The House Sign Blog

Chapel Cottage Sign

2008-05-07T17:09:00.003+01:00

The shape of this house sign has me at a complete loss! What is it supposed to represent? – the first thing that comes to mind is a bone. Maybe the occupant has a very large dog.

It’s fairly certain that this sign is a one-off. It looks like the material is mdf which has been given a wash of brown. The lettering for Chapel Cottage has been carved by hand and, if you look closely, you can see inconsistencies in the lines.

However, it’s the shape that dominates and plants a seed of uncertainty in the observer’s mind.

Ship House Plaque

2008-04-25T14:01:00.002+01:00

Here’s an interesting little plaque set into a wall and depicting an old ship in full sail. I suppose it could be classed as a form of pargetting, the traditional art of ornamental decoration using lime plaster. This would normally be found on the exterior of old houses in the east of England especially in the counties of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

However, this is more of a painted sculptural plaque set into a frame in the wall and appears to be quite primitive both in its design and execution. I’m not convinced about painting it using the three primary colours; the bold, heavy modelling stands up for itself. That said, it does have a certain charm about it but would have been far nicer unpainted and then the viewer could discover it with a passing glance be quietly amused.

Georgian House Sign

2008-04-14T16:15:00.003+01:00

Here’s the opposite situation to the last entry, the Rococo style plaque on the 50’s house. Here we have a 1970’s ceramic plaque on a Georgian property.

The plaque is most likely a ceramic tile blank onto which has been painted the floral decoration and house name - note the jaunty but peculiar angle of “Georgian”. The maker must have had security high on the list of priorities as it’s been fixed by a screw at each corner. This is a bit excessive for such a small sign, though it could be one of those neighbourhoods where if it isn’t screwed down it walks.

For me, the only good thing about this sign is that it gives me another opportunity to use one of my favourite words – “anachronistic”. It was first introduced to me by my English teacher when I was a teenager and I don’t think he could fault me for using it here.

Rococo Number Plaque

2008-04-04T13:18:00.000+01:00

Black cast house plaque in the Rococo style.

This number plaque illustrates that we love to decorate our homes both internally and external but should beware when our heart rules our head.

When the owner of number 8 saw this house plaque they were probably won over by its voluptuous curves and frills. But the clincher though would have been the price, these number plaques are cheap and rightly so – exposed screws, vinyl lettering etc.

But where does the rococo style fit with the exterior of a 1950’s suburban house in the north of England? The only link I can think of is that it’s not too far from Otley, the birthplace of Thomas Chippendale who used a restrained version of its curves in his furniture designs (I only know this because, several years ago, I helped an old sculptor friend of mine on his commission for a figure of Chippendale for the town of Otley).

I could have it all wrong, you may be met at the front door by Marie Antoinette who invites you in to a scaled down version of the Palace of Versailles – anyone for cake?

Drive entrance sign on stone pillar

2008-03-24T16:14:00.003Z

The house name “Mannamead” has been carved into a stone plaque which has been incorporated into a stone pillar. This was most likely done after the pillar was built, as there is an obvious mismatch in colour.
I’m not sure if the nameplate is the same type of stone but it might be just that the pillar has been constructed from recycled stone, which has already become discoloured with age.

The lettering of the house name has been highlighted in a reddy-brown which doesn't particularly stand out that well. But as it is close to the road this there shouldn’t be any problem with people being able to read the name.

Just in case passers-by haven’t got the message, the whole caboodle is a topped by a coach-lamp. What’s the message? I’ll leave you to decide – maybe taste…maybe ostentation.

Home Information Packs

2007-04-12T12:20:00.000+01:00

The Home Information Pack is coming to a house for sale near you.

After much dilly-dallying, Home Information Packs (HIPs) will be launched on 1st June. After this date anyone selling a house will need to provide one for prospective buyers to look at. HIPs were initially flagged up as a way to speed up the home buying process but many critics believe that the opposite will occur and consider them to be just more government red tape.

The pack will now consist of proof of title of the property, local searches, but primarily the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Gone is the Home Condition Report and information on flood and subsidence risk. The energy performance certificate is expected to cost the homeowner around £200. An inspector will check a property’s energy efficiency and award a performance rating of A to G. In this way the government hopes to comply with a European directive on energy efficiency. However, this legislation only requires that a certificate is renewed every 10 years, not each time a property is sold.

