Your Zoning Decides Your Size.
Raleigh runs from the state government blocks downtown out through the Beltline to Capital Boulevard, Glenwood, and the newer commercial corridors pushing toward 540. The businesses in between are everything from a Five Points storefront to a service shop in an industrial park off New Bern Avenue. Our prepared DIY LED sign kits ship to all of them with the LEDs already mounted inside the frame.
A capital city with Research Triangle money in it has sign prices to match. We weld the aluminum cabinet to your dimensions and ship it in sections, so the labor is yours and the savings stay yours — up to 60% depending on your project.
The Lighted Sign Cabinet, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Raleigh And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Cary, Garner, Apex, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Morrisville, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Raleigh runs its development rules through a Unified Development Ordinance, and signs are in it. What that means in practice is that your allowed sign area, height and type are tied to the zoning district your parcel sits in, not to whatever the business next door happens to have hanging. Two shops on the same road can get different answers. So the order of operations matters here more than most places — find out what your zoning allows, get the approved size in writing, then we weld the cabinet to it.
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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh
Roughly 95% of our kits ship FedEx Ground rather than by freight, and the Triangle is thick with daily ground routes. Whether the address is a Capital Boulevard storefront, a suite in a Six Forks office building or a bay in an industrial park off 440, the truck that brings your other packages brings the sign. No terminal, no freight quote, no bill of lading to sign.
What shows up. The cabinet arrives as four long boxes, or six when splice joints are needed to keep a longer frame inside ground shipping limits. Sections are welded to your size with the LEDs already mounted inside them. The power supply and the mounting hardware are packed in with the frame rather than shipped behind it. One delivery covers the whole kit — nothing is left waiting on a second truck.
Delivery day. Downtown Raleigh and the older corridors were not built for freight deliveries, and neither are most suites in a business park. The good news is that there is nothing to arrange. No dock, no liftgate, no pallet, no four-hour window somebody has to stay late for. One person moves the boxes off the truck and inside, and the install happens whenever you are ready for 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. Wake County summers are hot and sticky, and the winters mostly behave apart from the ice storm that turns up every few years. Aluminum handles both without rusting. The electronics do not get the same pass. The LEDs and the power supply are packed in with the frame sections, so keep the boxes in a dry indoor space until the day the sign actually goes up.
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 Raleigh that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
The City of Raleigh handles sign permits and zoning review for addresses inside the city. Wake County covers unincorporated land, and Cary, Garner, Apex, Wake Forest and Knightdale each administer their own ordinances — a Raleigh mailing address does not always mean Raleigh jurisdiction. Check which one your parcel actually falls in before you spend a morning at the wrong counter. 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
North Carolina administers a statewide building code locally, so the technical standard does not change from town to town even though the review does. A freestanding or pole sign in Wake County generally requires a footing design and often drawings sealed by a licensed engineer. An illuminated sign commonly needs an electrical permit separate from the sign permit itself. 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh
| 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 Raleigh Businesses
Does the kit come with the faces already printed?
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 graphics are a separate product on our DIY Graphics side. Most people order both at once so the cabinet is not hanging blank on the building while the artwork is still being worked out.
Why is the frame shipped in pieces instead of assembled?
Because an assembled cabinet would have to travel freight, and freight means a dock, a liftgate, an appointment and a much bigger bill. Cutting it into four sections — six with splices on the long ones — keeps every box inside ground shipping limits. You spend an hour bolting it square and you skip all of that.
How does Raleigh's zoning affect what sign I can put up?
It sets the ground rules district by district, which is why the answer is address-specific rather than general. Expect the allowed sign type, area and height to depend on how your parcel is zoned, and assume an illuminated sign needs a permit and likely a separate electrical permit. Confirm the specifics with the City of Raleigh, then send us the approved dimensions in writing so the welded cabinet matches what was approved.
Who wires the sign once it is hung?
That job goes to a licensed electrician. The kits are not UL listed, and connecting a lighted sign is permitted, inspected work in North Carolina. Your side of the line is mechanical — assembling the sections, mounting the cabinet, setting the faces, placing the power supply. Get an electrician quoted at the same time you pull the permit so the timing works out.
How much does a lighted business sign cost in Raleigh?
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 Raleigh?
No — we are not a Raleigh 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 Raleigh?
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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh, NC
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.