We do the work. But five minutes of prep on your end is the difference between a display that stands proud for a full day and one that's leaning by lunchtime.
Here's the whole list.
Before We Arrive
1. Water the lawn 2–3 days out
This is the single most useful thing you can do. Soft ground means our stakes go in deep and the display holds. Hard, dry, compacted soil in August is genuinely difficult to stake into, and a display in dry ground is a display that wobbles.
But — don't water the day before or the day of. Saturated ground means mud, sinking stakes, and our footprints across your lawn. Two or three days out is the sweet spot.
2. Mow before, not after
Cut the grass before we set up. Once the display is in, no mowing and no weed-whacking until we've picked everything up. Trimmer line and coroplast do not get along, and we'd rather not replace a chewed-up letter.
3. Turn off the automatic sprinklers
For the full length of the rental. Sprinklers won't hurt the signs, but they'll soften the ground under the stakes and things start to tilt.
4. Tell us what we can't see
This is the one people forget, and it's the important one:
- Sprinkler heads — we do not want to stake through your irrigation line, and you really don't want us to
- Invisible fence wire — same problem, worse surprise
- Locked gates — if we need side-yard access, we need to get there
- Dogs — we're setting up at 9pm in the dark and we'd love a heads-up
- Septic fields, French drains, buried anything
Just reply to your confirmation email. It takes ten seconds and it prevents the only real problem that can happen.
5. Think about placement
Where do you want it? Facing the street is our default — it reads to every car and neighbor. But if the goal is the reaction when they open the front door, we can angle it toward the house instead. Tell us which moment you're going for.
While It's Up
Look, don't touch. The signs are sturdy, but they're not play equipment. Kids climbing or pulling on letters will bend stakes. Dogs are, unfortunately, dogs.
Rain is fine. Coroplast is weatherproof. A thunderstorm won't hurt it. If a serious coastal storm is coming, we'll reach out to pull it early or reschedule — no charge.
Take pictures. Lots of them. Then tag us @swellsignslbi — we love seeing them, and we'd be honored to share.
When We Pick Up
Leave it to us. Please don't pull the display out yourself. We'll come back and remove every piece and every stake. You don't have to be home, and you don't have to lift anything.
Once we're gone, your lawn goes right back to normal. Pinholes close within a day or two. We've never damaged a yard.
That's It
Water early, mow early, flag the buried stuff, and enjoy the moment. Book your display and we'll handle the rest.