What are some perks of installing landscape lighting?
Landscape lighting can be beautiful to look at once the sun goes down, but there’s a whole list of reasons why having this type of lawn installment is a wonderful choice! Yes, the aesthetics are great for starters because they can draw all the right kind of attention from your neighbors and make you feel more confident in your own home. Having pride in the home you own is essential, and nothing can feel better than giving your friends and family something to talk about next time you have a get-together!
The addition of landscape lighting to your home and yard can also do wonders for your home’s value! If you love the home you’re in, you can watch its value slowly but surely rise. However, if you want to sell your home someday, you’ll be thrilled with what you’re able to put it on the market for! The biggest allure to landscape lighting, though, is your and your family’s safety. It can not only help keep you from injury while walking around your property at night but can also protect you from harm from potential intruders at night. They will be less likely to sneak around a well-lit home and will have fewer places to hide while doing so.
What types of lighting are there to choose from?
There are plenty of options for those looking to add light to your home, with different lighting that is useful for different areas. If you’re looking to cover large areas such as patios or driveways, the classic floodlights are going to be your best bet. Another practical form of lightning will be your pathway lights – these make it easier and safer walking at night to avoid tripping around your yard. Step lights on any decks or stairways you’ve got can also make your outdoor areas a lot safer to walk down in the dark.
Some forms of lighting can be just lovely accents around your property to liven up its appearance. For example, the standard spotlights, also known as up-lighting, can help highlight different parts of your lawn. If you have statues or specific trees you want to highlight, that’s what these are great for! If you’re looking for an accent around your hardscaping, such as retaining walls or outdoor kitchens, wall wash lights are a nice touch to add some flair to those areas. Beyond that, there are plenty of other smaller fixtures to wow your guests: string lights above the deck, lights circling your pool, and in-ground well lights, to name a few.
Are there any mistakes people often make with landscape lighting?
Like most other aspects of life, there’s such a thing as too much of something; in this case, lighting! One of the most common mistakes folks make is wanting too many pathway lights along their walkways. Safety is vital, but it’s always best to avoid the “airport runway” look when having them put in at your home. The standard is about 10 feet apart to have pools of light rather than oversaturating the path. The other widespread mistake people tend to make is not using the proper beam spread. Beam spread simply means that the lighting should match what it’s illuminating; if you have a tall, thin tree, you should be using a thinner beam of light than you would on a shorter, wider object such as a fountain or statue.
Those who are proud of their lawn may want to highlight some of the beauty growing there. It’s understandable to want to showcase your gorgeous landscape. There are some issues with this mentality, though, the biggest being over-lighting still immature plants. Many fixture types can create hotspots around your landscape and can actually affect how those plants grow! Considering a light with lower lumens can come in handy in this situation. The other main mistake to remember is there’s no need to stick with only one type of fixture. Allow your creativity to flow a bit when choosing different fixtures to mix and match, creating an incredible light display.
How intense is the process of installation?
Some types of fixtures may not be too difficult for the average homeowner to figure out how to install on their property. However, most landscape lighting can be challenging to get just right and dangerous when dealing with electricity. The first step, as always, is to plan out where you want everything to go first. Then comes the process of laying out all the components, setting everything where they’re going to be installed. This is where the actual work begins; with some cables, you have to turn over the sod and put mini trenches (about 3 inches deep) where you plan on running the cable.
From here, the cables are going to be laid inside these small trenches – not forgetting to leave slack where each fixture will be so the connection can be made to the fixtures themselves. This step is often forgotten and will lead to frustration when it has to be redone correctly. Then the sod can be folded back over, with a slit where the fixture will go. The cable is then run to the outdoor electrical outlet, and the process of attaching those cables to the outlet begins; this is where it can get dangerous if not done just right. Then the fixtures are set back in place, the electrical connections made, and the sod smoothed out completely.
Is it better to leave this process up to the professionals?
As you can see, it’s not a quick in-and-out job to install most lighting fixtures around your home – there is a good deal of planning, experience, and labor that goes into it. Between the danger of working with any electricity and the process it takes to get it all looking good/working properly, it’s a big job. One that is consistently better left up to the people who can do it right and safely. There are plenty of hardworking folks who are skilled in this area, such as the ones at Custom Acres Lawn Service who can make your custom lighting dreams come to life!