Most people will find it hard to understand the necessity of an inspector to compile such straightforward survey. Why couldn’t an EPC be a tick-box form that’s completed by the vendor? Do homeowners really require "an expert" to tell them that their home has loft insulation, a tank-jacket and double-glazing?

The government maintains that this an important part of a drive for increased energy efficiency but there is no obligation to take action on the findings of a report. And if they really want to speed up the way we buy and sell properties why not implement the Scottish way of doing things where the buyer has to leave a deposit on making an offer?

Your Address

2007-03-26T20:04:00.000+01:00

The first line of your address may have a bearing on the price someone is willing to pay for your home.

According to research in 2005 from the Woolwich, a three-bedroom house located on a lane is worth on average £50,000 more than a comparable property situated on a drive.

Is this petty snobbery at its worst? Or could it be explained in part by that yearning many of the British have for all things related to the countryside? Homeowners have always loved to give their properties pastoral names such as "Rose Cottage", "Orchard House" and "Woodlands".

The only group that this research will make perfect sense to is estate agents. They are fully aware of the pulling power that an address with ‘Lane’ in it has over one with ‘Drive’ and the image that it can conjure up in the buyer’s mind of the peaceful English country hamlet with a scattering of whitewashed period cottages. However, when they discover that what they thought was going to be their dream cottage on Honeysuckle Lane is actually within a concrete block’s throw from the cement works, sanity will rapidly kick in - "Sticks and stones…."

Unexpected Repair Bill

2007-02-28T10:03:00.000Z

Chancel Repairs Act

All homeowners will have to pay an unexpected repair bill from time to time, it’s part and parcel of owning and maintaining a property. But what about a bill of £96,000 for the repair of the chancel of your local church. This is what happened to Andrew and Gail Wallbank back in 1994 and it’s only now that the case has come to an end.

It all revolves around repairs to the chancel of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Aston Cantlow. This is a quite beautiful and historic building whose main claim to fame is that the parents of William Shakespeare were married there in 1557. Nearby is Glebe Farm, which was left to the Wallbanks by Gail’s father who had purchased the property in 1970. At the time he had been made aware of an ancient encumbrance in the deeds but thought it was just an old custom and not enforceable. However, the farm is in fact a rectorial property which makes its owners lay-rectors and therefore responsible for repairs under the Chancel Repairs Act of 1932.

The Wallbanks used a series of legal challenges, including the Human Rights Act, to fight the case but in June 2003 the House of Lords ruled that they were responsible for the repairs. The High Court recently ruled that they must pay £186.969 + VAT, more than double the original cost.

Chancel repair dates back to 1189 and is associated with the right to collect tithes. The liability can remain attached to a property even after it is sold; in the Wallbanks case it related to one of the fields on the farm called Clanacre.

The standard searches that are carried out when purchasing a property will not usually show up a liability under the Chancel Repairs Act and in many cases the liability has ceased anyway. But if you are purchasing a property that may have a connection with the Church, is subject to tithes or contains the word "Glebe" it may be wise to have a chancel search carried out at the National Archive – this will cost around £85 plus fees. Insurance against any liability can be purchased for about £60 from specialist providers if it is found that the property may be at risk from a claim.

The good news is that if you purchase a property after 12th October 2013 the right to enforce a liability for chancel repair associated with that property will no longer be valid unless it has already been put on record with HMLR (Her Majesty’s Land Registery).

House Names

2007-02-14T08:44:00.000Z

Some councils now charge a fee for a house name change

Here in Carmarthenshire the local authority recently introduced a charge of £25 for those householders wanting to name a new property or change the name of an existing one. They say that the charge has been introduced to help cover the administration costs involved in informing the emergency services, parish councils and the Royal Mail.

It’s a fact that more homes in rural areas like Carmarthenshire are likely to have a name rather than a number. But in Wales an additional factor has to be considered – the language, the concern is that some properties are losing their traditional Welsh names in favour of English ones.

