Reburfishing Trail Signs at Eklund

Know what happens when you're not paying attention? Your wooden signs get all faded and tattered. Especially if you made a poor choice in paint. The one day you suddenly realize the place is looking pretty tacky, and it's time to take all the signs down and refurbish them. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Each sign had to be removed (some of the hardware is designed to reduce the risk of vandalism, so having the correct tools is critical), sanded down to bare wood, painted with leftover deck stain, and the lettering done over. And then everything needs to be reinstalled with appropriate hardware.

The sign out by the parking area wasn't very inviting, and the brown plastic Open Space rules sign above it was also ripping apart due to tree growth. Tacky.

Ugh. 

Because this sign is at the garden entrance, some extra effort was made in more attractive lettering. Unless you have some special talent, lettering is harder than it looks. An art projector was used to project lettering printed out on a PC with a Papyrus font onto the board. Never tried that before, but it worked great.

Lettering projected onto the board

The lettering was traced over with a pencil, and then simply painted over with a brush and white trail paint (we use exterior Behr Premium Plus glossy with primer). The brown plastic 'Open Space Rules' sign was replaced with a small Open Space marker since we now have a nearby kiosk where the rules can be posted.

AFTER

The big routered header sign was the most work. Just getting it down was a project. Sanding seemed to take forever, and repainting the letters took 1.5 hours. Installation holes had to be redrilled. But it's a big improvement.

Header sign freshly sanded and stained

Ready for installation

AFTER

The signs at the back gate got less attention because it's less visible. These are rustic, quickly done signs that get the job done. 

The gates themselves were also fixed up this spring . The gate design was never a good one. It required everyone to carefully latch the gate behind them, and not everyone bothered. An improvised system of springs and wood door stops was added over time. This year, pull handles were added to the outside of the gate, the front gate got a new metal door stop, and both gates were realigned.

BEFORE

AFTER

Ready for another hiking season!