How To Make an Outdoor Wood Sign
How to build a outdoor wood sign for your home or yard! This tutorial includes tips for for creating a frame, weather proofing, sealing, and painting so you can have your own unique decor to display house numbers, names, or seasonal decorations.
Yield: 1 sign
Cost: 75
Equipment
Materials
For the Sign
- 1 Wood Sign See appropriate types of wood in the notes
- 1 Appropriate Wood
- 1 Stencils and decorations
- 1 Exterior Paint or Stain
- 1 Sealer Optional (see note)
Hanging Materials
- 4 Eyelet Screws
- 4 Carabiners
- 2 pieces Chain links
- 1 Post frame or place to hang the sign
Instructions
- Cut the wood to size. For more intricate shapes, you can use a jigsaw to cut out the template.
- Prep. Sand the edges from the cuts and, if needed, sand the top layer of the board lightly to get the best bond. Plywood generally doesn’t need to be sanded.
- Paint. With outdoor projects, it's best to paint or seal the entire surface. If you don’t want to paint the entire surface, you can seal with an outdoor polyurethane.
- Hang the sign, if desired. You can build a frame from these porch columns. Attached top with eyelets carabiners, and chain.
- Anchor in the ground. Build a supporting frame in a larger planter and fill with gravel or use a deep post spike driven into the ground to anchor the post frame.
Notes
What kind of wood to use outdoors?
For signs and outdoor furniture, teak, cedar, and redwood are some of the best softwoods as they are resistant to both insects and rot. Pine and pressure treated wood are generally the best value. For flat surfaces, waterproof plywood, such as marine plywood or Medium Density Overlay (MDO) plywood is great. PVC "wood" is also a great option as it will never rot, warp, and won't be attractive to insects.
Do I need to seal Outdoor wood?
You can use outdoor rated polyurethane over raw wood or oil based stain. It does have a tendency to amber which gives a warm, rustic look. Although exterior paint does not necessarily need a sealer, polyacrylic or water based sealer works best over water based stain and any kind of paint. A sealer may help the paint last longer and reduce weathering.