City Electric Supply Land O’Lakes teamed up with A-Z Lighting to install lighting in a million-dollar home
DALLAS, TX – City Electric Supply in Land O’Lakes, Florida teamed up with A-Z Lighting to complete a custom lighting job in a million-dollar home with a backyard the size of an airport runway. And to make this project even more interesting, the homeowner requested outdoor tape lighting with dimming availability. But it wasn’t anything the team couldn’t handle.
“This was the first time we were doing tape lighting outdoors,” said CES Outside Sales Rep Jim Dahmer. “We had to be very particular — from the sizing and the connection to the switches and the dimming features. You don’t want one of the connections to get wet and shut off the lights, or else you’re going to have a hard replacement on your hands. Everything had to be exact.”
From getting the products to getting everything installed, it took Jim and Zach from A-Z Lighting around six months to get the job done perfectly. For a project of this kind, when you consider minor roofing issues, a complete halt of construction, and some delayed shipping during the spring when COVID-19 hit, half of a year sounds pretty quick.
“The biggest thing I learned is to always check the product when it comes in the door,” he said. “The track that the tape light lays in was half the size it was supposed to be. It was sitting on the shelf, and we were just waiting for the OK to go install it. An order got mixed up, and it took us about a week to get it corrected.”
And when it came time for the big reveal, Jim got another surprise — but this one was better. “When we went out there at night and the new homeowners saw their outdoor lighting, they had a huge smile on their face, saying that’s exactly what they wanted. You can’t ask for anything better than that,” Jim said. “Then, when Garrett said that he had three more he needed to do, that put a smile on my face.”
And while most of the jobs Jim and his team at CES get are commercial, he enjoys getting the big residential projects. “I like doing the bigger homes,” he said. “Most of my customers are commercial, but when I do any specialty residential jobs, they’re usually the larger, million-dollar homes. I have Kurt Garrett, a general contractor for large custom homes, to thank for that. He likes to come to me because I take the time and always find the best stuff.”
One thing is for sure, there aren’t too many people who can say they’ve worked on anything like this. A project like this one is one CES and A-Z Lighting will always remember.
City Electric Supply (CES) is a family-owned electrical wholesale distributor headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
