The part people rush
The trouble with shopping for outdoor lighting is that two numbers can describe two completely different jobs. One company is quoting a template, another is quoting a design for your actual roofline, and the prices look similar until the lights are on.
Ask whether the design is yours
The first question is simple: is there a plan drawn for my house? A company that designs for the property can explain every run. A company that will not is selling you the same job they sold the last house.
Ask what the year looks like
Everything mounted outdoors eventually needs somebody to look at it. Ask now who that is. On holiday lighting, takedown and storage are the questions to ask. For permanent systems, ask how the app works and who supports it.
Scope
Some companies only hang holiday lights. Some only do low voltage yard lighting. Some cover the whole property. It matters because a company that only does one thing will recommend that one thing.
Ask about residential versus commercial
Homes and businesses ask different things of a lighting plan. At a house, it is curb appeal plus practical light. 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 walk away from
Pressure to sign on the spot is the clearest one. A refusal to put the scope in writing is the second. An unclear answer on what happens when something quits usually means there is no plan for it.None of that means a company is dishonest. Since the work stays on the building, the details are worth pinning down now.Get more than one quote, but compare the scope and not the number. If one company drew a plan and the other quoted a package, you are not looking at two prices for the same thing. Ask each one what they would leave out if the budget were tighter, because the answer tells you what they think matters.
Is this their area?
Local matters more than it sounds like it should: the crew that works your county knows the houses. EverCrest Lighting is an outdoor lighting company based in Greenville, South Carolina, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. They do permanent LED lighting, holiday lighting, landscape lighting, patio lighting,
https://evercrestlighting.com/permanent-lighting/ accent lighting and security lighting for homes and businesses. The consultation is free, and the design gets drawn before anybody quotes. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].