Transform your Centennial backyard with outdoor lighting

Good outdoor lighting does three things at once: it makes the yard usable after dark, it makes the house safer to walk up to, and it makes the whole property look finished. Most Centennial homes have almost none of it, usually just a builder-grade fixture by the front door and a flood on the garage. Here is how to think about doing it properly.

Start with the path and the steps

Path and step lighting is the highest-value lighting for safety, and it is the easiest to add. Low-voltage fixtures run on a 12-volt transformer, which means the wire does not need to be buried deep or run in conduit, so there is no trenching for power. A run of warm path lights along the front walk and down to the driveway changes how the house feels at night and it is a job we can usually do in a day.

Uplighting and the facade

A few well-aimed uplights on the corners of the house, a specimen tree, or a stone feature give the property depth after dark. The trick is restraint: two or three good fixtures aimed properly beat a dozen fighting each other. We plan uplighting on site at dusk, because you cannot judge aim and spread in daylight.

Security and motion

Motion floods are useful when they cover the right area and stop at the property line. The common problem is a flood that lights up the neighbour's bedroom or never worked in the first place. We re-aim, re-wire, or replace them so they do the job without the nuisance.

The holiday-light circuit

If you run an extension cord from a bathroom outlet through a cracked window every December, a dedicated weatherproof soffit or eave outlet on an inside switch solves that for good. Add a timer and the lights come on at dusk and off at bedtime without anyone touching anything. Book this one in early fall.

Built for the Front Range

Colorado weather is hard on outdoor wiring. Everything we install outside uses wet-rated fixtures, gasketed connections, and GFCI protection on every exterior circuit. Line-voltage runs get buried at the correct depth. Done right, it survives the freeze-thaw cycles and the summer hail. Done cheaply, it fails in a season.

Plan it before the concrete

If you are pouring a patio, building a deck, or adding a pergola, get the conduit and the boxes in before the finishes go on. Retrofitting lighting into a finished hardscape costs several times what it costs to rough it in first.

HOA note

Several Centennial-area communities have design review for exterior work. We site and spec the lighting to meet the guidelines; you handle the submission, or we can point you to what the association needs.

Ready to light the yard? Get a free estimate or call (303) 648-1934.