Eight Bays. One Sign That Reads.
Largo sits in the middle of Pinellas County with water on both sides and not much room in between. Ulmerton Road and US 19 carry the traffic, and almost everything commercial here is a plaza, an outparcel or a converted storefront on one of them. Our prepared DIY LED sign kits ship to any of those addresses with the LEDs already mounted inside the frame sections.
Space is the constraint in mid-Pinellas, not ambition. When your storefront is one bay in a row of eight, the sign is the only thing separating you from the other seven. We weld the cabinet to your size, ship it in sections you can carry, and you keep up to 60% depending on your project.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Largo And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Seminole, Pinellas Park, Belleair, Belleair Bluffs, Indian Rocks Beach, Clearwater and St. Petersburg — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Mid-Pinellas is built out. New commercial space here usually means somebody re-tenanting an existing plaza, so the signs on either side of you went up years apart by whoever was cheapest that year. A clean lit cabinet at the right size reads first on a strip like that, and it keeps reading at seven in the evening. Check what your center's sign criteria allow, then get the approved size in writing before we cut the frame.
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 Largo 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 Largo 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 Largo 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 Largo
Nothing about a Largo delivery needs arranging. Roughly 95% of our kits move FedEx Ground rather than freight, and the ground truck already runs the plazas off Ulmerton and East Bay every day. That matters more in a tight center than an open lot, because a freight truck parked in a shared parking row is somebody's problem before it is even unloaded.
What shows up. Four long boxes cover a standard cabinet. Six is the number when splice joints are needed to keep a bigger frame inside ground limits. Every section is welded to your dimensions with the LEDs already set inside, and the power supply and mounting hardware are packed in alongside them as quoted. It is one delivery. There is no parts crate showing up a week later.
Delivery day. No pallet to break down, no liftgate charge, no four-hour window to babysit. In a mid-Pinellas plaza that is the difference between taking a delivery and losing a parking bay through lunch. One person can move the boxes off the walk and into the back, and the install happens when your schedule says it does.
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. Gulf-side humidity and salt air are hard on steel. Aluminum does not rust, which is a good part of why the cabinet is built out of it. The electronics are the part to protect — keep the LED sections and the power supply indoors and dry until install day, especially through a summer stretch when the afternoon storm shows up on schedule.
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 Largo that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Sign permitting in Largo runs through the city if your address is inside the city limits, and through Pinellas County if it falls in one of the unincorporated pockets — and mid-Pinellas has plenty of those, sometimes on the opposite side of the same road. Seminole, Pinellas Park and Belleair each run their own codes. 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
Expect wind load to come up. Florida's code drives it, and a freestanding or monument sign on this coast commonly needs drawings and a foundation detail sealed by a Florida-licensed engineer. Wall-mounted work is usually simpler but still permitted. Because the cabinet is illuminated, plan on a separate electrical permit as well. 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 Largo 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 Largo 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 Largo
| 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 Largo Businesses
Our plaza has sign criteria from the landlord. Does that change anything?
Only in that it decides your size, and sometimes your style, before the city ever does. Center sign criteria are often stricter than the code, and the landlord's approval usually has to come first. Send us the approved dimensions once you have them in writing — the cabinet is welded to that number, so a revision after fabrication means a new cabinet.
Can one person really handle the boxes?
Yes. That is the reason the frame is cut into sections in the first place. Each box is long rather than heavy, and the weight is spread across four of them, or six on a larger kit with splice joints. No pallet, no dock, no liftgate. Two people make the mounting easier, but nobody needs a forklift to get the kit inside.
Do I need a permit for a lighted sign in Largo?
Assume yes, and confirm which authority you are under before you do anything else. The City of Largo handles addresses inside the city limits and Pinellas County handles unincorporated areas, and the boundary around here is not intuitive. An illuminated sign generally needs an electrical permit in addition to the sign permit, and freestanding signs commonly require sealed engineering. Get the approved size in writing first.
Who wires it up once the cabinet is mounted?
A licensed electrician. These kits are not UL listed, so the hookup is permitted, inspected work rather than something to hand to a handyman. You get the sections bolted square, the cabinet mounted and the faces set. The electrician brings the circuit to it and handles the disconnect. Line that trade up early so the sign is not sitting dark for a month.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Largo?
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 Largo?
No — we are not a Largo 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 Largo?
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 Largo 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 Largo, FL
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.