A sandblasted sign gets its shape and texture from abrasive blasting, which wears away part of the surface. That leaves raised letters standing out from a textured background. As a result, the sign has real depth, not just flat lettering, and it holds up well outdoors. For the full story, see our guide to cedar, HDU, and stone signs.
What We Sandblast
At our shop in Edgewater, Maryland, we blast cedar by hand, which brings out the natural grain around the raised letters. We also cut letters into granite and stone, and we can work on site, as we did in concrete at Ballou High School in Washington, DC. For HDU, we no longer blast it. Instead, we use a CNC router to cut the same textured look into the material. Either way, the result has a depth that flat vinyl or printed signs can’t match.
How We Approach a Sign
We design every sign by hand, around your name and the place it will go. Every one is its own project, and a craftsman’s hand stays on it from the layout through the final finish. So we talk it through with you first, and we make sure you’re happy with the design before we build anything.
Sandblasted Signs Across Our Work
You’ll see this look most often on community entrance signs, in cedar or HDU. We also add gold leaf to many of them, which makes the letters stand out against the textured background, like the trim on our sign for Old Stein Inn. On polished granite, gold leaf letters look especially sharp, as at Brantwood Overlook. In every case, we build the sign around its setting, whether that’s a neighborhood entrance or a business front.
See the Work
- Cedar signs for shops and boutiques
- Cedar sign with gold leaf for Cardinal Plaza Shell
- Holly Hill Harbor entrance sign
- Westover Place subdivision sign
- Gold leaf letters in granite at Brantwood Overlook
- Granite and gold leaf signs at Eastpoint Metro
- Letters in concrete at Ballou High School
- Gold leaf signs for Kiefer Orthodontics
Browse the full gallery, or see our routed HDU signs and community entrance signs. Our What We Do page shows everything we build.
Contact Designs & Signs
Thinking about a sandblasted sign of your own? Send us a message through our contact form, or call (410) 798-5115.