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St. Paul Lutheran Church
  - Before and After
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 - Aluminum Wall Lettering
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 - Custom Acrylic Wall Lettering

Written by Pat Neve, Jr. on March 4, 2010

Here is another sign that needed some serious help.


I'm pretty sure that the original was made soon after the sea level receded over Florida close to 400,000 years ago.

I suppose it was a good effort when the sign was made.

Someone put a lot of work in to the original when they carved the petrified wood with a rock and sharp piece of bone.

Chemical tests prove that the white pigment for the lettering was actually produced from nautical bird droppings collected from ancient dock pilings.

Some more interesting information...

I do believe that it was made by at least two different peoples in 2 different eras... It is obvious that the LUTHERAN CHURCH and WELCOME are in the same typestyle family and were more than likely produced by the same "artist".


However, the ST PAUL section seems to have been produced at a later date by a visually impaired (read: CAN'T CENTER TEXT) challenged species.

Even though this is an older/handcrafted style of carving, you can tell, upon close inspection, that this panel is a newer piece than the existing structure.

Maybe they didn't like original saint and had to change names - probably a money/donation thing.

Or possibly it was trademark infringement.

Originally it may have read "FIRST PAUL" or maybe "LAST PAUL" but someone sued under INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY and they had to cover the first few letters and that is what is making the lettering off-center.

Too close to call.

Another thing that bothered me though was - I couldn't figure out why someone would decide to build the planter OUTSIDE the sign.

It didn't really make too much sense to me when I first surveyed the site.

Then, I realized - the planter was there BEFORE the original sign. One theory is that the planter landed there during the ice age and was left behind after the glaciers melted.

When I sent Jon and Arlo to install the new sign - and after they dug out all of the fossils, bones and artifacts - here's what they found...



Looks like dirt, doesn't it?

It's not!

After further inspection, it is possible that this was an original Egyptian sarcophagus.

I can't confirm or deny that through any scientific research - but that's my gut feeling. (carbon dating has not been done).

The guys had to go to the tool rental store TWICE. The first time we rented a concrete saw to cut through the foundation.

Unfortunately, the Egyptians apparently had decided to put a 16 inch thick footer under this planter - for whatever reason.

Maybe the plan was to build a pyramid for an emperor - a very small, short, skinny and UNPOPULAR emperor.

Again, this is all speculation - take from it what you will.

So...I sent the guys (VERY dedicated employees BTW) back to the rental store to rent a jack hammer to break through the seeming endless layers of ancient, unyielding sub-strata.

(It needs to be noted here that this was the middle of summer - in Florida - with temps in the upper 90's and humidity hovering around 450% - I have a good TEAM).

After 4 weeks of painstaking grinding and digging, hauling and hospital visits (it DID take both guys a whole day) they finally broke through to Mother Earth and hit soil and were able to set the 6x6 posts in cement.

The concrete was allowed to set up for two days and finally the day came to install the new sign.

We outsourced the construction of the sign to our wholesaler Peachtree City Foamcraft who did a fantastic job producing a solid state EIFS sign that we simply had to slide over the installed posts. The sign system is held in place with high-tension expandable foam (note: if you ever have to use this foam stuff, wear old clothes and shoes - I had to buy the guys new sneakers).

Here is the final product...


Everyone at the church was ecstatic over the sign which is quite unusual when you take into consideration all of the old biddies that every congregation seems to have. They like to pick apart any detail that they may not agree with. That was not the case this time. Everyone loved the sign and the pastor was back in our shop this week to inquire about more signage.

So that's the story behind this latest before and after. I hope that you enjoyed reading about the trials that we endure here at Sign Man, Inc.