It’s to be hoped that newcomers to a Welsh speaking area keep the old traditional names and in doing so maintain its heritage. These names are usually quite descriptive of the property or place where it is situated and there’s always a friendly local willing to give a translation. One of my particular favourite house names is Troedrhiwfallen which translates as "The foot of apple tree hill" – eat your heart out Dunroamin!

Cat House Sign

2007-01-23T15:55:00.000Z

Cat sign, folk art style

This tabby cat house sign has a definite touch of folk art about it. It was created in our studios by my nephew during a visit several years ago, I think he was about 8 at the time. Its inspiration was Marmalade, his favourite pet. Under careful supervision he carved it from a piece of sycamore and then painted it in these lovely colours. I particularly like the tail – no adult would have ever thought of designing it with a right angle!

His parents also appreciated his talents and used it as their only house sign. They moved a few years ago but the new owner of the house has kept it and it’s still in place today. My nephew is now a young adult and his creative talents continue to flourish.

The cat is now the most popular domestic pet in the UK. About a quarter of all households have a cat, with the total feline population purring in at around 9 million.

Office Sign

2007-01-09T13:13:00.000Z

Expensive sign for office of deputy prime minister

John Prescott, our Deputy Prime Minister, recently spent £645.00 to change the sign on his door. To replace the old sign from "Office of the Deputy Prime Minster" to the new one "Deputy Prime Minister's Office" cost us, the taxpayers, exactly £644.93 he revealed in a Commons written reply. He also splashed out a further £726.15 on business cards after he was stripped of his departmental responsibilities in a Cabinet reshuffle but held on to the same office in Whitehall.

Next time Mr Prescott needs a new sign for his office door would someone please point him in my direction – my prices are far more reasonable!

The Old Post Office

2006-12-23T13:54:00.000Z

Post Office Closures

This is a house sign that we’re likely to see a lot more of in our villages in the next few years. The government has announced that it intends to close up to 3000 post offices in the next couple of years, most of in rural areas. The Department of Trade and Industry considers the current number of 14,000 post to be unsustainable as they are losing £4 million per week.

Earlier this year Postwatch, the postal services watchdog, carried out research which showed the effect that post office closures can have on rural communities. It reported "Whilst it is not for Postwatch to engage in social engineering, who is going to look after the less mobile, the less well off and the elderly who can live in these villages at the moment because they have got a Post Office?"

It’s hardly surprising that the The Old Post Office was the highest new entrant in the Halifax’s 2003 house names survey, coming in at number 21.

Is your village next? - take a look at a guide to help prevent closure your local post office.

Christmas Gifts

2006-12-15T14:26:00.000Z

Views of Christmas present

In this season of goodwill to all men it’s estimated that each of us in the UK will spend an average of £378 on Christmas gifts. Many of these presents will be placed under the Christmas tree – usually in full view of anyone who happens to peer through the window. However, one in three of us will make no attempt block the view through ground floor windows when our property is unoccupied. Any valuables left on display will be an irresistible temptation to a passing low-life burglar.

So the advice is to keep those valuables out of sight and close curtains and blinds before leaving your home. Simple preventative measures can be enough to deter the opportunist thief – motion sensitive outdoor security lights, burglar alarms, internal lights turned on by time switches.

Have a safe and happy Christmas and ensure the only strange man entering your home at this time of year is Santa Claus.

Original source: Halifax Home Insurance.

The Bungalow

2006-12-08T16:02:00.000Z

£1 million for a bungalow!

In 1993 a survey of favourite house names by the Halifax Building Society had "The Bungalow" in top spot. But ten years later it had dropped to number three in the ratings - pushed out by "The Cottage" and "Rose Cottage".

Another survey on behalf of the Halifax found that 17% of English and Welsh homeowners considered a bungalow to be their ideal property. This rose to 43% with those over 65 but only 3% of under 35 year olds wanted to live to live in one. This somewhat helps to explain why many of us hold an image of the bungalow as a modest seaside property occupied by a retired couple.

So how come an ordinary 3-bedroom bungalow in Poole, Dorset, is on the market for an asking price of over £1 million? It could be the work of elves, wizards and orcs as this is a former home of JRR Tolkien. The writer moved there in 1968, mainly at the behest of his wife who was not in good health at the time. When Edith died in 1971, Tolkien quickly sold the property and moved back to Oxford. But for a little while Middle Earth came to a humble bungalow at 19 Lakeside Road.

