Recessed lighting, ceiling fans, lanai and pool-deck circuits, dimmers and smart switches — rated for the position they are actually installed in.
Lighting is the work people put off longest and notice most once it is done. It is also the category where the gap between a proper installation and a fast one is invisible on day one and obvious two summers later — particularly outdoors, where the Florida climate finds every shortcut.
Most Lake Mary homes built in the 1990s got recessed cans in a couple of rooms and nowhere else. Retrofitting LED fittings into an existing ceiling with attic access above is straightforward and runs roughly $145 to $235 per light, with the per-unit price falling as the count rises. Vaulted ceilings and rooms with a second storey above cost more because the wiring is fished rather than dropped.
The details that matter: fittings rated for insulation contact where they sit under blown-in attic insulation, an airtight housing so you are not venting conditioned air into a Florida attic, and a colour temperature chosen once and kept consistent across the room. Mixed colour temperatures in one ceiling is the single most common thing we get called back to put right.
A fan swap where a proper fan-rated box already exists is typically $145 to $250. Putting a fan somewhere there has never been one — a bedroom with only a switched receptacle, a lanai with no ceiling fitting — means a fan-rated box fastened to structure, a circuit, and a switch, usually $350 to $650 depending on access.
The box is the part worth being fussy about. A ceiling fan puts a live, oscillating load into the ceiling that a standard plastic lighting box was never designed to carry. Outdoors it also has to be damp or wet rated for its position. A fan hung off the wrong box works fine until the day it does not.
Exterior lighting in Central Florida is a materials problem before it is an electrical one. Everything outdoors needs the right rating for its exposure, GFCI protection, and weatherproof in-use covers on receptacles. Around a pool there are clearance requirements governing what may be installed and how close to the water, and those get inspected.
Landscape and soffit lighting is quoted per run rather than per fixture, because the transformer, the cable run and the control matter more to the cost than the fittings themselves. We will tell you honestly when a low-voltage system is the better answer than line voltage.
If your LED lamps flicker, buzz or glow faintly when off, the dimmer is nearly always the culprit — it was built for an incandescent load that no longer exists in your ceiling. Smart switches add a second constraint: most need a neutral conductor at the switch box, and plenty of older Lake Mary boxes do not have one. We check before quoting, so you do not buy four smart dimmers that cannot be installed.
Flat and in writing, like everything else. For larger lighting jobs we walk the rooms, count the fittings, check the attic and the switch boxes, and hand you one number. If a run of new circuits is needed we will say so at that point, rather than discovering it halfway through. Where new circuits are involved the work is permitted through the City of Lake Mary and inspected — see the permit guide for what needs one.
Retrofitting LED recessed lights into an existing ceiling with an accessible attic above typically runs $145 to $235 per light, including the fitting, and less per unit as the count goes up. A six-light kitchen or living room is commonly $900 to $1,400 all in. The variables that move it are attic access, whether the ceiling is vaulted or has a second floor above it, whether a new switch leg has to be run, and the insulation contact rating. Cutting into a vaulted or two-storey ceiling costs more because the wiring has to be fished blind rather than dropped from above.
Yes, and this is the part worth getting right. A ceiling fan cannot hang from a standard lighting box — it needs a fan-rated box mechanically fastened to structure, because a spinning fan applies a load that a plastic light box is not built for. Adding a fan in a new location means the fan-rated box, a circuit run to it, and a switch, typically $350 to $650 depending on access. Swapping a fan for a fan where a proper box already exists is usually $145 to $250.
They do, and this is where a lot of Florida installations go wrong. Anything under a covered lanai needs to be damp-rated at minimum; anything exposed to blown rain needs to be wet-rated. Outdoor receptacles need GFCI protection and a weatherproof in-use cover, not the old flip-lid. Near a pool there are also clearance rules governing how close a fixture, fan or receptacle may be to the water, and those are not suggestions. Fixtures rated for a dry indoor room fail fast here — humidity and salt air get into the terminations long before the fixture looks bad.
Almost always a dimmer mismatch. Old dimmers were designed for the resistive load of an incandescent filament and expect a minimum draw that a modern LED never reaches. The result is flicker at low settings, an audible buzz, or a lamp that glows faintly when it is supposedly off. The fix is usually a compatible LED dimmer and, occasionally, a neutral run to the switch box — many smart dimmers require one, and a fair number of older Lake Mary switch boxes do not have it.
Replacing an existing fixture with a new one is maintenance and does not need a permit. Adding new circuits, new switch legs or new outdoor circuits generally does require an electrical permit from the City of Lake Mary. Pool and spa area work is treated seriously and inspected carefully. If your job needs a permit, we pull it under our licence and tell you up front, rather than deciding it is easier not to.
Ready to get a number? Call (407) 974-3766 for a free written quote, or run the instant estimate tool first if you would rather see a range before you talk to anyone.
