Interpretive Sign is easily viewed and enjoyed by all at your scenic overlook, riverside park, or museum.
Pricing for Interpretive Sign Frames
Single unit: $1,600
5 or more: $1,500
Note:
- Credit Card transactions will add 3.25% to the total price.
- Prices do not include installation, shipping, or sales tax.
- Contact us for a shipping quote!
To order: Send us an email » or call: 802-685-7974
Lead time: Ranges from 4 – 16 weeks, depending on the season and demand.
Interpretive Sign Frame Specs
What’s in the Kit: Fully assembled timber frame base, metal display panel brackets. Display panel not included.
Details:
- Timber:
- Posts 5.5” x 5.5” Black Locust
- Angled header is Black Locust or White Oak
- Lower tie beam is curved Cherry with a mortise & tenon joint
- Brackets are stainless steel.
- Display Area:
- Our standard Interpretive Sign Frame kit can accommodate a display panel size of:
- Minimum: 3′-6″ left to right, and 19″ front to back
- Maximum: 4′-4″ left to right and 3′ front to back
- Or any size within those ranges.
- We will need to know the size or your display panel before you place your order.
- TimberHomes can easily stretch or shrink the size of the frame to work with the size or your desired display panel. Please call to discuss.
- Our standard Interpretive Sign Frame kit can accommodate a display panel size of:
Display Panels (not included) Display panels are not included with the kit. Our clients typically work with professional graphic designers and sign makers to procure their display panels, and we have relationships with both, if you need recommendations. If you need help with designing or procuring a sign, we do sometime facilitate the process; please reach out for more info.
Display Panel Material: We recommend High Pressure Laminate or PVC
display panels on our Interpretive Sign Frames. Both materials are durable and made for exterior usage. High Pressure Laminate display panels, on the upper end of cost, are highly resistant to UV light and even vandalism.
Display panels material must be at least ¾’’ thick for screwing into included frame brackets and resisting wear and tear.
Standard Options for Interpretive Sign Frame
- Stretch the Size of the Sign Area: Call to discuss.
- Customizing: We are happy to make any adjustments you have in mind for an hourly labor/design rate plus materials. See example below of a custom sign built for the town of Rangeley, Maine.
Interpretive Sign Frame Installation
Our Interpretive Sign Frames are simple to install and the work can be readily done by a group of 2+ strong people following our instructions. With your purchase of a TimberHomes Vermont Interpretive Sign Frame, we will include installation instructions:
- The frame will come completely assembled, and ready to be installed into the ground. After the holes are dug, the project should take 2+ people about an hour to complete.
- Two steel “L” mounting brackets will come attached to the wooden frame. It is predrilled for the attachment of the display panel.
Installing the Interpretive Sign Frame (standard size):
- We recommend calling dig safe to ensure that it is safe to dig in your desired location
- Dig two 12″ holes, 4′-6″ deep, 3′ apart on center.
- We recommend the use of a 12″ x 4′ sonotube installed in the post hole locations
- Insert posts into tubes and backfill with clean gravel, checking the unit for plumb and level
- We DO NOT recommend backfilling posts with concrete.
Delivery & Shipping
Shipping
Shipping is not included in our prices. Please contact us for shipping quote.
- Shipping: TimberHomes relies extensively on third party “hotshot” or LTL
carriers to deliver our products. Depending upon your location, quantity of units, and scheduling constraints, the costs and requirements of getting products to you can vary greatly. Please call to discuss. - Pick-up at our shop in Vershire or Montpelier, Vermont is free. A single Interpretive Sign Frame can fit easily into the back of a full-sized pickup truck. Please discuss vehicle requirements with us depending on your order.
The Nature of Wood
Our products are built using natural timbers from our local forests. We strive to choose timber of the highest quality for your project. However, trees are unique and, as such, are not perfectly uniform. The wood used for our handcrafted timber frames may have knots, wormholes, blue stain, or wane. Typically none of these features pose any kind of risk to the structural integrity of your product.
The wood we use is also green (meaning recently cut) or air dried, and comes from our local sawmills. It is not kiln dried wood from a lumber yard. As green wood dries it may develop checking or cracks, it may shrink or twist, and like all of us, it will grey over time. These characteristics make natural wood products unique. None of these characteristics affect the structural integrity of the wood or the kiosk. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend that you inspect your product on an annual basis for signs of deterioration, and be in touch if you have concerns.
The Black Locust Challenge
For sign posts that are installed directly into the ground, we have moved to using strictly Black Locust material (Robinia Pseudoacacia). Some other timber species have some natural rot resistance (white oak, cedar, etc), but locust is the incomparable gold standard. Ask any old farmer. However, it typically does not grow very straight, which makes getting a 12’ long kiosk post difficult, and means that our kiosk posts are almost guaranteed to have some of the defects listed above. We have chosen to value the longevity of the product over a straight-grained, knot free look.
Kiosk Post Care/Inspection
We strongly recommend installing your sign’s posts into a tube, such as a culvert or even a Sonotube. With ideally 3-6” of gravel at the bottom of your hole, install the tube at the prescribed post center and lightly back fill with the native soil. Install the kiosk posts/display assembly into the tubes. After the unit is leveled and plumbed, use clean gravel to backfill the post. Be sure to keep the gravel around the post bottoms clear of soil and other organic matter. Doing so should ensure decades of service from your kiosk.
We strongly recommend that the posts bottoms are inspected annually. If your organization has an annual maintenance check list, please add sign inspection to the list.
