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Sign Buyer's Guide
to Free-Standing Monument (Ground) Signs
On the detail pages that follow (¬tabs
to left)
discover
how we manufacture each monument sign to last;
including the use of CNC manufacturing,
structural-steel frames, rust-proof metal, high-end
automotive paint, high-impact plastics or strong
flexible-face materials, and most importantly,
sophisticated
Protective Coatings.
We even add self-cleaning properties.
We commonly build monument signs with brick, stone,
and stucco exterior finishes.
Monument signs
with color graphics and
PinLights™ LED first-surface lighting is a hands-down
winner. Signs Manufacturing incorporates a patent pending design
into our unique new-look concept.
Visit our "LED
Sign Faces" tab to the
left.
We champion
energy-saving signage solutions that save our
customers money while
protecting our environment.
Explore our "Lighting
Choices" tab with its own "Energy
Savings" tab.
Photos of many varied sign
designs are interspersed on the detail pages tabbed
on the left.
Guaranteed Highest
Quality...
Guaranteed Lowest
Price™
As
detailed below, and on the pages that follow, everything
will be done to make your sign look better, and last
longer...Guaranteed.
Signs
Manufacturing Corporation also guarantees that our price
will be the lowest price you can obtain on the products
described in this website; now or anytime during the next
90 days.
If you are
offered a lower price by someone else we will match that
lower price PLUS give you 10% of the difference.
Cost and Pricing Information
Interested in the concept of monument signs, but
unfamiliar with their cost?
Click on the "Pricing"
tab to the left, then the "Cost"
tab, to obtain general pricing and cost
information on various sizes and types of monument
signs.
The detailed construction and installation information below, and to the left, is very
important in developing a sign that will accomplish
your goals.
We
sell our signs FACTORY-DIRECT, WHOLESALE to the public.
 Please contact us to develop an exact plan to meet
your particular needs - for free (see our "Design
& Marketing" page!)
Our professional staff will usually have exact quotations, and exact scale
drawings of your signage installed on your building or property ready for you
the same day we meet with you. (Much faster than the 2 1/2 week average in
our industry.)
If you are planning for the future, please bookmark our
website as a "Favorite" so you can find us when you are
ready.
Click our "Customers
& Photos" tab on our "About
Us" page to view a partial list of our
customers,
photos of their signs,
and
comments.
Why not buy from a Sign Dealer (also called a Sign Broker or a Sign Store?)
Would you give a car dealer $10,000 and tell him to buy you the best car
he can for the money, sight unseen (or from a drawing?) Don’t you think you would get the car that made him
the most?
Do you think you
could meet your needs asking for the cheapest car he can buy?
Why would a sign dealer (sign broker or sign store) be any different? Remember, they are
merely buying a sign from a manufacturer to resell to you, usually to resemble a
drawing, making the most money they can.
You need to know
ALL of the details on how your sign will be manufactured, and how it will be installed.
It needs to meet YOUR needs, not the seller’s profit goals. What is he
telling the manufacturer you don't need?
Believing “...a sign is a sign” gets you a Yugo instead of a Cadillac.
Remember the Yugo? They didn’t last very long, either.
Also, most sign dealers, sign brokers and sign stores cannot legally install
or service an electric sign. It is illegal in Texas to fool consumers by
pretending to be an electrician, even if they hire electricians to do the work
for them. Ask to see their license.
Ask to see a manufacturer's license also. A few are not licensed to do
electrical work, either.
Now, who provides the warranty? The manufacturer, the installer, the
salesman, anyone? If the sign was installed illegally
do you think they'll honor their warranty? Did they REALLY obtain your
City sign permit? Is the sign even safe?
As a manufacturer, by law, our name is on all our signs. Just like you,
we can't afford to have a bad sign destroy our business. We have to care.
Particularly with our LIFETIME warranty.
  For
strength, durability, and appearance your
illuminated signs will be constructed of aluminum
(#3003, H14 - not the "soft" aluminum used by some)
covering a welded structural-steel inner frame.
Large metal
areas will be reinforced to prevent "oil-canning".
The
structural-steel frame inside the sign is separately
painted before the skins are installed; important to
prevent rust stains later.
We commonly build monument signs with brick, stone,
and stucco exterior finishes.
Our signs are
properly engineered to withstand the winds of North
Texas (100 m.p.h.); signs attached to poles are
welded, not bolted, in place.
Certified Welding
We employ
Certified Welders. Horizontal, vertical, and
overhead.
We are
virtually the only sign company in the Dallas/Fort
Worth Metroplex employing certified welders.
The Importance of
Sign Thickness
 The
thickness of a sign does more than impart a more
prominent importance to a sign, it affects the
graphics.
The minimum allowable thickness
of a sign depends on the type of internal lighting
and the type and size of the sign face.
Lighting and sign face types
will be discussed later.
The larger the sign face the
thicker a properly made sign cabinet must be.
It is very important that the
sign be thick enough that the lighting in the sign
does not show as “hot spots” or “zebra striping” on
the face of your sign. Either of these makes
your sign look “cheap” no matter what its cost.
In some instances these can be so bad that a sign is
not readable at night. You’ve seen them.
  All
of this makes the use of extruded aluminum sign
frames problematic in building a quality sign, to
say nothing about a strong sign (no structural steel
inner frame) since extrusions are only available for
limited cabinet depths; however some sign companies
continue to attempt to do so. Signs
Manufacturing does not use extruded cabinets
precisely for these reasons.
We calculate what is required
to make a proper and impressive sign for you, and
then we build it.
It is more expensive to do the
job right, but what is the value of a “cheap” sign
that gives potential customers a negative impression
of your business?
The Importance of
Retainer Width
Equally important to the
appearance of the sign is the width of the retainer
(the ring of metal around the sign face that covers
the mechanism that holds the
sign face in
the cabinet.)
This border
plays a very important role in the apparent quality
of your sign, and both size and color must be
considered in the overall design.
 This
makes the use of pre-made extruded aluminum sign
frames undesirable.
Tabs to other components of
a monument sign are listed down the left side of
this page.
Be sure to
select the tab "Sign
Buyer's Check List" to the left.
This is a tool for your use to insure that
quotations you receive are for the same sign!
Insist that your bidders check-mark each line, then
sign the document when they give you their quote.
If you know all the details of the sign you wish to purchase, and desire to
buy it right now, click the following link to go to our online
Monument Sign Purchase Page. |
