Landscape Lighting Assessment & Design in Solano, Napa & Sonoma County
A landscape lighting assessment is a walk of your yard at dusk, when you can see what goes dark, what glares and what deserves light. On a system already in the ground we also read the transformer’s load and test the far fixtures. Then it goes on paper: every fixture, every cable run and the transformer, priced.
Why walk it at dusk?
At dusk you see which path goes dark first, which light shines into a window or over the fence, and which tree is worth lighting. We look in daylight too, for where cable can run and where the transformer can mount by an outdoor outlet. Bring everyone who has a say in the yard.
…we always like to communicate to both spouses before starting a project!
Drag toward dusk.
What does a lighting assessment give you?
One sheet that follows the job: what the dusk walk found, the plan, and what was aimed after the install. Switch the layers on this sample back yard.
- F1 · TTransformer: the old halogen lamps draw more than it’s rated for.
- F2 · Stepping stonesDark, on the one route people walk at night.
- F3 · E4, E5Both tree uplights out: the connector at the splice has corroded.
- F4 · E6A fence spotlight shining into the next yard.
- F5 · E9Last bed light dimmer than the first: too long a run on one cable.
- F6 · TTimer on at 7 pm all year: before dark in June, long after it in December.
- P1–P4Four path lights along the stepping stones, staggered about 6 ft apart. The three on the patio edge come out.
- U1, U2, D1Two uplights on the tree from two sides; one downlight high in it, lighting the lawn.
- W1–W3Three wash lights on the back fence. The spotlight comes out. The side bed stays dark.
- Runs A, B, CTwo heavier cables out to hub boxes, then equal leads to each light; the path lights share one short run.
- TTransformer tested sound: it stays. Photocell on at dusk, timer off at the hour you pick.
- LateralsCable routed clear of the sprinkler lines. Irrigation
- AllSwitched on at dusk, every fixture checked lit.
- U1, U2, D1Uplights aimed at the trunk and first branches; the downlight through the canopy.
- W1–W3, P1–P4Even wash on the fence, no hot spots. Path lights level, light pooled on the stones.
- TOff hour set with you, then walked with you.
Sample plan drawn for this page, not a customer’s yard. Fixture types, beams and color: Landscape lighting.
Can the old transformer be reused?
If it’s sound and has room for the new lights.
We test it and check what it would carry against what it’s rated for, with room left to add lights later. LED draws far less than old halogen: on the sample yard below, the new LED lights draw 39 of the old transformer’s 150 watts. Far groups of lights get their own cable to a hub box, so the last light isn’t dim.
- Tree lights, run A
- Path lights, run B
- Fence lights, run C
- With room to add lights later
So the old transformer stays, with room for more lights later. What’s sound stays on the plan; what isn’t is priced to replace.
Why does the job finish after dark?
Because each fixture is aimed while it’s lit. After the install, the system comes on at dusk; each fixture is aimed at its target and set level, the photocell and timer are set, and you walk it with us before it’s finished.
Next: Low-voltage installation · Lights already failing: Maintenance & upgrades
The landscape lighting completely improved the look of the property at night
…completed the task exactly how I imagined it to be
Lighting assessment, before you call.
Nothing.
That covers the walk and the written quote. The plan separates repairs, upgrades and additions, each with its price, so you choose what gets done and when.
New fixtures follow Town limits; an LED swap is Windsor Planning’s call.
The Town limits how bright, what color and how late outdoor lights can run, and every new fixture on your plan is drawn to those limits. Before old fixtures are swapped to LED, we ask Windsor Planning whether your yard needs a lighting plan. Checked Oct 2026. We fix and install lighting across Sonoma County, and right now repairs are what we’re scheduling first there.
Walk the yard at dusk.
Tell us what you’d like lit, and what’s already there.
Call for a free quote(707) 329-8391
