One Address, One Building Department.
Denver is its own county. The city and the county are one government, which is not how most of the country works, and it matters the day you go looking for a sign permit because there is no separate county office to chase down. Our prepared DIY LED sign kits ship into all of it, from Colfax storefronts to the industrial blocks off I-70, with the lighting already mounted inside the frame.
Denver rent has not gotten cheaper, and a full-service sign job stacked on top of it adds up fast. We weld the aluminum cabinet to the size you give us, mount the LEDs inside, and ship it in sections. You bolt it together, hang it, and keep up to 60% depending on your project.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Denver And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Englewood, Glendale, Commerce City, Westminster and Thornton — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Most cities make you work out whether you are inside the limits or out in the county. Denver does not have that problem, because the city and the county are the same government — a Denver address means one set of rules and one counter. That does not make the sign code simple, and a lit cabinet on a Colfax frontage reads differently to a planner than one tucked onto a side street. Confirm your local sign code first and get the approved size in writing, because we weld the cabinet to that number.
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 Denver 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 Denver 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 Denver 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 Denver
Denver sits where I-25 and I-70 cross, and most of what moves across the Rockies comes through here on a truck. That is exactly why we do not use freight. Roughly 95% of our kits ship FedEx Ground instead, so your boxes ride in on the same daily route that already serves a Baker storefront or a shop off Federal Boulevard. Nothing to schedule, nothing to arrange with a terminal.
What shows up. A standard cabinet goes out as four long boxes. Larger kits go to six, with splice joints placed on purpose so the package dimensions stay inside ground shipping limits. The welded sections arrive cut to your size with the LEDs already mounted in them, and the power supply and mounting hardware are packed in the same boxes — one delivery, not a frame now and a parts crate later.
Delivery day. Plenty of Denver's older commercial buildings never had a dock, and the ones along Broadway or Colfax have street parking out front and an alley behind. None of that matters here. No liftgate, no pallet to break down, no four-hour window to sit through. One person can carry the boxes inside between customers and get back to work.
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. Aluminum does not rust, and it does not care about a Denver January or a July afternoon at this elevation. The sun is a different story for cardboard and electronics — UV comes in harder a mile up than it does at sea level. Keep the boxes indoors until install day so the LEDs and the power supply sit out of the sun and out of the temperature swing.
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 Denver that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Start with the City and County of Denver. One government handles zoning and building review for every Denver address, so there is no county office to call separately. Step over the line into Lakewood, Glendale, Englewood or Commerce City and you are in a different jurisdiction running its own sign code, so check which side of the boundary your building actually sits on. 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
Denver enforces its own amendments to the building code, and a freestanding or pole sign here generally needs drawings and a footing detail stamped by a Colorado-licensed engineer, with wind and snow load addressed. An illuminated cabinet commonly needs a separate electrical permit alongside the sign permit. Assume both apply until someone at the counter tells you otherwise. 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 Denver 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 Denver 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 Denver
| 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 Denver Businesses
Denver is a city and a county — does that change my paperwork?
It usually simplifies it. One government handles zoning and building for Denver addresses, so you are not bounced between a city counter and a county counter the way you would be in most metros. What it does not change is the review itself. Confirm the sign standards for your zone, get the approved size in writing, and order after that.
Do the faces and graphics come with the kit?
No. The standard kit is the welded aluminum cabinet, the LEDs mounted inside it, the power supply as quoted and the mounting hardware. Faces and printed graphics are a separate product on our DIY Graphics page. Plenty of people order the cabinet first and sort the artwork while it is being built — just budget for both from the start.
Do I need a permit for a lit sign in Denver?
Assume yes. Sign permits for Denver addresses generally go through the City and County of Denver, and an illuminated cabinet commonly needs a separate electrical permit alongside it. Historic districts and some overlay zones add another layer of review on top. Ask before you buy, because the cabinet is welded to one exact size and the approved dimensions are the ones you want us building to.
Who should do the electrical hookup?
A licensed electrician, every time. You can do the rest — square up the sections, bolt them, mount the cabinet, set the faces. The final connection is permitted and inspected work, and these kits are not UL listed, so an electrician belongs in the plan from the start rather than found on a Friday afternoon once everything else is done.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Denver?
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 Denver?
No — we are not a Denver 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 Denver?
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 Denver 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 Denver, CO
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.