This custom built monument sign features back-lit acrylic, pushed through an aluminum face with composite decking to match the building.
LightSky Farms is a provisioning center that recently opened for business in Burton, MI. They reached out looking for a large monument sign that would catch people’s eyes both day and night on busy Bristol Rd.
We started by TIG welding the inside frame in a giant “L” shape. Aluminum was the best choice for this as it doesn’t attract rust and is also lighter in weight than traditional mild steel.
There were a total of nine aluminum panels that needed to be attached to the frame. This aluminum sheet was laser cut with the LightSky logo and then a press brake was used to bend the edges so that they fit snuggly over the frame. The panels were secured to the frame using a rivet gun but first they were sent to the powder coater for a flat black finish.
1″ thick clear acrylic sheet was routed down to form the brand name and logo. After that, colored vinyl decals were affixed to the face of the acrylic to match the brand standard colors. This 3M vinyl is semi-transparent which allows light to shine through. After the acrylic was secured to the aluminum panels all weather LED lights were installed.
To give the sign some contrast and to match the front entrance of the provisioning center, TimberTech composite decking was installed below the aluminum panels. This composite decking stands up great to the elements and won’t warp or crack like traditional wood. The final step was cutting the address numbers out of 1″ cast acrylic and then securing them into the decking using 1/4″ standoffs.
The final product weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds so heavy equipment was brought in to to place the monument sign on the freshly poured concrete pad. The sign was then bolted in to the concrete using 3″ wedge anchors. Finally, an electrician was brought out to connect the LED lights to the main power supply, and attach a photocell so that the lights turn on automatically when its dark.
This project was a big undertaking that required many different materials, detailed design work, and a lot of fabrication but we couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out!