Air Capital Standards, Sign-Shop Craft.
Wichita built airplanes for the world — this is a town that respects riveted aluminum and things made right. Our DIY LED sign cabinets are cut from extruded aluminum with welded corners, prepared in our shop, and shipped to Wichita and the plains towns around it.
For the small businesses that keep south-central Kansas running, a prepared kit is the sensible route to a professional lighted sign: you handle the install, we handle the fabrication, and the savings stay local — in your pocket.
The Kit, And The Price Difference
Shipping To Wichita And Every Town Around It
Kits ship to Derby, Andover, Newton, El Dorado, Hutchinson and out to Salina — and everywhere in between. If FedEx delivers there, your sign kit can too.
Kansas wind demands honest engineering on anything standing tall. Wall kits install straightforwardly; pole and pylon projects need site-specific planning — pole, foundation, wind load — confirmed locally. We supply the prepared cabinet and the straight answers.
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.
How Your Kit Gets To Wichita
Kits ship FedEx Ground about 95% of the time, which is the reason a Wichita address, a Derby address and a small town out in Butler or Harvey County are all equally easy. Ground routes go everywhere. Freight terminals do not.
What shows up. Four long boxes for a standard cabinet, or six where splice joints keep a longer frame inside ground shipping limits. The welded sections arrive with the LEDs already mounted, and the power supply and hardware are boxed in with them — one shipment, no separate parts crate.
Delivery day. Plenty of south-central Kansas businesses are shops and small plazas that never had a dock, and with boxes that is simply not a question. Nothing to schedule, nothing to unload, and one person can move 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. Kansas hail is the reason not to leave boxes sitting in the open. The aluminum will take it; the power supply and LED sections in the same cartons should not have to. Inside, and off wet ground through a freeze.
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 Wichita that means three phone calls before you order, not after.
1. Ask what you're allowed
Wichita and Sedgwick County run building and construction permitting through a shared metropolitan department, which is simpler than most metros — but Derby, Andover, Newton and El Dorado are separate cities with their own sign codes. Confirm which counter covers your address before you ask about sizes. 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 is the governing load in Kansas, and it is why a freestanding or pole sign commonly needs a footing design and drawings sealed by a Kansas-licensed engineer for your specific site. An illuminated sign generally needs an electrical permit alongside the sign 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.
Straight Answers For Wichita Businesses
What frame depths do you offer?
4-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch standard depths, with deeper custom options. The 4-inch Slimline is our most popular for storefronts.
Is prepayment required?
Yes — kits are prepared to order, so prepayment is required before fabrication begins. Everything is spelled out in your written quote.
Who issues sign permits in the Wichita area?
Wichita and Sedgwick County handle building and construction permitting through a shared metropolitan department, so one counter covers a lot of the area — but Derby, Andover, Newton and El Dorado run their own sign codes. Confirm which applies to your address, and get your maximum sign area and height in writing before the cabinet is cut.
Who should do the electrical hookup?
A licensed electrician does the hookup. Everything before it is yours: unbox the sections, bolt the frame square, mount it, align it. The power connection is licensed, inspected work and these kits are not UL listed, so treat that trade as a line item rather than an optional extra.
Ready to get your written quote?
Every kit is prepared to order. Tell us about your project and we'll answer with a straight, written quote.
Contact DIY Sign Guy