We’ve been in the business of designing, installing, servicing and repairing professional outdoor lighting in the Austin and Highland Lakes area of Texas for 10 years, and we’ve seen the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between. We have seen projects that were designed and installed very well by good companies, and we’ve seen installations where we just shake our heads while we try to fix the mess that was left behind. Our experience with repair and rejuvenation of poor installations has taught us who does what kind of work based on the products we see and the way they may have been installed.
We’ve long been advocates for the professionals who invest in becoming experts in their trades, and encourage our readers to do their own research and carefully weigh their options when hiring contractors for any major project. Of course, there are others working out there who may present themselves for a lighting project at your home that might not be your best choice. This is a list of a few of those folks that might be looking for your business.
I want to start out by saying that there are exceptions to every rule; so although I may name some general groups here, I’m certainly not saying that everyone in the category I describe fits into the typical profile. I happen to know some people who are those exceptions, and I’m sure I’ll hear from them as soon as they read this blog. Just remember friends, I’m not talking about you.
I’m going to make this list in a countdown format starting with the least likely candidates to the best options.
#5. Handyman: It’s great to be a Jack-of-all-trades and to be able to do a little of everything. I’ve always considered myself to be pretty handy around the house, but you won’t see me replacing my roof or my toilet. Why is that? Well, although I know a little about both of those things, I also know only enough to cause myself a lot of grief in the end because I’m surely going to mess something up. We all know these guys, and even have a few them in our families, and are happy to have them around for little things around the house occasionally. But the Handyman will likely go to the box store and install the really cheap lighting; and he’ll probably use the pierce-point connectors that come in those lighting kits which will, sadly, insure that this system fails pretty quickly. The problem is that these fine people just don’t know about the quality outdoor lighting products that are available in the professional outdoor lighting market. So it’s not that they want to do a bad job, they simply don’t know any better and I can’t find fault in that. All I can do is suggest that you avoid hiring the “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” handyman – particularly your brother-in-law the plumber, your daughter’s boyfriend the mechanic, or your neighbor the painter for this project.
#4. Electrician: First I must remind you that I’m a former electrician and can wire a house, set up and install a 400 amp service panel and other electrical tasks without any problems, so I’m coming at this one from experience. Electricians know how to get electricity from point A to point B. They know how to figure out the load needs of any electrical system. They can work on 120, 240, 480 three phase power and not get killed (hopefully). They can install your can lights in the kitchen specified by the architect. They are generally skilled, and well-trained black-and-white thinkers, knowing that if the light comes on when you flip the switch they have done the job. One thing electricians don’t study is lighting design. They don’t usually know how many lumens might be needed to properly accent a crape myrtle, or how many foot candles of light you need on your outdoor dining table. Lighting design is just not on the radar for these professionals. When you ask an electrician to put in some lighting for your landscape you may end up with some PAR holders (those flood lights with two heads that you see mounted on the corner of some homes) which may throw out a lot of light, but it will probably be over-kill and it’s pretty darn ugly.
#3. Irrigator: Irrigators are victims of salesmen selling outdoor lighting products by the manufacturers and preach the sermon of making money. They are out there putting pipe in ditches, and why not put some wire in those ditches and sell some lights while you’re there? And that’s exactly what these irrigators do. We find that they tend to use the same fixture for just about every application. They buy a box of lights and put them in without a design plan, and no thought as to what that fixture can produce or where the fixture should be located to appropriately serve the features of the landscape or home.
Once again, this is not their fault really, it’s just that they don’t know any better. The professional irrigation system designer should know how to size their pipe to maintain water pressure; they should know where to use rotor sprinklers and where to use misters. They will at least have some idea of what plants they are providing water for so they can place the sprinklers properly. But I can’t figure out where lighting design comes into play here. And most of the time, neither can the irrigation crew that installs those lights that got added to their job ticket as an extra income stream.
#2. Landscaper: Yes, there is a logical tie-in for landscapers and landscape lighting. The biggest benefit of using a landscaper for lighting is that they know plants. We find that this is truer with seasoned landscape designers who really understand plants and how they fill out over time. There are a lot of men and women planting landscapes who worked for a landscape expert for a short time, then decided to start their own landscaping company. But many don’t actually have the depth of plant knowledge that a more experienced and well-educated professional will possess.
The down side of using most landscapers for an outdoor lighting project is that, although they may know their plants, and they may even have an artistic eye for design, they usually don’t know very much about light. I would say that 90% of the lighting projects we see installed by landscaping professionals, including landscape architects, use a single fixture located in front of each specimen plant and that’s it. It’s usually the same fixture with the same light output whether they are illuminating an oak tree or a crape myrtle. While they know they want to highlight their work, they lack the understanding of how light interacts with materials, or what effects can be achieved using the right products in the right way. The reason for this is because lighting is an add-on item for them, just like the irrigator. Lighting was introduced to them at the irrigation supply house. I can’t fault them for wanting to increase their profits, and offering more services allows companies to expand. The problem lies in the fact that these landscape companies usually don’t bother to invest in their lighting education the same way they invested in their landscaping study. They might know what they want it to look like, but just can’t get there with such limited exposure to the lighting trade.
Most of these hard-working folks don’t learn how to maintain a lighting system; nor does the landscaping expert, electrician or irrigator desire to take on maintenance of the lighting system for the client. Remember that they are all in business, just not the lighting business. They can put some lights in the ground, but when it comes to troubleshooting a problem down the road, you may be disappointed.
#1. OUTDOOR lighting designer: Notice how I made sure to point out “outdoor.” The outdoors is a vast moving and growing ecosystem that is not controlled like the interior environment. We’re talking about very large spaces at times, not small to medium size rooms.
A good outdoor lighting designer knows the plants they are working with and how they will change over time. Are they accenting a fast growing red oak tree, or a slow growing live oak tree? Knowing this may influence the choice of fixtures used in the design. A well-educated landscape lighting designer knows which fixtures to use to accent a sego palm and which ones to use for a date palm — and no, they are not the same fixture at all!
The most important thing an outdoor lighting designer knows is how light fills a space. What beam spread is needed to accent a short wide plant compared to a tall skinny plant? How bright does that light need to be in contrast to the exterior lights of the home to accent that plant properly? Very often a reputable outdoor lighting design company will be a critical asset because they also know how to maintain and repair that lighting system over the lifespan of the products. We all know that everything needs some maintenance, and outdoor lighting is no exception. Now that LED has really taken over the lighting industry, we also need to know how to troubleshoot the electrical issues that might occur in the circuit boards with diodes; and if one fixture has a problem, it can effect several more fixtures in the system.
I hope this countdown of “who to hire” for your outdoor lighting project helps you to realize that although there are many working people available who can “put some lights in” for you, a certain level of expertise is required to get the project done beautifully and painlessly to keep you happy with your choice for the long haul.
If you have further questions, please contact us here and we’ll try to help.
I have one large live oak over my garage and thre others I would like to light up.but on a bugget.?