Landscape Lighting – Why Hire a Pro?

You’ve spent money and time on making your yard beautiful, so why just enjoy it in the daytime? Landscape lighting not only allows you to enjoy the outdoors in the evening, but it also can add value to your home, increase its safety and security, and just make your home inviting to your family and friends.
Some homeowners choose to install their own outdoor lighting and while doing this, you may save some money, but there are so many aspects that you may miss with DIY. Here are some pro’s to hiring a landscape lighting professional:

1. Are you an electrician?

If you are an electrician, than you would be more than qualified to install your own lighting system, but since most of us are not, do you really want to play around with electricity? Yes, you could install solar-powered lights, but honestly, you get what you pay for. While there are varying qualities of solar-powered fixtures, you are still at the mercy of the weather. In Ottawa, less than half of daylight hours are sunny, making it tricky for solar-powered outdoor lights to work at their full potential.  Aside from solar lights, your landscaping may be complex enough to warrant a lighting technique other than a dome light on a stake.

2. Lighting Techniques

A landscape lighting specialist can also be considered an artist, using various techniques to create ambiance and mood, with ideas that the typical homeowner may not be aware of. Outdoor lighting has gone far beyond a lamppost at the end of your driveway, or wall sconces on either side of your garage. Creativity can abound with techniques such as

1. Moon-lighting – lights are placed strategically in the branches of trees to mimic moonlight shining through. Depending on the angle, this can be used just to highlight the tree, or light a pathway
2. Architectural Light – various angles positions can create shadows highlighting stonework or a unique feature of your home
3. Step-lighting – embedding lights in the riser or on a wall beside steps, lighting a walkway
4. Water features – highlighting ponds, pools or waterfalls can be tricky since light displaces water uniquely. Lighting can be used above, below, or in the water

A professional will often also do a mock-up of their ideas, to ensure the customer is satisfied with the results before the work even starts. There’s nothing worse than wasting time and money by being unhappy with the results, or figuring out the lights don’t work properly or shine in the right direction after you’ve gotten everything installed.

3. Warranties and Maintenance

One of the best reasons to hire a professional outdoor lighting company is because they support their work. If something doesn’t seem to work properly, they will work until it does and often provide warranties beyond the light fixtures. Also, most landscape lighting pros offer maintenance packages to keep your lights shining brightly for years to come with no effort from you.
Remember, landscape lighting companies are “professionals” for a reason!