So, I was at Park Meadows. Someone has been sharking signs and putting up CAUSS stickers. So that's how I found this site.

Looked around a bit. "Interesting" thinks I.

So, I'm going to work, and what do you know, on the stop sign pole just east of Havana and Arapahoe, there was an ugly yellow "We buy houses" sign strapped there, right above a "Lost Dog" sign.

So I hop out, whip out my blade, slip it under the plastic strap, and CUT! Toss it into my trunk. Satisfaction! I left the "Lost dog" sign, up, though.

A perfect first catch. Took down the spam, left the "lost dog" sign on the same pole. It gave me pleasure to take down the ugly and leave up the sad.

So I'm hooked. Since then, I've taken down a "we install christmas lights", two "car detailer"s and a "cheap gas" sign.

I've got to say, I don't agree with the idea of putting up CAUSS stickers. I understand the rationale, and it did in fact direct me to this site. But I'll just be satisfied with yanking the signs entirely and leave the stickering and slicing off phone numbers to others who are OK with that. I understand it, but it's not me.

Things I also will not do, is real estate signs (except for the hand-lettered ones obviously not having anything to do with the immediate vicinity) political signs, lost pet signs.

Anyway, thanks, everyone! I pity the fool who spams the Arapahoe/Havana area!

>I've got to say, I don't agree with the idea of putting up
>CAUSS stickers. I understand the rationale, and it did in
>fact direct me to this site. But I'll just be satisfied with
>yanking the signs entirely and leave the stickering and
>slicing off phone numbers to others who are OK with that. I
>understand it, but it's not me.
>
>Things I also will not do, is real estate signs (except for
>the hand-lettered ones obviously not having anything to do
>with the immediate vicinity) political signs, lost pet signs.

My sentiments, exactly!

Welcome to the CAUSS, Le Marteau!

>My sentiments, exactly!

Nosigns,when did you go soft on real estate, political,and lost pet signs?

Illegal Signs in Austin

>Nosigns,when did you go soft on real estate, political,and
>lost pet signs?

Pretty much since Day 1. I don't mess with real estate directional
signs, as they remain local to the new development, and eventually
go away. The RE signs I do take are the ones, such as my friends
New Home Locators, that are plastered all around town, and never go
away.

I've never messed with political signs, as they usually go away
on their own.

>I've never messed with political signs, as they usually go
>away on their own.

You are more patient than I.

Illegal Signs in Austin

Politics do go away here too. We always have the cheap gas,xmas lights and 30 some other spam. Vegas. Good to see the stickers work. Welcome Aboard!!

wevl

Hi, and welcome!

Good to see you on board as a new shark! Be safe and don't remove signs on private property without permission.

There are two types of spammers - there are those who get caught up in the latest get rich quick scheme. They put out a bunch of signs only to see them disappear ovenight. Then there are the repeat spammers, like the antique guy on W. Colfax, CEO Income at Home, I Buy Junk Cars, and also real estate agents who think they can fool you with We Buy Homes and Home for Sale signs.

The latter deserve everything they get, including stickering, IMHO. But the main objective of CAUSS is to rid our neighborhoods of illegal signs quickly and permanently.

We appreciate your help, and again, welcome aboard!

DenverShark

Good for you. That is how I found this site, little CAUSS.org stickers on a corner in Arvada. Before then I never knew there were people who cared. Or even that it was usually illegal to trash a street corner. All the noise you hear about "Graffiti" vandalism, you would think someone would mention trashy signs.

So as much as the signs themselves are distasteful, the CAUSS.org sign is a necessary evil.

Welcome, Le Marteau!

Except for the occasional spammer who shows up here, we are a bunch of citizen activists who want to rid our cities of illegal signs.

As you can see from this thread, you get a lot of different opinion about certain types of signs -- lost pets, real estate, garage sales, missing child, etc. Also, certain methods -- stickers, removing numbers, oblitering, partial removal, etc. Personally, I tolerate wide differences of opinion on these issues. For example, I don't like the people who just knock over the signs and leave them on the ground. However, I'd rather have them do this than do nothing. I'll pick up the knocked over signs when I stop for some other reason.