Estate Agent Bill

2006-12-03T11:21:00.000Z

Compulsory ombudsman scheme for estate agents

The last annual report from the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) said there had been a 9% rise in complaints. These complaints included over-charging, unfair contracts, wrong descriptions, preferential treatment for buyers who use an agent's mortgage service, fee-fixing cartels, and failing to declare a personal interest. Unfortunately, more than half of these complaints were made against agents who were not members of the OEA scheme – about a third of agents are not members - so the only redress for these customers would be through the courts.

It is in the light of this that the Government has proposed plans to deal with rogue agents. The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill will compel all estate agents in the UK to join a reparation scheme. If the bill, outlined in the Queen’s Speech, becomes law the the Office of Fair Trading will have powers to take action. Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary said "A compulsory ombudsman scheme able to award compensation, an obligation to keep thorough written records and new powers for the OFT to strike off the rogues who don't join, will drive up standards".

The bill will also amalgamate some existing consumer watchdog organisations as well as giving customers additional cancellation rights and cooling-off periods when they make purchases from doorstep sellers, even when invited into the home. However, homebuyers, sellers and consumers will have to wait until the spring of 2008 for these measures to come into effect.

The Cottage

2006-11-24T14:26:00.000Z

'The Cottage' is the favourite house name

In a survey of house names undertaken by the Halifax in 2003 ‘The Cottage’ took the top spot. This may reflect a yearning for a hide-away and retreat from the pressures of our frenzied lives. The name summons up images of wood-burning stoves and small, cosy rooms protected by a thatched roof.

Those wanting to escape to the classic cottage and experience life in the past could try a stay at Thomas Hardy’s Dorset home where he wrote ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’. The National Trust rents this out but there is no electricity or mains water. The only concession to modern day life is battery powered lights as the Trust does not allow candles to be used – probably doesn’t want its guests coming home to a real fire if that thatch were to catch alight.

Gate Sign

2006-11-17T14:31:00.000Z

Sign for five-bar gate – ‘Sandygate House’

This is a good example to show some of the things you need to consider when buying a sign that you’re going to fit on a gate.

First of all, check the dimensions of the sign to make sure it is not wider than the timber on the gate. In this case it is wider, this makes it look odd and fixing it out of true doesn’t help. Have a look at our nameplate O or nameplate W – they are 3.25 inches high so will fit most gates of this type.

This one is a typical commercial signmakers’ product. It’s foamboard so won’t be particularly robust in this situation. The vinyl lettering is only a black outline so doesn’t contrast well with the background. Also the characters have not been well spaced and run into one another. Both these things make the name far more difficult to read.

And finally, always remember that you can’t alter the laws of physics – Nothing can be in two places at the same time. If the gate is open the chances are that the sign cannot be seen.

Oak Signs

2006-11-07T11:00:00.000Z

Oak House Name Sign – Valley View

This is what happens to oak house plaques when they’re left to their own devices. Most wood signs will turn silvery-grey if untreated and exposed to the elements. However, oak is more resistant to splitting and rot than many of the other timbers used for house signs and plaques.

The v-cut lettering on this sign looks as if it has been done by a computer controlled (CNC) router. It is rather small in relation to the wood plaque and is not centred vertically.

Giving it a light sanding and picking out the lettering in white would easily restore this sign. The whole thing should then be given a few coats of a preservative stain. To keep it looking good this should be done annually.

Placing House Signs

2006-10-27T13:52:00.000+01:00

Spot the house name

Positioning a house sign is a straightforward task - most of the time. Difficulties can sometimes occur when there is restricted space or objects such as trees or shrubs obscure a sight line. But generally a house name or number should always go in the place that a visitor will look for it; this is usually by your main entrance to your home. In this case the homeowner has got it wrong on two counts – the choice of sign and its position.

The sign itself is a poor choice because the house name is too small to be read from the street. This is not helped by the fact that the name does not contrast very well with the background. Also a large part of the plaque is taken up by a floral design in the same colour as the lettering. From a distance the whole thing appears as a jumble of light blue spaghetti.

