Wood vs HDU
Wooden Signs
Back when the old- timers started making signs, popular carving materials included fine woods like Redwood, Cedar and Mahogany. The problem was that these old growth sources were not environmentally sustainable. It takes 200 years to grow a redwood tree!
Furthermore a wooden outdoor sign is likely to peel, split, crack, rot, discolor or warp over time. Insects find wood tasty. Water gets beneath the paint and the wood swells. Additional cracks break the moisture seal and accelerate deterioration. A wooden sign requires frequent maintenance to protect it. In extreme climates or with clear-coated wood you may need to refinish your sign up to once a year to keep it really looking good. Most sign owners today do not have the time or tools to keep a wooden sign in good repair.
HDU Signs
Instead of wood Danthonia uses a modern [American made] sign substrate called High Density Urethane. A closed-cell foam with recycled content, our HDU is waterproof, insect proof and fire retardant. It has such exceptional paint adhesion that we offer a 10-year guarantee agaist blistering or peeling. The best part is that Danthonia’s HDU signs are carved, sculpted, gilded and painted just like wood signs. A newly painted HDU sign looks and feels exactly like a newly painted wooden sign. But the HDU sign will keep looking its best for many years to come.
Danthonia uses rust-free powder-coated aluminum on all of our hanging systems. Hardware is stainless steel. Should your sign be located in a high-risk area we can seal it with a tough anti-graffiti coating. The only maintenance required on a Danthonia sign is an occasional water rinse, to remove dust build-up or bird droppings.