What’s it cost to produce this 4-by-5-ft. freestanding sign?
All-PVC construction delivers the durability
By Larry Elliott
Posted on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019
Materials (at retail prices):
4x8x¾-in. PVC board: $235
4x6x¾-in. PVC board: $170
12x24x½-in. PVC: $12
12 ft. 1½-in. alum. angle: $40
Two 5-by-5-in. 8-ft. PVC post covers: $120
Two 5-by-5-in. flat PVC post caps: $25
Two 5-by-5-in. PVC post skirts: $40
Stainless steel screws: $20
Two quarts exterior acrylic latex paint: $40
Misc. consumables: $15
Total materials: $717
Labor:
Sales/rough drafts: 1.25 hours
Finished art: 1.5 hours
Production files: .5 hours
Material handling: 1 hour
Routing setups: .5 hour
CNC machine time: 3.5 hours
Sanding, cleaning, prep: 4 hours
Prime, coat, finish: .5 hours
Assemble panels, border and letters: 1 hour
Post sleeve/skirts (hours):
Assemble: 1 hour
Prime, coat: .5 hour
Mounting frame (hours):
Cutting: 3 hour
Drilling: .25 hour
Welding: .5 hour
Prime, coat: 4 hour
Assemble posts/frame: 2 hours
Delivery, load/unload: 1 hr
Total time: 24.2 hours
This custom PVC sign was produced for a local municipality for their new dog park. The sign face and posts are all PVC with an aluminum frame on the back spanning between the posts as support and mounting.
Jill Holland, mayor of McKenzie, Tennessee, contacted us to create another custom sign for their parks department. The only directions were to keep it in the style of the main sign we had constructed at the city park a few years ago—any other design elements were up to us. I made a couple rough layouts of what I had in mind and presented them to the mayor. She and the board agreed on one—which happened to be my favorite also—and we were told to proceed.
