Landscape Maintenance

Maintenance is the best prevention

Maximizing customer satisfaction and ensuring long-term system performance are key priorities for any lighting professional. That’s why it is a good idea to offer your clients a maintenance contract when you install each system. This allows you to walk the property once or twice annually to check for lamps that are out, clean dirty fixtures or reset fixtures that need realigned.

Don’t forget to maintain the transformer by inspecting and tightening terminal block screws– ensuring no copper is visible on the wires. Wires can become loose over time as they go through thermal contraction, which is the process of heating up and expanding, then contracting when they cool. Wire can also become damaged or chewed by pests. If that happens be sure to replace the wire.

Here are some of our most helpful maintenance tips:

Maintenance Tips

• A soft paintbrush can help remove any debris from the lens

• Well lights are particularly prone to having debris such as leaves settling on the lens or in the well

• On older products, you may need to check and replace the gaskets

  • Dry gaskets do not do their intended job of protecting from water or dust ingress, and if they aren't replaced can shorten the fixture life

  • Be sure to properly fasten the bolts down to ensure there is even pressure across the lens

• Path and spread lights may heave over time with the freezing and thawing of the ground, if they get hit by lawn crews or kids – be sure to adjust them from the base, not the shade as the shade can easily bend

• Accent and spotlights may require repositioning (moving to a slightly different location) and re-aiming (by adjusting where the fixture is pointing) as the landscape grows over time

  • If you need to carefully trim foliage that is blocking a beam spread, be sure to consult the homeowner first – you don’t want to risk trimming a prized or sentimental plant. And be sure to sanitize your pruner

• Use a good quality calcium, rust and lime cleaner or stain remover can remove dirt and calcium deposits from hard water. Clean lenses with a shower, tub and tile cleaner and use Rainx(R) to polish lenses

• Drop-in systems should be re-lamped when at 80% of the average lamp life to avoid outages and emergency calls

• It’s also a good idea to keep a maintenance log of each property to assist in future troubleshooting

Maintenance is one of the most powerful tools for both client satisfaction and client referral. It provides your homeowners peace of mind and helps you get in front of any emergency troubleshooting calls. Check out our helpful step-by-step guide to troubleshooting a landscape lighting system here.