How To Make A Farmhouse Address Sign
This article entails step-by-step instructions on easily making an address sign on your front doors. It would be best if you made some letters, attach various boards, and achieve the best look for your address sign. With so many questions regarding how to make the signs, it is better to bring out all the details here. With reclaimed shiplap boards, it became so easier to make the sign. However, the information below entails all you need to achieve the best appearance using new wood.
Materials needed to make an address sign
* White paint
* Pine boards
* Grey stain
* Wood screws
* Black craft paint
* Stencil
* High-quality hangers
* Clear spray sealer
Tools needed
* Table saw
* Miter saw
* Paintbrush
* Stencil brush
* Silhouette Cameo
Instructions to follow
1. Cutting the boards to a more desirable length
2. Using the excess wood to keep the boards together with the wood screws.
3. Use the grey stain to stain the board for a more appealing look
4. Whitewashing
5. Coming up with letters or numbers using stencils
6. Tracing the letters before you can paint using a pencil for uniform placement.
7. Stenciling the letters using a stencil brush and black craft paint.
8. Allowing them to dry.
9. Spraying a clear sealer to avoid peeling off.
Steps to make an address sign
Measuring and cutting the boards
To begin with, you need to know the length of the sign that you need. Whenever you need one that can cover the top of a french door, it is ideal to cut shiplap boards with a length of 73 inches. So, if you purchase two 8″ shiplap boards, you can cut them to an appropriate length with a mirror saw. Since you need it to have a length of 60 inches, you can trim the wood and leave out the excess wood by cutting them with a table saw. You cut them into narrow strips for use when attaching the boards together from the back.
Attaching the boards
Secondly, you have to turn the two boards to face upward while attaching the wood strips using screws to keep them together. Always remember that you need the appropriate length of the screws to avoid them coming out of the sign. You can place at least 3 attachments on the backside. You can check out any scrap wood for use if you have no excess length boards. With this, you are assured that the wood attachments will not be seen when you hang your sign.
Distressing the address sign
To age the new wood address sign, you must place some dents and dings on the wood. You can use different tools such as screwdrivers, nails, hammers, chains, screws, and many more. This can be anything that you use while beating the boards with. From here, you can
start to place the right side of the sign-up on a strong surface and hammer it away. This makes it also a good stress reliever.
Whitewashing the new wood
When you are done distressing the wood, the next thing that you need to do is to whitewash the new wood. The main reason for this is to keep the sign looking aged. Therefore, you start by staining the wood before applying the whitewash. So you will need a gray penetrating stain and a white paint of your choice. You can opt to use White Chalk Paint and Classic Gray Minwax Stain.
Choose a house number to include on the wooden sign.
It would help if you left to paint to dry up before you can add any numbers or letters. Depending on your choice, you can make some letters using cardboard or precut stencils. With cardboard, you can cut each letter individually and ensure they are visible enough. Your letters can be either in upper or lower case to achieve a more desirable look. You can choose to either;
Trace
Tracing your letters using a pencil before you apply the paint assures you of well-arranged and fitting letters on the sign. This makes the placement more appealing and neat. However, this becomes difficult to make corrections after stenciling with the paint.
Stencil
This requires you to align the first stencil as you try securing it to one place using painters tape. With a stencil brush, you can add a smaller amount of paint while blotting excesses from the brush. Here, you paint the stencil downward until you achieve your desired look. It requires patience because the stencils can easily overlap if you do not allow enough drying time.
Adding some shadow effects (Additional step)
Depending on your needs, you can add some shadow effects to your signage. Therefore, when your original stenciled pain is dry enough, you can place the stencil back over the letter slightly on the left side while remaining upward of the placement. Here, you need a dry brush and your original paint color to stencil it. This brings a unique shadow at the back of the heavier paint. This keeps your signage looking amazing.
Spraying a clear sealant
It would be best to cover the letters with an extra clear sealant. This helps to prevent the letters or numbers from peeling or fading away. Leaving them exposed to different elements can easily erase them; therefore, they can not hold up for longer. So, you can opt to seal your signage from the front to the back side using at least two layers of the protective sealer to keep it long-lasting.
Conclusion
You can choose to duplicate the reclaimed wood sign closely enough. With this, you can add some swipes of blue paint onto the white paint. It requires you to apply the dry brush techniques to achieve the best results. Also, you can use vinyl or wooden letters to create a unique design. Since you are placing it on your front door, ensure it stays in place to avoid causing accidents. You should screw it well to prevent it from falling on people. With the above information, it is now easier to make a unique house address sign in the comfort of your house.