Newbie (not)

I leave sharked & marked signs up for a week so others, and the sign poster, may learn about CAUSS.
Then I remove the whole sign - when I can.

Always leave Lost Pet signs.

From a hospital, I plan to call advertisers to tell them I am removing their signs.
Some signs are being posted higher!
(Aurora has still not removed an out-of-reach sign on a utility pole.)

>(Aurora has still not removed an out-of-reach sign on a
>utility pole.)

And they probably won't - at least not anytime soon.

If the sign is not over 12 to 14 feet, the "high stick" will normally get them down.
http://www.causs.org/tools.html
Anything over about 14 feet will take some type of extension ladder.
One thing to keep in mind, when the signs get up over 14ft, they’re useless as far as readability is concerned. It’s a waste of time and money on the spammers part.

We had a siege of 12"x16" heavy gauge (10 ga.?)metal signs advertising Honda Repair some years back. The signs were nailed up very high on the wooden utility poles with #20 ferruled bridge nails. One of our more compulsive area sharks developed a method, short of a cutting torch or metal saws-all to get the signs down.

He and one of our area directors teamed up and hit the streets in an attempt to remove the signs that had been up for at least ten years or more. CE wouldn’t touch them, primarily because they didn't have the equipment and it was "too dangerous" - in their words.

The method they finally worked out was – an extension ladder that you extend up to at least 18ft.
A crowbar type nail puller, referred to as a “sheep’s foot” and a pair or short bolt cutters capable of cutting a nail that is approx ¼ in diameter; One person had to hold the ladder just for safety sake.

If you'll look real close at the top sign on the pole in this pic.
http://www.causs.org/what_is_street_spam.html - you’ll see the sign and just how sturdy it is.
This was one of the last of those signs that we left just long enough to get this pic.

It took them about a month or working together, to get all the signs down, but they gradually disappeared street by street until they were all removed. Yes, it was definately a PITA, but it was also a challenge to be able to get them down, when no one else could or would.

Time patience and perseverance.

GW

>If the sign is not over 12 to 14 feet, the "high
>stick" will normally get them down.
> http://www.causs.org/tools.html
>Anything over about 14 feet will take some type of extension
>ladder.

Hi, GW:

Actually, there's an approach that works pretty well with signs even 16' high. On the tools page, there is a picture of a box cutter attached to a painters extension pole. Well, some of those poles have threads at the bottom, so you can simply screw two extension poles together to get those extremely high signs. Even without threads, two poles can be taped together with duct tape.

This means that you will be cutting the sign, but gravity will work to your advantage. You can cut most of it.

A word of warning: watch out for overhead power lines. Many of the painters extension poles are made out of fiberglass which does not conduct electricity.

DenverShark

The box cutter on pole does work pretty well when you can't whack with a sharky stick due to height or otherwise limited access. Of course, this assumes the signs are corrugated plastic. A minor variation on the box cutter on a stick that works very well is to use the a "carpet blade" in the box cutter. The carpet blade is hook-shaped with the inner edge of the hook being the sharp edge. You simply hook the blade over the top edge of the plastic and pull down. No lateral force is required. The blade lasts a long time and it is safer to carry in the trunk because the outer edge is blunt. I need to get a picture of this on the web site.

We don't get many of the really high signs any more in Dallas area.

Newbie (not)

We have several house flippers here that have gone higher and higher. Then when that did not work, they built up heavy plywood and metal backed signs and screwed them with lags very high up. When they realized that I could unscrew lags, they mashed the ends or bent them over. (Vise grips were the solution)

Then they tried other supposedly non-removable screws. And angle iron edges. One inch plywood... Gluing and screwing... Crow bars and sheeps foot worked like a charm. The longest time taken to get the sign down was getting the ladder set onto the pole! I can say they spent more time than I putting them up and dreaming of ever-spiralling tougher signs.

Black and decker makes an inexpensive small sawzall that is battery powered and does a great job on signs.

They gave up after two weeks.

Good work!

I wonder how they get the cajones to put them up in broad daylight....

"Winter's coming... I've got two cord of Tomato Stakes!"

Thanks for the laugh,Tomato!
Wish I had them to burn in my wood stove.