Downtown And Highway Are Different Jobs.
Easton sits at the point where the Lehigh runs into the Delaware, with Phillipsburg on the far bank and Route 22 pulling traffic across the top of town. Between the businesses around Centre Square, the College Hill blocks and the newer commercial development spreading into Palmer and Forks, there is a lot of small business packed into a small footprint. We ship prepared DIY LED sign kits to all of it.
The lighting is already mounted inside the welded aluminum sections before anything leaves our shop. You bolt the frame together, hang it, and hire out only the electrical connection. Depending on the project that is up to 60% off what a full-service sign company would charge to do the same work.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Easton And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Wilson, Palmer Township, Forks Township, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Phillipsburg and the Route 22 corridor — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Easton makes you choose. A storefront on a downtown block gets read on foot from thirty feet; a cabinet out toward 22 gets read at highway speed. Same kit, very different size, and the size is welded in permanently. Downtown addresses may also fall under historic or design review, which can shape what you are allowed to hang and how it is lit. Find out what you are approved for, in writing, before we cut aluminum.
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 Easton 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 Easton 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 Easton 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 Easton
Easton is well inside normal parcel territory, and that is what makes this straightforward. Roughly 95% of our kits ship FedEx Ground rather than freight. Whether you are on a narrow downtown street where a tractor-trailer would be a genuine problem or out in a Palmer Township plaza with a wide open lot, the boxes arrive on the regular delivery van.
What shows up. Four long boxes on a standard cabinet, six when splice joints are needed to keep a longer frame inside ground shipping dimensions. Each section comes welded to your size with the LEDs already mounted inside. The power supply and the mounting hardware are packed in with the frame as quoted, so the entire kit lands in one delivery and nothing is left to follow along later.
Delivery day. Downtown Easton was not built for freight trucks, and plenty of the older buildings have no dock at all. None of that matters with ground delivery. No pallet, no liftgate, no appointment window blocking your morning. The boxes come off the van at the curb and one person carries them in, which is about the only realistic option on some of those blocks anyway.
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 handles the Lehigh Valley fine — it does not rust, and it does not care about the swing from January to August. The electronics are what need attention. Keep the boxes with the LED sections and the power supply indoors and dry until the day you install, and if you are working through winter, give the aluminum a chance to warm up before fitting the joints.
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 Easton that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Start with the City of Easton for a sign permit and zoning review, and expect a downtown address to involve historic or design review as well. Northampton County and PennDOT can enter the picture if your sign relates to a county or state road. Palmer, Forks and Wilson all administer their own ordinances, so a neighbor's approval means nothing at your address. 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
Pennsylvania has a statewide construction code, but enforcement is a local decision — some municipalities run their own inspections while others use a third-party agency or the state. Ask Easton which arrangement applies before you assume anything. Freestanding signs commonly need sealed drawings from a Pennsylvania-licensed engineer, and an illuminated sign generally needs a separate electrical permit. 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 Easton 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 an Easton 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 Easton
| 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 Easton Businesses
Is a downtown storefront sign smaller than a highway one?
Almost always, and not only because of code. A pedestrian reads a sign from across a sidewalk; a driver on 22 is reading it from several hundred feet out. Both are the same product from us, just different dimensions. Decide which audience the sign is actually for, get that size approved, and we weld the cabinet to it.
What if my building is in a historic district?
Then plan on extra review and a longer front end. Historic and design review boards commonly have opinions about size, placement, materials and how a sign is illuminated. We cannot tell you what Easton will approve, but we can build whatever you get approved. The order to work in is simple: ask first, get it in writing, then order the cabinet.
Do I need a permit for a lighted sign in Easton?
Assume yes. The city handles sign permits and zoning, and an illuminated sign commonly requires an electrical permit on top of the sign permit. Downtown addresses may also need historic or design review, and a freestanding sign can bring engineering requirements with it. Get your approved dimensions in writing first, because the cabinet is welded to that size and cannot be altered afterward.
Who should do the electrical hookup?
That one goes to a licensed electrician. Our kits are not UL listed, and connecting a lighted sign is inspected electrical work. Everything before the wire is yours to do — assembling the sections, mounting the cabinet, setting the faces. Line up the electrician when you line up the permit so you are not sitting on a finished sign waiting for a callback.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Easton?
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 Easton?
No — we are not an Easton 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 Easton?
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 Easton 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 Easton, PA
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.