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Correx signs are the cheap, cheerful workhorse of temporary signage: For Sale boards, site notices, election boards, car park arrows and the sale board outside the farm shop. The board is fluted polypropylene, two thin plastic skins held apart by rows of tiny channels, a bit like cardboard made of plastic. It’s light, rain can’t hurt it and it doesn’t cost much. Where it falls down is time. Think a season, not a decade.
What you’re actually buying #
The name started as a brand and turned into the word everyone uses, so you’ll also see twin-wall, flute board and corrugated plastic on quotes. Underneath it’s polypropylene, a plastic you already know from margarine tubs and bottle tops. Slice through a sheet and the edge looks like a row of drinking straws. That structure makes it stiff for its weight, and since polypropylene won’t soak anything up, rain just runs off.
We print your design in full colour straight onto the flat face. There’s an optional gloss or matt laminate for one side if you’d like extra resistance to scuffs; for a board that’s only up for a fortnight, most people don’t bother.
Four jobs Correx signs do best #
- Houses and flats. Letting boards, sale boards and agents’ notices.
- Sites. Rules at the gate, directions for deliveries, signs cable-tied along the fence. Our construction site signs range is built around them.
- Events and campaigns. Parking arrows, ways in, polling day boards, open days.
- Short promotions. The summer sale outside a garden centre, the pick-your-own board at the farm gate.
The thread running through all four? The sign comes down again. Nobody needs a To Let board to outlive the tenancy.
Three places Correx signs fail #
- Anything meant to be permanent. It won’t rot, but the surface picks up scuffs, and after a long spell it looks tired. For years outdoors, go for Dibond (see Dibond signs).
- Boards left to swing. Keep flexing a sheet in the wind and sooner or later it folds along a flute and stays folded.
- Smart indoor displays. The fluted edge is on show. For a polished look inside, Foamex is smoother (see Foamex board).
Thickness: stiffness, not waterproofing #
Here’s the bit people get wrong. Paying for a thicker sheet buys you rigidity. It doesn’t make the board any better in the rain, because every thickness we sell is fully weatherproof already. Step up when the board is large, or when it’s only held at one end.
| Thickness | Available on | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| 3.5 mm | Flat boards and the street range | The board will be fixed flat against something: a fence, a wall, a stake |
| 5 mm | Flat boards and the street range | It’s large, or hangs from its top edge and must not flap |
| 5.5 mm | The street range only | You want maximum rigidity on a wrap, cover, triangle or fence topper |
Flute direction, the hidden detail #
Pick up a sheet and flex it both ways. One way, it fights you; the other, it bends like a book cover. That’s the flutes: rigid along their length, weak across them. So if a tall board is being lashed to a post at two points, one high and one low, it’s happier with the channels running upright. A long, wide board hanging off a single top edge is the classic curler. If direction matters for your fixing, say so in the order notes or get in touch before ordering.
Those channels double as mounting points. Push a wire stake up into them, or thread a cable tie through, and you’ve got an election-style board standing in a verge with no holes drilled at all.
Sizes and timing #
Flat Correx boards are printed single or double sided, at 3.5 or 5 mm. The A sizes run A4 (210 × 297 mm) through to A0 (841 × 1189 mm). Alongside those you’ll find 20 × 30 in (508 × 762 mm), a 700 × 1000 mm and a square metre. Anything else can be made to measure, as small as 100 mm or as big as 2440 × 1220 mm. If you already know your size, jump straight to A4 Correx boards, A1 Correx boards or A0 Correx boards.
Flat boards go out 2 working days after your order and artwork are confirmed on express, 3 on standard, 5 on saver. Mainland delivery is £7.95, free on orders of £100 or more after discounts, and boards bigger than A0 add a one-off £15.
Street Correx: folded and shaped
Some jobs need the board to bend. Our street and event Correx products are creased so they can wrap round a lamp post or fold into a freestanding triangle. In that family: lamp-post wraps, bollard covers, A1 triangle signs, fence top signs, venue arrow signs (550 × 210 mm) and Correx poster boards. Whichever service you pick, these take 10 working days. The wraps, bollard covers, triangles and fence tops never attract the oversize charge.
Putting Correx signs up #
- On Heras panels, railings or any fence. Ask for holes when you order (either just the top two corners, or all four) and cable tie through them. Bigger than A3? Tie every corner.
- On a post or stake. Ties through the holes, or slide the stake up inside the channels.
- On a wall. Screws and washers through the corner holes, or outdoor-rated double-sided tape if the surface is smooth and clean.
Snug is the word for cable ties. Crank them too hard and they crush the board. After the first proper gust, go back and have a look. There’s more in our guide to mounting a sign on a wall.
After the job’s done #
Polypropylene gets recycled widely, yet a lot of kerbside schemes refuse rigid sheets, so ask your council or the local tip before binning it. If the boards belong to a business, the law puts a duty on you to handle that waste properly; GOV.UK has a plain-English overview of managing your waste.
To sum up: Correx signs when it’s outside, short-term and on a budget; Foamex when it’s inside; Dibond when it’s outside for good. See all three compared in our Foamex, Dibond or Correx guide, or tell us where yours is going through the contact form.