Restoring Our House Numbers Sign

My first outdoor project is to fix up our house number sign so it can change with the seasons.

Down at the bottom of our driveway there’s a large white wooden frame that acts as our house numbers sign.  Since our house can’t be seen from the road, and the driveway turns up a hill, it’s our own little landmark. The previous owner built it as a showcase for four paintings of the house – one in each season — he’d had done on plywood. The paintings were placed between sheets of Plexiglas attached to the front and back of a green-painted wooden picture frame. He was no Grandma Moses but the paintings have a certain charm which people in the neighborhood came to enjoy while passing. Or so we were told.

Here’s the image for Fall that fits into the green frame. It’s my favorite.

I love the blue bleakness of Winter.

Spring is sunnier and more vivid.

And Summer is wonderfully lively, especially with the cows.

The picture frame hooks onto the inside of the marker.  The previous owner’s name and the word “welcome” had been displayed in brass letters glued onto the top and bottom of the outer frame. I removed them with a screwdriver and scraped off the peeling paint with a spackle knife. Then I pasted temporary glow-in-the-dark house numbers onto one corner of the sign so at least our guests and the UPS guy could find us. I always intended to get down there to sand and repaint the marker. But we’ve only spent brief periods in the house until now so I never had time. Meanwhile, the sign began to weather badly and the house numbers were peeling. I removed them this morning.

I was worried about the finials, which gives the marker its character.  But they were sturdy. And, last Fall, Rob, who helps me with carpentry, tightened it the big frame and  pronounced it solid. The chippy water-based paint still needs a thorough sanding. That’s a tough job I plan to tackle in several stages, all the while watching out for mosquitos and deer ticks.

I intend to paint the marker white with blue trim. I’ll use the same white Fine Paints of Europe Hollandlac oil base paint that’s on my front porch and the FPE Zuider Zee blue from my front door on the trim. It’s very tough stuff that holds up for years but each color requires self-leveling primer plus two coats. Each coat of paint takes 24 hours to dry. So I need a run of dry weather. And I need to start soon since leaves are starting to fall. Once the marker has base paint, I’ll can decide how to add the house numbers and street name, or our name, or all three. I can use the block letter stencils I have on hand or find new stencils with a fancier script.

The interior frame that holds the pictures presents its own set of problems. Inside, there are pieces of plywood that hold the pictures in place. But the plywood is   warped and some of the screws are loose. It will need rebuilding, which I’ll ask Rob to do since neither Mr. AM nor I have carpentry skills.

I’ll be posting updates, with before and after pictures, as the project progresses from now until Spring when I hope to have it completed.  In the past, this particular house sign was noteworthy in the neighborhood. People told me they’d watch to see which seasonal picture was out when they drove by. My goal is to bring back its very modest glory days.

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