The word is free
Nobody advertises a generic plan. The word has been used until it is empty. The test is not what they say. It is whether anything was drawn before the number appeared.That is the whole distinction, and it is worth holding onto while you compare quotes. A package starts with a number and works backward. A design is a plan for your property that arrives at a price. Both are legitimate ways to sell. Only one of them answers to your building, and you deserve to know which you have.
The contents of a real plan
A plan describes your house. It names the exact runs and the exact features, rather than describing the front of the house in general terms. It says what the standard white is. It says where the controller mounts and how the wiring runs. And it says what is deliberately being left dark.
Order of operations
You cannot compare two numbers without knowing what each one includes. The cheaper number is often the one covering less, which only becomes clear at night after the install. When the design comes first, you are comparing the same work. When the price comes first, the design gets shaped to fit the number,
https://evercrestlighting.com/about/ quietly.Once the plan is written down, you can compare the finished work to it, which is the whole point of having it.
Your part in the design
Expect questions, not just told things. Where do you walk after dark. Do you use the back yard in the evening. Are you buying December or every night. Do you host. The way you use the property matters as much as the shape of the house, and nobody can guess it.
Where a plan earns its keep
Most properties need more than one kind of lighting. Bought separately over several years, they end up mismatched: inconsistent color, uneven brightness, no hierarchy. One plan, installed over time if necessary, still ends up coherent.
You are allowed to say no to part of it
The first plan is a draft. You can take runs out without needing a reason beyond not wanting it. If it comes back to you unchanged, with no room to adjust, that tells you something. The answer should be that revisions are expected.
Ask for a copy
Ask to be sent the plan, and hold onto it. It is useful years later for reasons you cannot predict now. The design is part of what you bought.
Getting a design drawn
It starts on site, which is the only place the useful questions can be answered. EverCrest Lighting does custom outdoor lighting design and installation covering permanent roofline systems, landscape, accent, patio and security lighting for residential and commercial properties across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, from Greenville. Consultations are free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].