In a small town like Dutch John that sees a lot of visitors, signs do real work. People heading for the dam, the Green River, or the recreation area need to spot your entrance, find parking, and know where to check in. Up here at about 6,454 feet, those signs also take deep snow, cold winters, strong sun, and the occasional bump from a truck or plow.
We install new signs and repair the ones you already have. We don’t make signs, so you order yours from the sign shop of your choice and we handle the install. That covers setting posts, mounting signs to walls, fences, and poles, swapping cracked or faded panels, and straightening signs that have been knocked crooked. If a sign needs power, your electrician handles the wiring and we work around their schedule.
We know where drifts build, where plows push snow, and how the sun up here fades panels, so we place signs with that in mind.
We bring post tools, ladders, anchors, and mounting hardware for wood, masonry, metal, and fence installs.
If a sign spot won't work or a post can be saved instead of replaced, we'll tell you before any work starts.
Old posts, broken panels, packaging, and dirt from post holes leave with us, and the area around your sign is left tidy.
Dutch John sits right on US-191, about 4 miles northeast of Flaming Gorge Dam. A lot of the people driving through are visitors, many headed for the Green River below the dam and its Blue Ribbon trout fishing. They’re looking for lodging, fuel, food, and a place to launch, and they only get a few seconds to read a sign as they roll past.
Most of the year, Dutch John is a quiet town of about 141 people, so a business sign has to catch the eye of folks who’ve never been here before. That makes placement just as important as the sign itself. We look at where drivers come from, what blocks the view, and where snow piles up in winter, then set the sign so it’s easy to spot in every season.
We don’t design or print signs. You work with whatever sign shop you like, and once your sign is ready, we install it. Before it’s made, we’re happy to look at the spot with you and talk about size, mounting style, and what the wall or ground can support. That way the sign shows up with the right holes and brackets for the job, and nobody is drilling new mounting points in the parking lot on install day.
Sign work often turns up other small fixes around a building, like loose trim where a wall sign mounts or a door that won’t latch. Our general repairs for storefronts and buildings can handle those on the same trip.
Most sign jobs around town fall into a few groups:
We also remove old signs and posts when a business changes hands or a sign is retired.
A freestanding sign is only as steady as its posts. Setting new ones means digging, and in Utah that means Blue Stakes. Whoever digs makes the call, at least 3 business days before work and no more than 14 calendar days ahead, and the ticket expires after 21 days. We make the call ourselves and time it with our scheduled trip. Footing depth follows local code and the building office, and larger signs may need their review before install.
With about 44 inches of snow a year, signs near driveways and parking areas get hit by plows, buried by drifts, and pushed crooked by the weight of piled snow. Wind works on large panels and loosens their bolts. By spring, a lot of signs are leaning, cracked, or missing hardware.
We straighten and reset posts, replace bent brackets and rusted bolts, and swap broken panels with new ones from your sign shop. If your lot markings have faded along with the signs, adding parking lot striping to match new lot signs pulls the whole layout together.
Visitor traffic in Dutch John swings with the seasons, so we plan sign installs on scheduled trips and like to finish them before the busy summer stretch. A sign that goes in during late spring is ready for the first wave of anglers and campers. Repairs can usually be grouped with other work on the same visit. Since Dutch John is far out on our route, a quick call with photos of the sign and the damage helps us bring the right posts, brackets, and bolts the first time.
Long evenings in the off season make it hard to see a sign after dark. Good lighting helps it work all year, and our permanent property lighting for businesses can light up your building and entrance. Your electrician handles any wiring a lit sign needs.
We look at sight lines, mounting surfaces, snow piles, and buried utilities to pick the right spot and method for each sign.
You get a written quote covering posts, mounting hardware, removal of old signs, and the trip date we're planning.
We set posts plumb, mount signs level and secure, and repair or replace damaged panels and hardware as needed.
We check every sign with you from the road and the lot, then clean up post spoils and leftover materials.
