Core77

A Screwy Alternative to Floating House Numbers

You'll need patience and a drill

By Rain Noe - November 17, 2015

in Visual Communication | DIY

Designer/builder Bryan Scott was "looking for a way to save money on modern standoff house numbers (which can cost up to $50 per number online)," he writes. Using a box of leftover stainless steel screws, Photoshop and a printer, he came up with this system:

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My first thought, looking at a close-up…

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…is that this method would expose the exterior cladding to the elements, particularly in Portland, Oregon, where Scott is based. However, he shortly came up with a better method, driving the screws into a piece of ipe that will then be attached to the house:

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Scott put his method up on Instructables and readers responded positively, creating their own variants:

By Nicoläs Brony Martinez

With the board serving as a middleman, the technique can be used over a brick surface:

By PeterP_DIY

I like how the aesthetic changes slightly with pan-head screws:

By amikolajczyk

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And of course, depending on the font and color you choose, you can still get a more classic look, at least from a distance:

By immaculatelation

I'm not sure the method achieves the original aim of saving money—stainless steel screws ain't cheap—but the aesthetic is certainly interesting.

Scott, by the way, runs the design-build firm Zenbox Design in Portland, Oregon. You can check out their work here.

David Appleman

9 years ago

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ooh, how about some half toning using different head sizes on the screws?

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Scott Brown

9 years ago

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After reading this last week, I've been thinking about where I've been seeing the screw-set typeface. Found it while looking for an article in an old JLC. http://www.jlconline.com/

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Jon Plummer

9 years ago

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Even if you have to buy the screws this isn't terribly costly. Taking the first snaps as a guide, he's got four numbers that fill a 14x20 grid, so 14*20*0.75*4=approx 840 screws. At McFeely's (not cheap) you can get 900 8x2 stainless wood screws for $7.35/100, or $66.15 for the project. That's a little over the cost of one letter.

Your choice of font and screw type will affect the cost – Helvetica Neue Light, anyone?

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Mike Loveless

9 years ago

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Quick tip on this one!

Place a sheet (at least 0.0625") of steel or aluminum under the piece of wood. Put you weight on the wood piece and go slow, you can feel when it hits the bottom. Makes it much easier and quicker!

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