Most of the decision happens before the quote
Outdoor lighting gets quoted fast and understood slowly. A package price and a plan drawn for your house can land within a few hundred dollars of each other, and look nothing alike at night.
Start with the design
The first question is simple: what does the plan for my house look like? A company that designs for the property will be able to tell you why the light goes where it goes. A company that will not is selling you the same job they sold the last house.
Ask what happens after the install
Lighting sits out in the weather all year, so ask what happens when something needs attention. On holiday lighting, takedown and storage are the questions to ask. For permanent systems, ask what support looks like a year in.
Scope
The trades overlap but are not identical: holiday lighting, landscape lighting, permanent roofline systems, security lighting. It matters because a company that only does one thing will recommend that one thing.
The property type
A house and a storefront are different problems. A home wants curb appeal and usable light after dark. A commercial building needs to read from a distance, and the install has to work around business hours. Ask which one they do more of, and weigh that against what you need done.
Signs to be careful with
Pressure to sign on the spot is the clearest one. If nobody will draw the design, the scope will be argued about later. Vagueness about what happens after the install is the third flag.Plenty of honest companies are just disorganized. Since the work stays on the building, it pays to have it in writing.Get more than one quote, but compare the scope and not the number. A custom design and a stock package are different products, even when the numbers are close. Ask each one what they would leave out if the budget were tighter, because the answer tells you what they think matters.
Ask where they actually work
A company that works your area regularly knows the housing stock and the weather. EverCrest Lighting is an outdoor lighting company based in Greenville, South Carolina, covering Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. Their work covers permanent LED lighting, holiday and Christmas lighting, landscape and patio lighting, accent lighting and security lighting, residential
https://evercrestlighting.com/permanent-lighting/ and commercial. Consultations are free and the design comes before the number. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].