Monthly Archives: August 2011

PVC vs. Wood

Take a look at these two signs. They both appear to be sandblasted wood signs. There is a big difference between the two though, and I don’t mean the colors. Can you spot what it is? The difference is one sign will last much longer than the other, and save the customer money. One of the signs is wood, and the other is PVC.

Here in Florida, a lot of people prefer wood signs. The natural look is a preferable appearance, and they’re structurally strong when new. Wood signs have been the standard in the sign industry for many years. There are some down sides to wood signs though. Wood signs can warp or lose their shape, faster in some areas than others. Termites and carpenter ants bore into them. Wood signs also rot, especially here in Florida where a lot of sign locations are wet.

An excellent solution for these problems is PVC. PVC mimics the look of wood and is structurally solid as well. It’s also a common material that we are very familiar with. Bugs are not attracted to polymers like PVC, so insects are never a problem. PVC  for signs is “closed cell” which means it resists moisture, so it doesn’t rot like wood.

So could you tell which sign is wood and which one is PVC? The Buckman Bridge sign is PVC, it will last much longer. You may be asking why people would choose wood over PVC if all of this were true. The answer is simple. Although many sign shops work with PVC,  few are capable of mimicking the sandblasted, wood look. We have developed this process in house and use it exclusively on our dimensional signs.  We still make signs in wood when a customer requests it, usually for interior use.  Give us a call to find out more about our “made to last” products.