Decking Package With Lighting

Produced by Hanley Wood Strategic Marketing Services, sponsored by Trex.

In Shreveport, La., where a deck or patio is often a home's primary party room, remodeler Jeb Breithaupt uses this logic to convince homeowners to incorporate lighting into their new decks: "A lighted patio will invite your friends to stick around after dark," the owner of JEB Design/Build advises clients.

Still, landscape lighting designer Craig Collins says most homeowners figure they can rely on a porch light or security floodlight they already have to illuminate their decks. "They have to be educated," says Collins, owner of Landscape Lighting Designers Plus in Rockville, Md. "If they're going to try to light the entire area with a single light, it's going to have to be high wattage and energy-inefficient. It's going to be glaring."

Here are 10 tips for creating well-lit decks:

1. Outdoor lighting is more than practical and beautiful; it's code. Local codes that require lighting on decks vary widely from city to city, so it's important for builders to check local building codes to learn what's mandated. Many jurisdictions enforce an IRC requirement to light stairways on decks. Municipalities have interpreted that to mean anything from hanging a single bulb over top of a staircase to installing recessed fixtures in the risers.

2. Create a light plan for the deck the same way you would create one for the interior of a home.

3. It's a lot easier to install wiring in a deck when it can be hidden under the floor and inside railing posts during the building process than to add it after the fact. Let homeowners know that including the lights in pre-construction plans will save them from settling for exposed wires and from paying to add outdoor outlets later if they buy their lights after-market and install them on their own.

4. Placement of lights should be strategic. Some lights are just for show-like uplights that illuminate the leafy canopy of a towering oak that shades the deck. But most are more practical.

Collins stresses the importance of placing lights along stairways and at steps between every level of the deck. Deck lights are important for safety and for illuminating cooking and eating areas. Lights around the perimeter of the deck can be recessed in the deck boards or perched atop railing posts, and will prevent tripping hazards.

5. Homeowners tend to try to save money on deck lighting, even though it's fairly inexpensive. So even if a property owner asks for minimal lighting-on every other post, for example-the wise deck builder will have all of the posts wired, just in case a client has a change of heart later. This forward thinking could lead to future business for the deck builder with appreciative customers.

6. An installer can hide light fixtures so they're not visible during the day. Still, homeowners who choose decorative light fixtures might want to show them off even when they're not illuminated. Be prepared to offer clients a range of traditional and contemporary fixtures options, from lanterns to fiber-optic lights that are drilled into the deck floor so they twinkle like stars at night and are safe to walk on.

7. Expensive decks call for high-quality lights. Educate clients about the difference between the low-quality products available at the big box stores and more permanent fixtures-complete with warranties of at least one year-that you can offer to supply and install.

8. Consider consulting a lighting designer. Collins says remodelers understand the need for safety and task lighting, but a design pro brings a creative lighting layout to the planning process. Plus, he notes, landscape lighting specialists are trained to position lights to make the space feel comfortable: not too bright, not too dark, and nothing that will glare into the eyes of party guests.

9. Most deck lights are energy-efficient, so pitch that as a benefit. Most low-voltage deck lighting fixtures use incandescent lights. Solar lights require no wiring, and their batteries last about three years. Long-lasting LEDs last for 10 years or more.

10. Deck lights can raise the resale value of a home. A lighted deck can make a stunning impression on a potential home buyer who visits the house after dark. A well-designed layout will include recessed deck lights, deck post caps for the top of the railing posts, deck post lights embedded into the sides of the posts, flexible, moveable fixtures around the outdoor kitchen or grilling area, and hanging lanterns if the deck is covered.-Sharon O'Malley