Winding down advice appreciated...

[Stacey K]

Just to add a little something...I'm good friends with several landscapers and excavators. Do you know phone lines and lots of cable lines are only buried a few inches? They've all hit them MULTIPLE times. They've all hit gas lines even with diggers hotline. The cable people say it's cheaper for them to fix a hit line than to bury it 3' so it's not a big deal for them. When my driveway was put it they hit the gas line. There's buried electrical at my old shop going to the sign, they took the sign down now but will they correctly disconnect the electrical or will someone with a post hole digger hit it and die next week?

You never know what's buried!!

 

[FASTSIGNS]

Someone told me long ago to do what you love. If you can, wind down the post digging by raising prices. Concentrate on the sandblasting if that is enjoyable to you.

 

[Johnny Best]

After you get your surgery you will be able to climb the tower again. When a door closes another one opens.

 

[Jean Shimp]

Buried utility lines and cables are a challenge. We just installed a small sign on a 4x4 post at a senior living community. There were so many underground cables that we had to move the location of the sign. Whoever installs the sign has to hand dig the hole and be really careful to avoid breaking lines. In our area, the utility locater companies will only do free locates for municipal lines. We were quoted over $500 to locate on private property. So far we haven't broken anything major, fingers crossed.

 

[John_Smith]

25 or so years ago, (some members here may remember the moment), I got tired of the "Open Door" (bucket trucks and digging holes) business and ripped the sign off of my shop, cut it up with a circular saw, and put it in the burn pile, and never looked back.
I shifted to a 100% internet-based business with HandCrafted HDU signs with strict limits that the signs could be packed/crated and shipped by common carrier. I've sent signs to St.Thomas, USVI, Atsugi, Japan, from California to Martha's Vinyard, from Key West to Canada. There is no limit to the possibilities you can do with an online business.
Just an option to consider.

 

[Zendavor Signs]

25 or so years ago, (some members here may remember the moment), I got tired of the "Open Door" (bucket trucks and digging holes) business and ripped the sign off of my shop, cut it up with a circular saw, and put it in the burn pile, and never looked back.
I shifted to a 100% internet-based business with HandCrafted HDU signs with strict limits that the signs could be packed/crated and shipped by common carrier. I've sent signs to St.Thomas, USVI, Atsugi, Japan, from California to Martha's Vinyard, from Key West to Canada. There is no limit to the possibilities you can do with an online business.
Just an option to consider.
View attachment 178572

How is shipping via common carrier a strict limit?

 

[John_Smith]

Mostly in cost . . . USPS, FED-EX, UPS, etc. Once you get into the larger signs, the crating and shipping could cost more than the customer wants to spend. Just a personal thing for me. If "you" want to go bigger, by all means, go for it.
I shipped this 4'x4' sign to Atsugi, Japan. The US Guvmit has deep pockets.




And I was commissioned to do 15 HDU signs for an office in Washington, DC.
I made one master then made a silicone rubber mold to reproduce it in quantity.
I made a LOT of dimensional squadron logo signs for the military - - - a LOT.