A Sign Scene Worthy Of Music City.
Nashville is opening new storefronts faster than almost any city in the South — and every one of them needs a sign. Our prepared DIY LED sign kits ship to Music City and its whole boomtown ring, cut to your size with LEDs mounted inside the frame.
In a town built on neon, a dark storefront is invisible. The DIY route gets you the glow without the boomtown markup: you assemble and hang the kit, and depending on the project you can save up to 60% versus full retail.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Nashville And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, Smyrna, Lebanon, Gallatin and up the corridor to Clarksville — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Nashville's most famous street is lit cabinet after lit cabinet. Yours doesn't need a record deal — just a welded aluminum frame, bright LED lighting, and a face that says your name. We build the first two; our DIY Graphics page can handle the third.
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 Nashville 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 Nashville 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 Nashville 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 Nashville
Getting it here is not the hard part. Roughly 95% of kits go FedEx Ground, in boxes, on the route that already serves your address — which in Nashville means no semi trying to sit on lower Broadway or squeeze into a Germantown alley at eleven in the morning.
What shows up. The kit arrives as long boxes: four welded frame sections with the LEDs already mounted inside, six if splice joints are needed on a bigger cabinet, cut so each package stays within ground shipping limits. The power supply and the mounting hardware are boxed in with the sections rather than shipped on their own.
Delivery day. In a city building out this fast, the thing to sort out is simply who signs for it. Plenty of Nashville suites are still under build-out when the sign gets ordered, and boxes at an empty storefront are a bad idea. Send them to your house or your contractor's shop and move them on install day — one person can.
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. Middle Tennessee heat and humidity do not touch the aluminum. The LEDs and power supply are in the same cartons though, so keep the boxes indoors rather than under a stairwell through an afternoon thunderstorm.
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 Nashville that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Nashville and Davidson County are a consolidated government, so Metro Codes and Building Safety is the counter for most of the city — a genuine simplification compared with most metros. But Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, Smyrna and Gallatin are separate cities with their own sign codes, and the boom ring is where most new storefronts are. 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
Tennessee enforces a statewide building code locally, and a freestanding or pole sign commonly needs a footing design and drawings sealed by a Tennessee-licensed engineer. An illuminated sign generally needs an electrical permit alongside the sign permit. Historic and downtown overlay districts add design review on top of the size limits. 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 Nashville 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 Nashville 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 Nashville
| 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 Nashville Businesses
My storefront is brand new construction — when should I order?
As soon as you know your sign size and your landlord's or city's rules. Kits are prepared to order, so getting the quote moving early keeps your opening date safe.
What comes in the kit?
A frame cut to your size with LEDs mounted inside, plus a 12-volt power supply and wiring hardware as listed in your written quote. Faces and graphics are separate.
Do I need a permit for a lighted sign in Nashville?
Assume yes. Inside Nashville-Davidson County, sign permits go through Metro Codes and Building Safety; in Franklin, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville or Smyrna you are dealing with a separate city with its own rules. Downtown and historic overlay districts can add design review on top of the size limit, so get your approved number in writing before the cabinet is cut.
Who should do the electrical hookup?
Leave it to a licensed electrician. An owner or a general contractor can handle the frame and the mounting without any trouble, and that is the DIY half of this. The hookup is licensed, inspected work and these kits are not UL listed, so the last connection is not a DIY step.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Nashville?
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 Nashville?
No — we are not a Nashville 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 Nashville?
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 Nashville 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 Nashville, TN
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.