Landscape Lighting

A: The most common types are path lights, spotlights and floodlights, deck lights, well lights and post cap lights. Path lights are the most common as they line the walkway, garden and other difficult to see areas in an otherwise darkened yard to improve your safety and the outdoor appearance. Spotlights and floodlights highlight trees, shrubs and other areas of interest in the yard. Deck lights enhance the safety of your deck after the sun goes down, both on the platform and the stairs. Well lights illuminate flowerbeds and look nice at a tree's base. Post cap lights add safety and decoration from the top of the deck posts.

A: Today, light fixtures for landscapes are made from a wide variety of materials including plastic, aluminum, copper, stainless steel or brass. Bronze, brass and stainless steel are strong and hold up well in the elements, but they tend to cost more. Aluminum is cheaper, but doesn't hold up as well unless covered in a protective coating. That eliminates some of the savings. Plastic, often called a composite, offers corrosion resistance, good UV resistance, and a lower cost than metals.

A: Die casting is the process of producing metal parts by forcing molten metal under high pressure into reusable steel molds. These molds can be designed to produce complex shapes with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. Stamping, or pressing, uses a stamping machine to pound the metal into shape. It's much faster and less expensive in the short term to stamp, but casting produces more intricate shapes and allows for variations in thickness that stamping does not offer.