Landscape Lighting

[JS Landscaping]

Hows it going everyone. We have just finished up a really nice walkway along the front of a house for a client of mine and now they have come to me wanting landscape lighting installed. I have never done this before and was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction as to how its done, where to buy the fixtures and what companys are the best to deal with materials wise. It seems pretty simple. I have been thinking about adding this service on as it seems to be growing with popularity in my area. Any help is greatly apreciated. Thanks.

James
JS LANDSCAPING

[highlander316]

i have been thinking about doing it to. One thing I have found is, depending on how you hook the lighting up, you will need to have a certified electrician to wire it to the house's power. One thing to think about.

[Scott]

i have been thinking about doing it to. One thing I have found is, depending on how you hook the lighting up, you will need to have a certified electrician to wire it to the house's power. One thing to think about.

not if you use low voltage.

[Scott]

i have been thinking about doing it to. One thing I have found is, depending on how you hook the lighting up, you will need to have a certified electrician to wire it to the house's power. One thing to think about.

not if you use low voltage.

James,
take a pic of the walkway and the front yard from several different angles and I'll walk ya through it.

[highlander316]

ah yes, I forgot to say that. It depends on where you live to I think. If it is elaborate and you are going to run it into the house's breaker box, then you will need someone to do it. If you are just going to plug it in, then you'll be fine by yourself.

[Mike J]

Some places I believe you still need a license for low voltage. I think its just a matter of knowing basic electrical to take the test for it though.

Most landscape lights are idiot proof to intall. Making it look professional is the key. What I mean is, I've seen plenty that have the wire to each light just strung across the ground to the next or covered with mulch or gravel.

[JS Landscaping]

Thanks for the info guys, ill definatly get some pictures of it within the next few days, cause i have to start building up a portfolio. Where do you guys get your supplies from. The landscape supply by me does not sell lighting except for the built in lights for the risers on stairs. Thanks again.


James

[GeorgiaLandscaper]

Ive cut a few of those stupid wires with edgers before. Oops. A few butt connectors and the customer never knew.

[lclandscapes]

Landscape lighting can be and is very profitable. Your biggest problem will be learning what lights can do what, what type of bulbs to use, calculating voltage losses on runs. It is very simple to install these systems, and takes little time (depending on the size of the job) to do. Not sure about your area, but check with John Deere Landscapes - they do offer Lighting classes for free from Vista Outdoor Lights.

Top Lighting Manufacturers:

1. Kichler
2. Vista
3. Hadco
4. Focus
5. Malibu

There are many more, but those are the most common. Never use the bottom two unless you want to be replacing lights a lot.

[Scott]

Thanks for the info guys, ill definatly get some pictures of it within the next few days, cause i have to start building up a portfolio. Where do you guys get your supplies from. The landscape supply by me does not sell lighting except for the built in lights for the risers on stairs. Thanks again.


James

you can find them here
http://www.johndeerelandscapes.com/s...0916&Radius=30

search this site for something close.
http://www.vistapro.com/distsearch.aspx?stt=NY

I'm sure you have lighting stores where all the filthy rich get their light fixtures and most of them carry low voltage BUTT they'll charge you an arm and a leg.

[SodBuster]

The night life... ain't no good life.... unless it's got Sodbuster lights.

Doin 700w tri-tap custom intall.

[lclandscapes]

The night life... ain't no good life.... unless it's got Sodbuster lights.

Doin 700w tri-tap custom intall.

Hey Sod,

What brand lights? Type of lights? and how many runs?

[Scott]

The night life... ain't no good life.... unless it's got Sodbuster lights.

Doin 700w tri-tap custom intall.

I'm finishing up a 1000 watt gig tomorrow, mainly copper.

cha ching!

[rat_race_engineer]

I would recommend that you just tell the home owner to have a licensed electrician install an outlet at the location of the transformer. Your contract should state that this is the homeowner's responsibility unless you wanted to bother with subbing it out.

Most of the lighting manufacturers offer hands on training seminars on how to install and sell their stuff. I attended the one by Cast Lighting and it was really top notch. They even set you up with a distributor and pricing guidelines.

Unfortunately, Cast Lighting is an expensive system (but very well engineered and actractive). The market for this stuff appears to be executive size properties and none of my clients were able to get over the system price when compared to what they could buy themselves at Home Cheapo. In the seminar, I at least did learn to install the basic low voltage lightings systems. Definitely a high profit margin area.

Best Regards,

Jason