Last Updated on April 29, 2024 by Jay Bunten
During our, to date, biggest storm of 2023 our beloved Cedar Ridge Ranch sign succumbed to Mother Nature and fell over, It was due more to the condition of the posts supporting the sign than the actual storm. The posts had rotted at ground level and just gave up their job of holding up the sign. It may have been a good gust of wind that caused the final collapse. Needless to say, it’s no longer standing, as seen in the photo below.
This morning, Saturday the 28th of January, our Fire Company held their monthly meeting. At the meeting they voted to fund the entire project to restore the sign to its former glory.
Update: 4/15/23 08:30
The sign was reported missing some days ago. It would be greatly appreciated if whoever removed it please return the sign to the Cedar Ridge Fire Company, No questions asked.
I have also opened this post to any comments regarding the missing sign.
Update: 6/15/23 07:45
New sign construction began last weekend. Steel “I” Beams in concreate footing were installed to support the new sign.
Update 11/6/2023
It has been a while since anything regarding the sign repair has been posted, so here’s the latest status.
1. The old sign supports have been replaced with 4×6″ I beams set in concrete. They will be used to provide an acnhor for the new sign and will hopefully survive our future storms.
2. A temporary fabric sign reading “Cedar Ridge” was attached to temporary supports.
3. The lumber for the constuction of the new sign was ordered and arrived last week (11/1/23). Construction will begin shortly.
4. The two design choices for the new sign were presented at the Annual BBQ. The selected design was one that recreated the look and style OLD SIGN.I have been able to recreate the orignal lettering pattern that will be routed into the new sign.
More as progress is made:
Update: 11/27/2023
- New footings for post surronds to incase the steel posts. The footing are 12’x12″ and the post surround will rest on.
Update: 11/27/2023
The new sign frame was completed this weekend and has received a bug/rot proof sealer. We still have the actual signage, post tops and final paint.
It’s coming along, thanks to the crew that did the work on this stage of the build.
Update: 1/31/2024
The center of the sign as begun construction of 2×6″ Cedar and the routing of the lettters is the next stage. The photo below shows the letter template in postion on the sign backboard.
It was decided to leave the entire sign a natural cedar color. The green preservative (shown in the previous post) will fade away leaving a nice natural wood tone.
The lettering will be burned, after they are routed and will be black in color. This way painting of the letters and sign will no longer be required.
Update: 2/28/2024
The routing phase of the sign contruction is complete. Because the sign has not been trimmed on the left the lettering looks too far right. This will be corrected when the signs is trimmed to its final size. The letters are 5/16″ deep and will be colored a burned looking black and the field of the sign will be left a narual cedar color. “A Cedar wood sign for Cedar Ridge”. The cedar trees were logged and milled from the local area.
It took 10 hours to route the letteriing and created way too much saw dust. We didn’t have a CNC machine, so it had to be done by hand, a messy project to say the least. The lettering style was receated using a photo of the orginal sign. The digitized image full size image was then printed on paper by a company back East. Then, using carbon paper the printed image was traced on to the cedar 2″ field of the sign. Using a small handheld route the letter outlines were cut out using a 1/8″ router bit. The first step created a safety margin to completely remove the field of the letter.
The remaining tasks shouldn’t take long and the sign will be ready before the Annual BBQ.
Update: 4/3/2024
The panel of the sign is now finished and ready to hang, which should be soon.
Update: 4/7/2024
Dave and Tyler installed the finished panel on the sign today. The green sealant will fade away after a few week. The caps for the posts still have to be intalled.
Update: 4/29/2024
Here is the new sign in all it’s glory. There are still a couple of addon signage to be replacd. They are still in production. The green preservative is just about gone, A litle still remains on the capitals. I don’t know if the lighter 2×6 on the bottom row will darken to match the others. But it gives the effect of the letters floating on a cloud. Totally an unintended result, but nice since we are in the clouds.
There will be a Thank You Plaque, in brass, installed on the back to celebrate the event.
Any word on the Sign restoration? I hope they will use the existing signage and reattach it the the new posts.
I have updated the post, sorry for not seeing your post eariler. Got to work on this Word Press tool so it notifies me when a new post is added.