How To Select an Address Plaque or House Number Sign

By Jeffrey Gornstein, President of Comfort House

Everyone with a residence or business needs an address sign (also referred to as an address plaque, address plate, house number sign, house marker, and other similar names) to identify their location. Not only does it help your family and friends locate you but it is also where your mail gets delivered and how 911 responders locate your home in the event of an emergency.

The first street numbering schemes were found in Europe in the 18th century (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_numbering). Today, address signs of all sizes, shapes, and materials mark homes and businesses worldwide. In remote locations without physical street addresses, organizations such as what3words are using technology to apply a series of words in place of house numbers.

This document outlines the most important characteristics in choosing your address sign.

Mounting - Where will it go? Will you mount it to your wall or door? Will it hang? Will it mount to a lawn stake, mailbox, or post?

SIZE OF PLAQUE - Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large.

WHAT SIZE

ORIENTATION - Will it be a horizontal sign or do you require a vertical sign for a narrow location?

NUMBER OF SIDES - A wall mounted address sign will always be one sided but a hanging sign or lawn sign can be two sided.

MATERIAL - Your address sign can be produced from almost any material. The most common types are acrylic, aluminum, slate, and wood.

COLOR - Pick your color, any color. The most common background colors are black, blue, brushed stainless, bronze, red, pewter, tan, taupe, and white. Often when people come to us and ask for a bronze plaque, which is a fairly expensive proposition relative to other types of materials, what they really want (or can afford) is a bronze color plaque which can be done on aluminum for much less.

ILLUMINATED - Do you want your sign to be illuminated at night? Address signs lighted by solar power are a convenient alternative to plug-in or hardwired signs. Reflective address signs are another option.

WHAT IT DISPLAYS - Although we are able to find you a sign to fit almost anything you want to say on it, most have standard formats such as house number only, house number with street name, and house number with family name. A fun choice is to add a monogram.

SHAPE - While rectangle, arch, oval, square are the most common, we specialize in special shapes to achieve unique needs. For example an address sign shaped like a dolphin, tennis racket, or submarine.

STYLE - Examples of styles are Artsy, Floating, Formal, Professional, and Traditional.

THEME - If you’re looking for a particular theme for your sign, we have unlimited possibilities. We have themed address plaques for baseball, Fleur de Lis, fishing, pineapple, welcome, military, and many, many more.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE - Address signs have all different production times. The majority take 2-3 weeks although some take less, some take longer. If we are helping you design one from scratch, it can take longer as we hold your hand through the process to achieve the desired outcome.

FONTS - Are you looking for a special font? Fonts can include modern, arts & crafts, cursive script, Old English, and others.

NUMBER HEIGHT - Size of your numbers is an often overlooked element yet extremely important. You need to be able to see the number easily from the street. Some communities even have minimum number height requirements for new construction. The number height on your plaque will usually depend on how many numbers you have in your address. For instance on this address sign if you have one number it will be 9" high, if you have two numbers they will be 5" high, and if you have three numbers they will be 3.5" high.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST - As you can see, we’ve saved the cost factor for last. An address sign need not be a big investment and it adds curb appeal to your home. The majority of address signs cost between $51 and $100. There’s also a good many available for below $50, and between $100 to $150. At the high end you can find ones $1000 but those are for extra large post mounted address plaques used by businesses.

What is the best material for an outdoor plaque? If you will be mounting your plaque in extreme coastal or saltwater environments, the best material is a bronze or brass metal plaque. For other locations personal preference and budget normally dictates.

Where should my house number be placed? Answer: coming soon

What size should the number on my address sign be?Answer coming soon

How do I install an address plaque on brick? You should purchase anchors for your mounting surface. For most brick applications, a standard plastic wall anchor can be used (anchor size will depend on which screw size is used for your plaque). An appropriately sized masonry bit will also be needed to drill the hole for the anchors.

We hope we have made your address plaque selection easier. If you have any questions, feel free to write us at customerservice@comforthouse.com.

Selecting An Address Sign
Characteristic	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example
Mounting	Wall or Surface	Hanging	Lawn Stake or Standing	Mailbox Topper	Post
Size	Small	Medium	Large	Extra Large	Narrow
Orientation	Vertical	Vertical	Horizontal	Horizontal	Horizontal
Number of Sides	One Sided	One Sided	Two Sided	Two Sided	Two Sided
Material	Aluminum	Acrylic	Wood	Stone	Brass
Color	White with Black Numbers	Antique Brass with Antique Brass Numbers	Red with Silver Numbers	Brushed Gold with Black Numbers	Black with Gold Numbers
Illuminated	Incandescent light	LED Lighted	Solar Powered	Solar Powered	Reflective
What It Displays	House Number Only	Spelled Out Number	House Number & Street Name	House Number & Monogram	Family Name, House Number & Street Name
Shape	Arch	Round	Oval	Square	Rectangle
Style	Contemporary	Traditional	Simple and Elegant	Formal	Professional
Theme	Football	Bear	Pineapple	Teapot	Fish

This is a video pertaining to our acrylic address plaques: