New Rooftops Need New Signs.
Delaware County has spent years at the top of Ohio's growth charts — new neighborhoods, new strip centers, new small businesses from the city of Delaware down through the US-23 corridor. Our prepared DIY LED sign kits ship to all of it, welded to your size with the lighting inside.
Growth towns are where a lighted sign pays off fastest: new customers drive past every day who don't know you exist yet. A pre-lit aluminum cabinet kit gets your name glowing for a fraction of full-service retail — you install, you save.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Delaware And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Lewis Center, Powell, Sunbury, Westerville's north side, Galena and Ostrander — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Every new subdivision brings a wave of dentists, restaurants, gyms and shops to serve it. The businesses that light up first get found first. We prepare the kit — frame, LEDs, power supply as quoted — and honest guidance from a real sign builder comes with it.
Call it what you like — an illuminated cabinet sign, a light box sign, or an outdoor lighted sign box — it’s the same product: an aluminum LED sign cabinet, built in our shop and shipped to your door as a ready-to-assemble kit.
Every prepared kit includes: an aluminum frame cut to your size with welded corners, LEDs mounted inside, and a 12-volt power supply with wiring hardware as listed in your written quote. Sign faces and graphics are available separately through DIY Graphics.
Programmable LED Message Center Signs
A lot of Delaware owners shopping for a lighted sign are really after the changeable kind — a programmable LED sign that shows something different tomorrow than it does today. That product goes by a pile of different names: an electronic message center (EMC), an LED message board, an outdoor LED display, a scrolling LED sign or a digital marquee sign. They all describe the same thing — a grid of LEDs you update yourself from a phone, tablet or computer.
The usual setup on a Delaware storefront or roadside pole is both signs together: the lighted cabinet up top carrying your business name permanently, and the message center below it carrying today’s special, price, hours or announcement. One says who you are. The other says what is happening right now.
Check this before you order. Many towns around Delaware regulate electronic message centers separately from static signs, and limits on brightness, hold time, dwell time and animation are common. Confirm the rules with your local township or zoning office first — the same as you would for any freestanding sign. Easy financing available; ask about it when you request your written quote.
How Your Kit Gets To Delaware
This is where ground shipping quietly beats freight. Roughly 95% of kits go out FedEx Ground, and a ground route reaches a shop on a county road off US-23 or a new building out past Sunbury every day — a rural address a freight carrier would treat as an outlying delivery is just another stop.
What shows up. Long boxes rather than a banded pallet: four welded frame sections with the LEDs already mounted inside for a standard kit, six with splice joints for a longer cabinet, sized so nothing exceeds ground limits. The power supply and mounting hardware come in with them.
Delivery day. No appointment to set, no driver calling from the road, and no gravel drive a semi will not commit to. The boxes get left, and one person can move them.
Open the boxes the day they land. Look the sections over even if the cartons look perfect, and do it before install day rather than the morning of. Photograph anything crushed, torn or bent and keep the packaging exactly as it arrived — that is what a carrier claim is built on. Finding a problem the day a box shows up is a phone call; finding it with a crew standing on a ladder is a lost day.
Where to put it. Ohio winters mean the cartons belong inside. The aluminum could wait outdoors; the power supply and LED sections in the same boxes should not sit through freezing rain. Assemble in a heated garage or shop if you have one, and let cold parts warm up first.
Measure Twice. Order Once.
Your kit is cut to a size, welded, and pre-lit before it ships, so the size has to be right the first time. In Delaware that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Start with the City of Delaware if you are inside city limits, or Delaware County for the unincorporated townships — and the county is growing fast enough that plenty of new retail is in township land rather than in a city. Lewis Center, Powell, Sunbury and Galena each have their own rules to check. Ask for the maximum sign area and height for your zoning district, whether your sign counts as wall-mounted or freestanding, and what setback applies. Sign area is usually tied to your building frontage, so the answer is specific to your address — not to the block or to the business next door.
2. Ask your landlord
If you're in a plaza or center, the landlord's sign criteria sit on top of the city code and are often stricter. Cabinet depth, face color, letter height and mounting method are all commonly spelled out. Get the criteria sheet in writing before you pick a size — it is cheaper than rebuilding a cabinet that the center won't approve.
3. Ask about engineering and wiring
Because Ohio certifies local departments to enforce the state code, the office reviewing your drawings may be the city's or the county's depending on which side of the line you are on. Either way, a freestanding or pole sign typically needs sealed footing drawings from an Ohio-registered engineer and the lighting adds an electrical permit. Downtown Delaware's historic character can bring design review with it. Plan on a licensed electrician for the final hookup and inspection either way. We build the cabinet; the permit, the footing, the disconnect and the sign-off are local work done by local people.
DIY Kit vs. Hiring A Delaware Sign Company
The short answer: a full-service sign company sells a finished project — survey, fabrication, installation — and prices it that way. We are not a Delaware sign installation company. We build the lighted sign cabinet itself, ship it to your door, and coach you while you or your contractor handle the install. That one difference is where the savings come from.
| What happens | Full-Service Sign Company | DIY Sign Guy Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds the cabinet | They do | We do — cut to your size, LEDs mounted inside |
| Who installs it | Their crew | You, or a local contractor you hire |
| 4′ × 8′ lighted sign example* | $3,112 | $984 kit + your installation |
| Permits & inspections | Usually handled for you | You check with your township — we help plan a cabinet that fits the rules |
| Best fit | Complex installs, no time to coordinate | Owners and contractors comfortable with bolts, a level, and an electrician for hookup |
* Example comparison based on the specifications shown on our pricing page. Savings are potential, not guaranteed; prices subject to change.
Lighted business sign kit pricing shipped to Delaware
| Frame depth | Price per foot of frame length | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 4-inch — most popular | $41 per foot | Wall-mounted storefront signs |
| 7-inch | $47 per foot | Wall installs and double-pole signs |
| 10-inch | $67 per foot | Pylon and single-pole roadside signs |
Every kit is pre-lit with a 12-volt power supply included as quoted. Sign faces and graphics are separate. Prices subject to change without notice — get your written quote.
Straight Answers For Delaware Businesses
How big a sign can I get as a kit?
Standard kits ship in four sections; larger signs ship in six with splice joints. Tell us your size and mounting and we quote it in writing.
Is assembly really doable without experience?
Yes — bolt-together assembly with the LEDs already mounted. Many owners do it in a garage over a weekend, or hand it to their contractor.
Am I dealing with the city or the county in Delaware County?
It depends on your exact address, and it is worth confirming first. Inside the City of Delaware you go to the city; a lot of the county's new retail sits in unincorporated township land where Delaware County handles it instead, and Lewis Center, Powell, Sunbury and Galena add their own layers. Ask before you order — the cabinet is welded to the approved size.
Who should do the electrical hookup?
A licensed electrician. Bolting the cabinet together in your own garage and hauling it out to mount is genuinely straightforward — that is the part worth doing yourself. The hookup is licensed, inspected work and these kits are not UL listed, so book the trade for install day.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Delaware?
Less than most owners expect — because you skip the full-service labor. Our aluminum LED sign cabinet kits run $41 per foot of frame length in the 4-inch depth, $47 for 7-inch and $67 for 10-inch, pre-lit with the power supply included as quoted. As an example comparison, a 4' x 8' lighted sign quoted at $3,112 by a full-service company runs about $984 as a kit — savings are potential, not guaranteed. Sign faces and graphics are separate, prices are subject to change, and every kit is quoted in writing to your exact size.
Do you install signs in Delaware?
No — we are not a Delaware sign installation company, and that is exactly why the price works. We build and ship the lighted cabinet; you or a local contractor handle the mounting, with a qualified electrician for the electrical hookup. Real guidance from the builder comes with every kit, and your local township sets the permit and inspection rules.
Do you sell programmable LED message center signs in Delaware?
Yes. An LED message center — also called an electronic message center, an EMC, a programmable LED sign, an LED message board or a digital marquee — is an outdoor display built into a sign that you change yourself from a phone, tablet or computer. It ships to Delaware the same way our lighted cabinets do, and it is quoted in writing to your size. Many towns regulate message centers separately from static signs, so confirm brightness, hold time and animation rules with your local township before ordering. Easy financing available — ask when you request your quote.
What is the difference between a lighted cabinet sign and an LED message center?
A lighted cabinet sign shows one fixed printed face and lights it from behind — it carries your business name permanently. An LED message center shows changeable messages you update whenever you want. Most businesses run both on the same structure: the cabinet on top for the name and logo, the message center below it for today's special, price or hours.
What is an illuminated cabinet sign?
An illuminated cabinet sign — also called a light box sign — is an aluminum box with lighting inside and translucent faces: the classic lighted sign above a storefront. Ours ships as a prepared kit with the frame cut to your exact size, LEDs already mounted inside, and a 12-volt power supply included as quoted.
Answers by Dean, the DIY Sign Guy — building signs since 2004.
Get A Written Price For Delaware, OH
Tell me what you need and I’ll send you a straight, written quote — from the guy who actually builds it. No showroom visit, no pressure.