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Any recommendations for a company or individual that installs aisle step lighting in the Detroit, Michigan area? I'm going to have a local company tear out and install new carpet. I'll be purchasing new step lighting for one of our auditoriums that will need installation.
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I had step lighting installed in balcony when I worked at Mercyhurst, years ago.
The original lights were just those plastic "tube lights" that some places put around the edges of signs and marquees. They looked tacky and, after years of abuse, were falling apart. They didn't really light the steps very well, anyhow. I was afraid that somebody was going to fall down the stairs in the dark but management wouldn't listen...until somebody DID fall down. They didn't get seriously hurt. Just a twisted ankle. That was enough to FINALLY trigger a solution.
We went through the same process as you, trying to find somebody to install.
If the step lighting that you're looking at has anything similar to the lights we installed, you probably don't need a specialist installer. Any good, professional carpet installer can probably do the job.
The carpets are going to be stripped and the old lighting torn out. Right? The new steps are likely going to be have a "bull nose" strip that goes over the leading edge of the steps. Right? After that, the carpet gets laid flush. Probably, there will be a channel for the carpet to tuck into, as well. Well, that's pretty much the same as the usual bull nose that would normally get installed. Anybody who knows how to lay commercial grade carpet on stairs should be able to do it.
The lights, themselves, snap down into a channel along the front edge. You can pull the wires for each step back to "home base" where the switches and transformers will be. Any decent electrician should be able to do that.
We called several places, asking about getting our step lights installed and they all threw up their hands. We had a product sample to look at and I showed it to one guy. Even though he thought he couldn't do it, once he saw the sample, he said, "Oh! That's easy! I can do that!"
We had the University's regular carpeting/flooring contractor do the physical install and the electrician from the University's maintenance department did the rest.
As far as I know, those lights are still there and working... Twenty years later!
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Thank you Randy. I like your logic and will proceed down the path you suggested. Much appreciated.Comment
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Just do your homework. If you can, get a product sample and installation instructions in advance. Show them to your prospective contractor(s) and get all the details worked out in advance.
Honestly, it wasn’t as bad a job as I first thought because we got all the details battened down before we started.Comment
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I'll second what Randy said... Every job I was involved in the carpet guys did the step lighting.Comment
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Thank you Randy and Mark.Comment
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