All-Natural, Timber Frame Interpretive Sign
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
Single unit: $1,500
2-4 units: $1,400
5 or more: Call for pricing.
Note:
- Credit Card transactions will add 3.25% to the total price.
- Prices do not include installation or delivery. We are happy to provide a 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 Signboard Specs
What’s in the Kit: Fully assembled timber frame base, metal display panel brackets, and Display Panel (if ordered through TimberHomes Vermont).
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 either stainless or galvanized steel.
- Display Area: We’re capable of redesigning our Interpretive Signboard to any size you need for your display. Tell us what you have in mind!
- TimberHomes does not manufacture the display panels, we subcontract with a professional sign maker.
Display Panels:
THVT has relationships with both graphic artists and professional sign makers. If you need help with either the design or securing a sign, THVT can easily facilitate the process. If you prefer, THVT will be happy to supply just the Interpretive Sign frame and mounting brackets, leaving the rest of the project for your team.
- Display Panel Material: In the past, THVT has installed either High Pressure Laminate or PVC display panels on our Interpretive Signs. Both materials are durable and made for exterior usage. High Pressure Laminate display panels, on the upper end of cost, is highly resistant to UV light and even vandalism.
Standard Options for Interpretive Signboard
- Stretch the Size of the Sign Area: Stretching the post spreads wider than 3’ will incur an additional cost of $300 to cover the necessary design time and materials.
- 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 Installation
Our Interpretive Signboard is 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, 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.
- Separately, THVT will supply 2 stainless steel mounting brackets (and fasteners) to attach the display panel to the Interpretive Sign frame. It will have been pre drilled and prefit to the frame.
- If THVT is supplying the display, the brackets will come preattached to the High Pressure Laminate or PVC display ready for reinstallation to the frame.
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.
- Install display panel brackets and display with provided fasteners.
Delivery & Shipping
Our prices assume pickup at our shop in Vershire or Montpelier, Vermont. A single Interpretive Signboard can fit easily into the back of a full-sized pickup truck. Please discuss vehicle requirements with us depending on your order.
- Pick-up: Pick up your signboard at our shop in your own vehicle, and we will help you load.
- Delivery: We charge a rate of $1.70/mile round trip to deliver.
- Shipping: For single units to be delivered more than 200 miles from Vershire or Montpelier, Vermont, we will ship by common carrier, in which case the unit will come on a custom-made pallet, and protected by plywood. Please contact us for a current packing and shipping quote. There must be a forklift available at the delivery address.
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.
