Let's Build a Signpost!

This is a simple, fun project that I think you’ll like! I have 3 kids and 3 grandkids. Only one of my kids lives in the area, the other two and their families live far, far away! I spend my time traveling northeast to Canada and southwest to California so I can snuggle my kids and grandkids as often as possible.

With the stay-at-home order due to the Corona Virus, I have been spending a lot of time this Summer in the backyard working on several projects. We decided to convert the back garden area into which hubby refers to as a ‘park’. While I was working on the park, I thought it would be fun to add a signpost that would display the location of where each of the kids lives and how many miles it is to ‘get to them’.

Table Of Contents

Gathering supplies
Creating a 4 x 4
Installing the post
Creating the signs
Creating the arrows
Attaching the signs & arrows to the post
Supplies Used
Instructions
For your convenience

Gathering supplies

The first item I bought was a solar lamp that is made to fit on the top of a 4 x 4 beam. I bought it at Home Depot for $10 and brought it home.

I thought I had a tall 4 x 4, but did not. Before heading into town to buy one, I looked at my wood supply and found that I had two 8′ 2 x 4’s. I decided to use those and attach them together to make a 4 x 4.

Creating a 4 x 4

One of the 2 x 4’s was from our deck. We recently had repairs done to the deck. What started as a small replacement of the front support beam on the lower deck morphed into replacing several boards that were rotting and the entire deck floor. I’ll write about that whole process soon in The Perpetual Deck Project post. Anyway, the board from the deck was painted so I decided to sand it a bit and then paint both boards.

As I sanded, I was able to see all the different colors the board had been over the years: white, grey, burgundy, and teal. I decided to leave it in the sanded state to preserve the ‘history’ of all the work I’ve done on the deck and then try to match the new board to it.

Once the deck board was sanded, I gave the new board a coat of Primer. I then used brass screws to attach the two boards together.

After the boards were now ‘one’, I started adding color to the new board. I began with grey, then added burgundy and finally teal; allowing the paint to dry between coats. I didn’t do a solid coat of paint each time, just brushed it on in sections – see pics. I still had all the paints/solid stain on hand from when I used them on the deck over the years.

After the teal coat of paint was dry, I lightly sanded it with my Makita 5″ orbital sander using a sandpaper grit of 220.

New board on the left/Original board on the right

The next step was to seal the paint. Using an oil-based finish by Minwax, I brushed on a thin coat on all sides, allowing each to dry before proceeding to the next.

Installing the post

When the post dried, I attached the solar light to the top with the screws that came with it. Since I created this ‘4×4’, it was a bit more narrow than a regular 4×4 so I added a little piece of trim under the light so it would fit snugly.

My next step was to secure the post in a bucket that I bought at Walmart for $8. Here is the one I bought. In case you don’t have a Walmart close by or want the convenience to purchase online, I added an option that’s not too expensive in my list below. The one like I bought is over $40 on Amazon.

I didn’t take a picture of filling the bucket 1/3 of the way with cement because I was doing this by myself. Here is a picture of the cement I used. I bought it at Habitat for $4.99 a bucket. It dries quickly, which is what I wanted since I was going hold the pole level and perpendicular to the ground.

After mixing the cement, I set the pole in the middle of the bucket and scooped the cement up and around the base of the pole, volcano style. Using a small level, I made sure the pole was as level as possible. Once the pole started to feel solid, I propped it up with two pieces of 1 x 2 board that I had brought out to the area with me. When the pole was nice and firmly set in the bucket, I filled it with small pebbles.

Creating the signs

The next step was to create & paint the signs. Using 1x boards that had been removed from the deck, I made three signs: Canada, Cali, CDA (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho). The wood had initially been 1 x 12 but the boards had split when they were removed so the sizes varied. I also made an Idaho sign from a piece of wood that came from our fence when it fell down that just happened to break into the shape of the State of Idaho.

I bought stencils to use to make the letters. I traced each letter with a fine point black marker. Using craft and latex paint that I had on hand, I filled in the letters. I now wish I had also purchased lower-case letters, but, oh well.

I also used stencils for the snowflake on the Canada sign and the arrows on the Cali sign. For the fish on the CDA sign, I printed out an image then free-hand colored it.

The hearts on the Idaho sign are small wooded pieces that I glued on with Elmer’s wood glue. The sign is supposed to say IdahoHome, but looks like Idaho Me….ugh!

Creating the arrows

Next, I made little arrows from pieces of wood in my supply of trim and things. I used the miter saw to cut off two pieces from the end of each board. I didn’t buy any number stencils, so I used the letter ones to make the numbers. It was a bit tricky, but worked out. The 4’s were from H’s.

When all the signs and arrows were dry, I applied a coat of the Minwax oil-based sealer.

Attaching the signs & arrows to the post

After the sealer was dry, I used brass screws to attach each sign to the post. I had to use a step stool to reach the place where Canada and CDA signs would go. Since the arrows are thin and I thought the wood might split if I used screws, I used my nail/brad gun instead to attach those. Both of my sons said I should have used kilometers for the Canada one – I may add one of those arrows to the post at some point.

Since I had the wood, tools, paint & sealer, the cost of this post came down to the purchase of the solar light and bucket = $20

Supplies Used

1″ x 4″ wood, cut to size for location
1″ x 1/2″ wood, cut into an arrow shape for each location
Cement
Small rock
Metal bucket
Craft or latex paint
Polyurethane or varnish
Paintbrushes
Screws & drill or screwdriver
Nail gun/compressor
Wood glue
Stencils
Solar post light

Instructions

Cut wood to size for location signs & arrows
Using stencils, outline symbols, letters & numbers
- You can also free-hand these
Using a small artist brush, fill in the outlines with paint
Attach solar light to the top of the post
Install your post in a container using cement
- Fill the bucket/container with rocks
Attach signs and arrows to your post using screws and/or nails