If you still haven’t spotted where the plaque is - it’s at the top of the garage door frame, just below the quoin stone. I bet you anything that it’s been sited here because of the ease of fixing to wood rather than stone. A better place would have been over the door, to the side of it, or on the door itself. In any of those positions there would have been the additional advantage of the sign being illuminated at night by the outside light.

DIY House Signs

2006-10-19T14:23:00.000+01:00

Temporary window sign – White House

This must be the ultimate in cheap DIY house signs. I’ve described it as temporary but judging by the faded lettering it has now become a permanent feature.

The advantages of this type of sign are obvious – cheap materials, no expensive equipment required, and absolutely no design skills. Somehow though, I don’t think they’re going to catch on.

And no, it’s not The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

Terracotta House Name Plaque

2006-10-11T08:11:00.000+01:00

Oval ceramic plaque with white lettering – Hill Cottage

This house sign brings to mind some of those wonderful hyphenated adjectives such as hugger-mugger and topsy-turvy. In this case the most appropriate one would have to be higgledy-piggledy, the definition of which is "in utter disorder or confusion".

Remember those kits of alphabet letters for children? They always got mixed up with one another and put in the same box, resulting in words made up from a jumble of characters in different styles and sizes.

The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed the mark on the wall left by a previous house plaque – I wonder if that was any better!

Ecological Wood Sign

2006-09-28T14:45:00.000+01:00

Oval wooden house plaque – Sunnydene

Even the most skilled tree surgeon is going to be hard pushed to reverse the effects of ageing on this cracked and peeling face - a prime example of why I don’t rate the rustic wood slice. This sign will be no more than 5 years old but already appears as if it could be drawing a pension in its twilight years.

People are lured into buying them by the promise of numerous coats of superior grade exterior varnish – you can see for yourself what happens to that – and of course by the price. But they don’t look like such a bargain three years later when they need to be replaced.

And there’s the old eco-chestnut of the timber coming from managed and sustainable sources. To replace this sign another tree will have to be chopped down and more fossil fuels will have to be burnt to make and deliver it – not so green now!

Marble House Sign

2006-09-21T19:04:00.000+01:00

Composite marble plaque – Valley View

Here’s a rather odd-looking house sign. By odd I mean the layout of the lettering and the manner in which it has been put together and presented. The two things are linked.
First of all let’s look at the marble sign. It is in fact not marble but a composite. How do I know? – easy, where the white paint has weathered away on the lettering the underlying material is grey. There’s nothing wrong with composite but the layout of the lettering is wrong – too much space between the two lines of text and too close to the edges.
This is most likely why it has been mounted on a piece of plywood, but it’s hardly as if the two materials complement one another visually or in any other way. Some strange goings on down in the valley!

Stone House Sign

2006-09-11T18:37:00.000+01:00

Rough stone slab with carved house name

I’m not really into off-cuts being used for house signs. Why is stone rejected as waste by the quarry suddenly good enough to be used for a sign by adding the adjective ‘rustic’ or ‘riven’?

And this is certainly rough! The brown discolouration, giving the camouflage effect, is most likely iron oxides which have turned to rust when exposed to rain. It also appears that the carver has struggled to find a good enough surface on which to position the lettering, hence the rather odd layout. If there had been a bit more room it could have been more appropriately named "Boulder Cottage". There’s a good chance of the sign being reduced in size each year as winter frosts seek out the flaws in the grain of the stone.

Most of what you pay for a house sign like this is going to be swallowed up by a hefty delivery charge – the waste stone itself was probably given away for free by the quarry. Therefore why not go for a properly proportioned and finished sign free of imperfections and not something which should have be crushed and used as aggregate.

Oval House Sign

2006-09-01T07:51:00.000+01:00

Wood name plaque– Holmlea Cottage

This is a rather depressing and dreary looking house plaque – it’s almost as if it’s ashamed of itself and is trying to be inconspicuous. Dark lettering on a dark background is a really good strategy if the intention is not to be noticed but not an ideal one for a house sign.

And look at the spacing of that lettering (if you can make it out). Setting out lettering on a curve does require a little skill and a critical eye but here both the "A" and the "C" appear to be wandering off to join some other sign in another street.

I’m all for recycling, but on this occasion it would be best to return this piece of wood to its former function as a breadboard.