| 1. Brass or bronze
numbers. This is essentially an "invisible" number. If sunlight or another light should reflect
at just the precise angle to hit your eye, the number becomes visible for a split-second. It's like a flash and then it's gone. Unless that happens, this number is invisible
in the day and useless at night. It will blend in with any surrounding background. You can be a foot away, looking, and still
miss it. It doesn't matter if the number is ten inches high. These numbers are horrible.
Please don't get a brass or a bronze number. You are wasting your money.
2. The number is written in handwriting.
It looks fancy but it's very hard to see from the road. We need a plain Arabic
number.
3. The porch light is turned off at
night so you can't see the number on the house. If the bulb is burnt out,
please replace it. Sometimes the number is too far from the light. Sometimes
the light outshines it.
4. Part of the number is missing. We
can forgive you if the first digit is gone but not the last one. Worn out
numbers are also a problem.
5. The number is too small. You have
to get out of the car and walk to get close enough to read it. At times,
you can't tell it's a number from the road.
6. The number on the house is only two
feet above the ground. Some numbers are on the grass line or porch
floor. How do they expect people to notice? The number should be at eye level or
higher.
7. The number is on the face of the front door.
This is a very bad place to put it because people tend to leave the door
wide open. That will hide the number completely. People also tend to hang
stuff on the door and it blocks or partially blocks the number.
8. The number is the same color as the
house. It blends in like a chameleon.
9. The number is a light color and the
house is also a light color. For example, a brass number on yellow or white.
In this case, you need a number with a dark color.
10. The number is a dark color and so
is the house. For example, a black number on brick or wood. Please get a
number with a light color for a dark background.
11. The "front" door is set back from
the front of the house. Sometimes the "front" door is located on the side of the house. In this case, the number doesn't belong near the
door. It belongs on the front of the house.
12. The number is on the overhang above the front porch. At night, when the porch light is turned on, the light is in the background. The number is outshined
by the porch light. Sometimes the number is shadowed by the overhang. Either way, you can't see the number at all. Please put the number below the overhang so the light can shine on the number.
13. Sixes that look like eights. Ones
that look like sevens. The more fancy it looks, the harder it is to read
at a distance. We need a plain looking number.
14. Some individual numbers come with
their own background. When you arrange it to form the house number, you need to
make the backgrounds touch so there is one large background. If there is a gap, the number will
blur when seen from a distance.
15. Christmas, Halloween, or any other holiday decorations obstruct the number. This will sometimes block the number
entirely from sight.
16. Silver numbers on black background.
In the day, this needs to be extra large and extra bold to be readable.
This color scheme is not visible at night, no matter how big, so please don't use it.
17. The number is on the mailbox door.
This means it does not face traffic. Instead, it faces the street, which is 90 degrees
away from traffic. You can't see the number until you stop in front of the
mailbox. Headlights can't shine on it at night. This is a serious problem.
18. Stone engravings with no distinct
color for the number. You can't see the number at any distance. It blends
in like a chameleon. The number needs a color of its own, distinct from the
background. Otherwise, this is not a problem.
19. Wood engravings. From a distance, wood engraved numbers are
very difficult to see. The number needs a distinct color to set it apart from the background. At night,
the porch light casts a shadow on every part of the engraving so you can't see it. Please
don't have a wood carved number.
20. Motion detector porch lights. They
don't activate until you get close. By then, you're usually on foot and this
is way too late. We need a constant porch light.
21. The number is a label. This might
look good on a name tag, but it's not meant for a mailbox. This is way too
small. You can't see it.
22. The number is posted on a vertical
column. There is not enough background. Sometimes the porch light shines
behind the column so you can't see the number at all.
23. There's a number on the house but
the house is set back from the road. It's too far away to see. In
this case, you need a
lawn sign by the road.
24. The flag on the mailbox blocks the
number. Please move it out of the way.
25. Only the last name appears on the
mailbox. This creates a problem if your order has a different
name on it. Sometimes two houses on the block will have the same last name. Even if you did not order pizza, we would like to use your
number as a reference point to find other houses.
26. Too much information with the house number. We really don't need your street name, last name, first names, and the names of your pets. All this information clutters and creates a blur when viewed from a distance. Please show only the number and nothing else.
27. There is a problem with ranch houses when the number is placed over the garage door. This is way too far from the front door. Some houses have the number on the other side of the garage, on the far edge of the building and the front door is on the opposite end. One expects the number to be near the front door.
28. The number is spelled out in Roman
numerals.
29. The number is displayed vertically
or diagonally. This isn't much of a problem, but people tend to read from left to right.
It's more difficult to notice other patterns at a distance. |
