
Our Community in Fairfax County, Virginia
Displaying Your Home Address
Four Numbers That Count
By Dave Conway, January 2000
When you call for the police, fire truck, or ambulance to come to your home, every second counts. Imagine an emergency vehicle cruising by on a dark night, looking up and down the street trying to find your house number.
This problem can and does happen because homeowners fail to display their address properly. Painting your address on the curb is fine, but drivers of emergency vehicles look for your address at your front entrance, as required by Fairfax County Code.
What looks find during the day may not work so well at night. Do any of these describe your home address?
- Black numbers on red brick
- Gold numbers on white
- Small numbers
- Missing numbers
- Numbers hidden by shrubbery
- Numbers in cursive
- Numbers not close to the front door
- No numbers!
Boring as it may seem, what looks best is high contrast with good visibility in low light:
- Black numbers on white
- White numbers on black
- White numbers on red brick
- Reflective numbers.
Do yourself and your visitors a favor and make sure your address is located near your front door and can be easily seen at night.