The Orlando That Pays Rent.
There are two Orlandos. One is the one visitors see. The other is the one that actually rents you your space — Mills 50, College Park, Curry Ford, Colonialtown, the shops along Orange Blossom Trail and the medical build-out out toward Lake Nona. Our prepared DIY LED sign kits ship to that second Orlando, with the lighting already mounted inside the frame.
Neighborhood business here lives or dies on being noticed by a commuter who takes the same route every single day. A lit cabinet does that job without you paying a full-service crew for the privilege. We weld the aluminum to your dimensions, ship it in sections, and you keep up to 60% depending on your project.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Orlando And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Winter Park, Maitland, Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Altamonte Springs and Lake Nona — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Real commercial traffic here runs on 408, 417, I-4 and the surface roads feeding all three, and those roads stay busy well after the sun is down. A sign that goes dark at six is invisible for half the drive-by you already paid rent for. Lit aluminum fixes that for the cost of the power. The City of Orlando and Orange County both set sign rules, so confirm which one applies to you and get the approved size in writing first.
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 Orlando 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 Orlando 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 Orlando 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 Orlando
Orlando addresses are easy to ship to because nothing has to be arranged. Roughly 95% of our kits go FedEx Ground instead of freight, riding routes that already serve every strip center and office park inside the beltway. No terminal, no dock hours, no appointment. The kit arrives the way your other packages arrive, which is the whole reason the frame gets cut into sections.
What shows up. You get four long boxes for a standard cabinet, or six when splice joints are needed to keep a longer frame within ground shipping limits. The welded sections come cut to your size with the LEDs already fitted inside, and the power supply and mounting hardware ship in the same boxes as quoted. There is no separate crate and no second tracking number to keep an eye on.
Delivery day. No liftgate, no pallet jack, no four-hour delivery window. Anyone running a shop on a two-lane commercial street in Orlando knows exactly what a freight truck does to the parking out front. This is one person carrying boxes in. You can take the delivery on a busy Friday and not lose a customer over it.
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 heat and humidity here without rusting, which is why the cabinet is built from it. The LEDs and the power supply are packed in with the frame, though, and those want to be inside. Given how reliably central Florida produces an afternoon thunderstorm from June into September, get the boxes indoors the day they land.
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 Orlando that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Whether you deal with the City of Orlando or Orange County comes down to your address, and the city limits here weave in and out in a way that surprises people. Start by confirming which one you are actually in. If you turn out to be in Winter Park, Maitland, Apopka or Ocoee, those cities run their own sign 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
Wind load is part of the Florida code, and a pole, pylon or monument sign in the Orlando area commonly needs engineered drawings and a footing design sealed by a Florida-licensed engineer before anyone issues anything. Illumination usually pulls in an electrical permit handled separately from the sign permit. Verify both with your reviewing office. 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 Orlando 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 Orlando 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 Orlando
| 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.
DIY LED Sign Kit vs. Custom Neon Sign
If you need a storefront or roadside sign that identifies your business day and night, an illuminated LED sign cabinet is usually the right tool. If you want decorative wall art for an interior space, a custom neon-style sign is. Many companies offering “LED signs” in Orlando specialize in decorative neon-style pieces — great for décor, but not a substitute for an exterior business sign cabinet built for weather and visibility.
A DIY Sign Guy kit is a pre-lit LED sign cabinet cut to your size and shipped to you — you or your contractor mount and wire it, and we coach you through the process. Faces and graphics are handled per the specific product listing. Exterior signs in Orlando may require a sign permit, and wiring is a job for a licensed electrician — check the City of Orlando’s sign-permit requirements before ordering.
Straight Answers For Orlando Businesses
How is this actually cheaper than hiring a sign company?
You are not paying for a bucket truck, a two-man install crew or a service call. We do the part that needs a shop — cutting and welding the aluminum cabinet to your size and mounting the LEDs inside it. You do the bolting and the hanging. That split is where the up to 60% comes from, depending on your project.
What do I need to have decided before I request a quote?
Your size first, and specifically the approved size in writing, because the cabinet is welded to it. Then whether you want single-sided or double-sided, since the same frame supports either. Then roughly where it is going: wall, monument base or pole. Faces and graphics are ordered separately. That is enough for us to quote from.
Do I need a permit for a lighted sign in Orlando?
Assume so. Sign permits go through the City of Orlando for addresses inside the city and Orange County for unincorporated areas, and Orlando's boundaries are irregular enough that this is worth confirming rather than guessing. An illuminated cabinet generally requires an electrical permit as well, and freestanding signs commonly require sealed engineering. Settle the approved size before ordering.
Do you connect the power, or do I?
Neither — a licensed electrician does. These kits are not UL listed, so the connection is permitted and inspected work, not a DIY step. Your side of the line ends at a mounted, squared cabinet with the faces in. Their side starts at the circuit. Get an electrician scheduled around the time you start the permit, not after the sign is hanging.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Orlando?
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 Orlando?
No — we are not an Orlando 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 Orlando?
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 Orlando 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 Orlando, 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.