Instead of moving the party inside — or squinting at each other in the darkness until you’re forced to turn on the glaringly-bright porch lights — the deck suddenly lights up with soft, beautiful light. Your friends admire the cozy glow that turned on automatically, and everyone gets to stay outside and enjoy the warm summer night. Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? If we’ve inspired you to outfit your back deck with custom lighting, here’s what you need to know….
1. Measure the square footage of your deck.
If your deck is a simple rectangle, multiply the length by the width — that will give you the square footage. If it’s an unusual shape or has multiple sections, calculate their individual square footages and add them together for a total. We’ll be asking for this number when we chat about your lighting options.
2. Evaluate your lighting needs.
Lighting makes your deck more beautiful as the sun goes down, but it also makes it a safer place for your family and your guests. Deck lighting can illuminate stairways to prevent falls, and light up the perimeter of the deck to help people locate railings and benches. Think about how you’d like your finished deck to function with its new lights.
3. Choose your styles.
Now is the time to brainstorm what type of lights make sense for your deck. Do you want lights that tuck discreetly under a post cap and give off a warm downward glow? Would you prefer deck rail lights that attach to your posts and highlight the deck below? If stairway lighting is your primary concern, you’ll likely want durable stair riser lights that are meant to stand up to years of foot traffic — or maybe deck lights that are recessed into the deck boards like magical glowing dots?
4. Choose your colour(s).
You can customize your Trex lighting to match your deck exactly, for a seamless look, or choose a contrasting colour for added interest. Depending on the style of light, you may be able to choose from colours like charcoal black, classic white, fire pit (a rusty red), gravel path (a grey/green), rope swing (tan), treehouse (a warm copper), vintage lantern (a deep brown) or textured bronze.
No need to worry about choosing bulbs, because Trex has already figured out the perfect Kelvin temperature: a warm, white 3,000K for the ideal nighttime coziness (made even cozier with the optimal timer and dimmer).
5. Calculate the required transformers.
Trex.com has a great lighting calculator where you can fill in the specific lights you’ve chosen — including how many of each — and it will tell you the transformers required with 100 feet total wire length and 200 feet total wire length. They even break it down into telling you how many you’ll need whether you go with 30 WATT, 60 WATT, or 100 WATT.
6. Install your new lighting!
While some customers prefer to hire someone to install their new Trex lighting, it really is a snap to do on your own, if you enjoy a Saturday project. Thanks to the Trex LightHub® connection system, you don’t need any wiring or electrical skills.
We hope you enjoy your custom back deck lighting. If you have any questions during the process of choosing it and installing it, please do let us know — we’d be happy to help.