Outdoor notice board

Hi all,

I'm running a community project to refresh a neglected area of land close to where I live.

We have been advised to put up a notice board or interpretation board to show people who we are and what we are doing.

We have been looking at commercially available ones and for anything decently strong we are looking at over 2 grand!

I'm sure the fabrication is fairly straight forward, I'm thinking that rather than hinge the door I will make it a bolt over cover for security and resilience.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions of what i can do to create something fairly tough and idiot resistant.

Mick

Get hold of an old window and frame from your local whatever yard. Its 3/4 of the job done. If needed, replace the glass with 1/4" acrylic or toughened glass.

You may even get your local Double Glaze company to help you out. They often have scrap windows that have been made to order and got the size wrong !

BobH

There is one near me in the countryside that is oak I think, with a sloping roof piece that is an inch wider all round to deflect a bit more rain that has survived 20+ years.
Our Men's shed made some painted signs of waterproof ply with oak edging, well painted, for a local woodland. Within a fortnight they had been vandalised. Repaired and remade them and put them much higher up the trees.
We made our own sign for the shed which is in town in the same way so the vandals set light to a car beside it.
We remade it in 4mm aluminium so they bent it, so we have no remade it in aluminium again with a 3/4 inch wood backing. Fingers crossed.

The Village Hall I am chairman of recently received as a donation an outside, stand-alone notice board, we were able to choose the one that suited us, the only proviso must not exceed £1,000. We found a good sturdy enclosed notice board on galvanised steel legs for about £940 and it looks very smart, you would be surprised at the range of products online, you need to be very analytical in your search but there are good products out there at very reasonable costs.
Dave W

I'm with Speedybuilder on that one. UPVC lockable and ready made. South Yorkshire Windows on Broad Lane, Sheffield, might be worth popping into if you're in town.

For the backing board, I wonder about MDF. Before everyone falls about laughing, it's possible to get a fully waterproof grade,rather than just moisture resistant. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have built a viewing screen out of it, fully exposed to the elements and untreated. As a test, they left a piece soaking under water for several years.

It's easy enough to cut, and low maintenance. It could easily be faced internally with something softer for drawing pins, or a piece of steel from the side of a washing machine. That's slow to rust and would allow posters to be held up with magnets.

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 18/12/2019 18:57:36

I had to make some similar boards for some caves and they were vandalised regularly so we had a piece of marine ply with an angle edge and resin glued the printed poster to then we gave the top a coat of clear resin and fiberglass matting then another coat of resin which we pressed a piece of metal coated with release agent on top. when the metal was removed you could clearly see the poster and they are still there after about 10 years.

David

Edited By David George 1 on 18/12/2019 19:34:57

Some advice borne of experience.

The best location is fixed to a wall.

Put it somewhere visible at a distance, although it will attract more attention, it will be less likely to be vandalised than if in an out of the way place.

Glaze with polycarbonate, it scratches more easily than acrylic and may need to be replaced sooner but is less likely to be smashed.

Make sure that the geometry doesn't allow the glazing to be pushed in far enough to pop out of the glazing bars.

Don't put it so high up that kids or people in wheelchairs can't read the contents, or so low down it is easy to kick.

It will get condensation inside even if it is 'sealed' so make sure it is ventilated with drain holes at the bottom.

If on legs, bury them at least 60cm, if not metal or hardwood make sure they are pressure treated and UNCUT after treating below ground level.

Make sure there is a system in place to remove old notices and add new ones. Make sure the locks are quality and reliable and that it is easy to open and secure.

Include a QR code for your website. Relevant attractive information that addresses all potential visitors is least likely to attract vandalism.

Materials, I would go with quality hardwood, then good quality metal as preferred materials.

Neil

Some more ideas:

For a cheap and cheerful frame frame see if you can get an offcut of the fibreglass covered ply as used for lorry and trailer bodies, then frame with aluminium and have a Perspex 'window'.

People who build covered trailers or repair lorry bodies often chuck away good sized bits of this laminated board.

This option wont be the prettiest but will hold up well if you seal the cut edges of the board with resin or two pack polyurethane paint and set the aluminium on silicone mastic.

For a smarter 'heavy duty' frame I would go for Cedar or Teak which is durable even when not painted so stands up well even if maintenance is neglected.

You may also need to consider the need for planning consent if the board is much bigger than A3. Some areas /planners are hot on this.

Cork tiles are great for pinning to and are naturally durable.